Manola Studio founder Jessica Pell is no stranger to renovations. But purchasing and renovating a run-down desert motor lodge was a first. In 2017, Jessica partnered with friends who ran a hospitality brand and purchased the lodge in Twentynine Palms, California with the plan to turn it and the accompanying back house into Hotel Wren. However, during Covid, ownership consolidated and the project evolved. “I was one of the people on Redfin looking at remote cabins in Colorado and Big Sur,” says Jessica. “I realized I had this charming two bedroom, two bath house with incredible bones.” She decided to make the 1,900-square-foot house her own personal retreat and sometimes artist’s residence called Wren House, and the lodge, Hotel Wren, will open this fall.

Growing up as a budding creative in L.A. meant Jessica’s adolescent years were spent collecting midcentury furniture, visiting Joshua Tree National Park, and venturing to Palm Springs to glimpse a Case Study House. Over the years, she cultivated a breadth of inspiration and experience sensitively renovating LA’s cannon of historic buildings: “Give me an old building and I’ll make it sing,” says Jessica.

Wren House, as Jessica calls it, certainly sings. The existing 1950s home had been maintained by the previous owners, who ran the motor lodge. It had the elusive good bones homeowners crave with a pitched ceiling, navigable layout, and solid wood cabinetry. However, its dim and dark interior, featuring purple and turquoise-painted walls, didn’t fit the serene retreat Jessica envisioned.

In the main living space, Jessica paired a vintage Vladimir Kagan Snail table with her own design—a custom coffee table crafted from a fallen walnut tree. " layout="wide" credit="Photo by Chris Mottalini" photoUserId=""/>

Jessica kept defining original details like the faux rock walls and circular fireplace, while adding thoughtful new insertions. One of the largest changes was replacing a small singular window with a wall of natural light overlooking views of Joshua Tree National Park. The design culminates to what Jessica calls a love letter to the desert.

The space is outfitted with custom millwork, including an expansive custom sectional by Joshua Tree-based Fire on the Mesa and earth-colored tiles from Heath Ceramics. Jessica’s collection of midcentury modern pieces and collected ephemera add a personal touch.

With the opening of Wren Hotel fast approaching, Jessica talked to Dwell about escaping to the desert, her design practice, and what’s next.

What was the condition of the home when you approached the renovation?

The thing that always continues to surprise me about the high desert is that there's really interesting architectural vernacular out there. The renovation is a midcentury home with interesting bones. It has this gorgeous pitched ceiling made out of Douglas fir and pine, which is not a common use. It was being used as the house of the owners that operated the hotel. But the walls were painted purple and turquoise. It was dark and there were no windows.

The home had these groovy architectural details, especially the faux rock walls. They have this Madonna Inn-ish sort of style. Normally I'm not a faux person, but being out in the high desert and the history of this place influenced me to just run with it. There’s also this groovy circular fireplace that we honored by laying beautiful stone all the way around it.

What were the biggest adjustments you made?

The windows were totally different. And one of the things that I took advantage of the most was that the whole south elevation looks out onto the gorgeous majestic mountains that hold the magical Joshua Tree [National Park]. Originally there was this little tiny window looking out to it, almost like a bathroom shower window. We completely opened that up as our way to bow to the mountain. We detailed special jam extensions to create as wide of an opening that we could get away with.

We kept the bones of the original millwork, which was this cool solid ash cabinetry with rustic hardware, and redid the countertop and mirrored some cool details. We put in Saltillo tile to bring in warmth because it was all concrete floors. We found a way to integrate the old with the new. We put in a huge sofa to make it look like it was always there, which is what I always try to do. It's like, what is new and what is old? If it goes the way that I hope you sometimes don't know.

Do you have a favorite piece in the home?

In the spaces I create, I like to build altars or moments that inspire you or represent who you are as an honoring. In this case that’s this incredible deep sofa that looks out on the mountains with these expansive windows and doors. The sofa intersects with this beautiful original louvered wall and becomes this mantelpiece. The louvers are all kicked at 45 degrees. The sofa is basically three twin beds, so it can be used for overflow if I have a friend with kids that comes over.

How do you use the home?

It’s a lot of quiet time. I've lived in L.A. my whole life, so I don't really know what being snowed in feels like, but I joke that in the desert you have a version of it. In the winter it gets down to the twenties; other times, the wind picks up to 50-miles per hour, and the same with the heat. It was 118 degrees last week [in August]. You read a book, hang out, and be in good company. I could stay in that house for days on end.

Speaking of quiet time, is there a place you go within the home specifically for those moments?

It's the living room. There's no television there. I look out onto the vastness of the desert and the mountains, and the way the light moves through it. I could do that for hours on end. It's so peaceful.

The home's use evolved since you first purchased the property. How have you been occupying it since the renovation was completed?

The house is just completely silent. I sleep differently there. It's solid as a rock and it's pulled off of the highway. So much of my work is about creating harmony both within the space and with self. The space, so far, is being utilized in that way and we hope that’s how it continues.

We've done photo shoots there. I have a friend who is a writer who came there a few days to write. There is a component that will come with Hotel Wren. It’ll be used at times as an artist residence that we will tie back to LA, where we’ll also have artists residencies at the Neutra House that we finished. I’d like to use these spaces as an opportunity for people to work in a more contemplative place.

Your practice is based in LA. What are some of the challenges that come with working in the desert?

Logistically, it’s challenging. Even if you want to verify something, it's two and a half hours away from L.A. With the type of [historic] work that I do there, I’m so grateful that I have access to wonderful tradesmen. There was a question of, “Do I bring someone out from L.A. to do it, or do I find a version that is more within the kind of what's at hand?” There's amazing stuff that happens out in the desert.

Do you have a daily ritual when you’re at home?

It's a place for me to be held in peace. The hotel is maybe 60 feet away. When I'm on site with all sorts of various teams, I’ll come back and lay out on that couch or make myself a cup of tea and relax. It’s such a retreat for me.

I've spent the last couple of years planting native plants at the hotel, which attract various birds and pollinators. I start every morning with having my tea, then I sit down on the deck and birdwatch. Since we started trying to create a home for them, now we have all sorts of critters that come around. That’s a real ritual for me—enjoying the natural beauty of our little desert friends. Then at the end of the day, I love cooking in the kitchen. It’s a beautiful space.

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Project credits:

Landscape Design: Manola Studio, install by Anthony Bayevich

Millwork: Manola Studio, fabrication by Fire on the Mesa

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