With rolling hills and stunning beaches, Cambria is an idyllic seaside village on the Central Coast in San Luis Obispo County. For Los Angeles-based interior designer and author Nina Freudenberger, it was also the ideal location for her first hospitality project. “It really feels like the perfect culmination of everything that California has to offer,” says Freudenberger. “It’s the perfect getaway from Los Angeles.” With year-round warm weather, California is naturally appealing, but this beachfront town didn’t have any design-forward hotels until White Water came along. The new property on Moonstone Beach, run by the owners of SoCal boutique hotels Holiday House, Casa Laguna, Cambria Beach Lodge and Sparrows Lodge, involved remodeling and merging two different pre-existing inns into one. “We worked hard to make sure that it felt unified, since we didn’t have the ability to change the architecture,” says the designer. “Since there was no changing the layout, we had to focus on wall and lighting treatments and all of the textures we were adding to the space to make it feel luxurious in its simplicity.” Freudenberger sourced custom pieces from as many local artisans as she could for the 1970s Scandinavian coastal aesthetic she was trying to achieve.
A guest room at White Water
The wife and mother of two boys loved the experience of a hotel project after years of working on residential homes. “I am a big traveler and have always been interested in the hospitality experience,” she says. “Small things make a big difference, and it takes a tremendous amount of extra thought to get it just right.” Plus, choosing materials and furnishings that are practical and can take a beating (think using high-performance outdoor tent material for the headboards) was a new challenge. “Nothing would be more disappointing if it only looked good on Day 1!”
