Living & Style DESIGN
Albie’s Beef Inn). Turkish chandeliers hang overhead, and the bar counter is modeled after an Indian dowry chest that they use as a DJ stand. “You’re going to wonder where in the world you’re at,” Strukel says, “and in so doing, become much more present.” (If one is present enough, there are architectural Easter eggs to discover, like how an arch meets its reflection in the pool to form an eye shape. When a person sits on the bench below the arch, she becomes the pupil.) Their design choices reflect a desire to honor their new hometown. The hotel’s fencing is made from native ocotillo stems, and the team also collected lava rock from the surrounding land, using the porous gray stone for planters and as the focal wall in their restaurant. “It’s to pay homage,” Strukel says of the rock. “It comes from the volcano that gave us the aquifers that gives us the mineral water.” Obsidian, a black, glassy stone formed from cooled lava, was also harvested from the desert, tumbled smooth, and then pieced together to form an archway in their bar. As they open the 22-room hotel to guests, they hope it also leads visitors to rediscover the long-forgotten border town. “Once people come out here, they will feel the magic,” Osborne says. Many locals are pretty stoked about the revival, too. As an 80-year-old longtime resident put it, “I’ve been waiting for shit to happen in Jacumba.” UPPER RIGHT While the hotel itself is adults-only, the restaurant is family-friendly and showcases what Strukel, Winters, and Osborne have coined “international high desert” cuisine from chef Juan Mora. LOWER RIGHT The dark bar is a welcome respite from the bright desert heat. BELOW Guests enter the resort through a hand-crafted, 500-year-old door from India.
42 JULY 2023
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