Denver, Colorado.

LIFE HOUSE, LOWER HIGHLANDS

Scope: Interior Design, Branding, Branded Collateral, Social Media, Website Development, & Bespoke Scent Development.

Role: Head of Design & Creative at Life House, Developer: BUNC Hospitality.

The hotel concept draws Victorian inspiration from the history of the Lower Highlands neighborhood, which is where many industrialists built homes in the late 1800s during Westward expansion. The decadent Victorianism was juxtaposed with raw industrialism to pay homage to the styles of the past, while ensuring respect for the context of modern architecture and frontier design detailing that has evolved over time. The design layers rich materials with dusty florals across guestrooms and public spaces, which include a bar, restaurant and café collectively known as Wildflower. In the Living Room, low-slung seating in leather and Victorian florals sits atop cowhide rugs and warm timber flooring. A statement fringed lampshade is juxtaposed with a raw concrete check-in desk, while cacti line a window wall that bathes the space in natural light.

Details throughout the space reflect the spirit of the Wildflower muse. Vintage club chairs with wild flora velvet flank a rust-tone leather wraparound sofa; Victorian candlestick holders are filled with local dried flowers; William Morris prints glow on vintage brass lamps; and custom-made and vintage seating displays tones of cacti and bluebonnet from the natural landscape of Colorado.

The intimate 17-key property has an array of room configurations, many of which include luxe full-sized bunk chambers. Each guest room is a subtle play on the Old West and Victorian sensibilities, with a nature-rooted palette of deep bluebonnet walls and dusty earthen orange corduroy drapery. Art galleries include historic photographs of locals & victorian oil paintings, which nod to the wildflower muse throughout the property.