LA JOLLA, Calif.
The Grande Colonial in La Jolla, California, which will celebrate its 100th anniversary next year, has completed a $500,000 renovation of the hotel’s entry and foyer, lobby and surrounding public spaces and two adjacent meeting rooms.
San Francisco-based Warren Sheets Design updated the property’s 1913 Colonial-Revival style with European-residential style interiors done in a bold color palette with contemporary nuances to reflect the beachfront location. Vibrant shades of azure and Mediterranean blue and warm golds are accented with soft white, platinum and bronze. New Giallo Royale and Calcutta White polished marble flooring is inset with black Galaxy granite.
The design team aimed to enhance the Grande Colonial’s architectural details — original Georgian-style arches, cast plaster crown moldings and lead glass windows — with modern elements. Sheets incorporated hand-stenciled ceilings, textured fabrics, refurbished traditional chandeliers, walls upholstered in crème brûlée-colored linen weave fabric with gold embroidery, vintage photography and art commissioned from Europe.
“We went to great lengths to enhance the feel of the hotels’ still intact turn-of-the-century architecture designed by noted area architect Richard Requa back in 1913,” said General Manager Terrence Underwood, of the Grande Colonial. “The sophisticated new décor carefully preserves our enduring historic appeal, infusing a classic European ambiance and a refined, contemporary sophistication.”
