A Little Update So You Can Stay INN the Know

It’s April, and we’ve been hosting locals and visitors for almost eight months! People are flocking here from all over to enjoy some early hot weather. It was 10 years ago we purchased this little corner in Santa Clara and after three challenging years of construction, we are finally open for guests.

Our design idea is to reference the Swiss immigrants who came to this area in the fall of 1861. We’ve built four small buildings: two white houses, one black barn, and a vintage garage, all clustered around a grass parking area. More about that parking experiment later.

The exteriors are an historic look, while the interiors are an eclectic mix of old and new. Each building and room is inspired by the “family” that homesteaded here- the Meiers from various villages and cities in Switzerland. Hence, the fancy Dormer, which Simon built for his first wife, Rosa, and the pioneer Cottage, which was given to Isabelle, his second wife for a wedding present. Both houses reflect the personalities, tastes and passions of each woman.

In contrast, the Barn and the Arrowhead Trail Garage, aka ATG, reference the family’s business pursuits of farming and serving early travel along the historic Arrowhead Trail automobile route that connected Los Angeles to Salt Lake City in the first decades of the 20th century. All of the design is inspired by a masculine aesthetic.

In addition to the historic inspiration of the architecture, we are also experimenting with all underground drip irrigation using agricultural water. The idea is to see if surrounding the site with grass, trees and additional plants, all being watered by subsurface drip, will cool the site down and save enough water and energy to make it a reasonable alternative to a xeriscape approach. Once the landscape matures, we’ll have some idea regarding its efficacy.

We love being part of our local community: Yesterday a graduating H.S. student had his pictures taken on our porches and in front of the Barn. We’ve had several wedding night, graduation, anniversary, birthday and staycation couples, plus family overflow guests. We still have lots to figure out about fitting in to the neighborhood as we ride the learning curve, and look forward to meeting new visitors from across the country and from down the street!