This Hotel Embraces the Legends of the Lone Star State

Lauren Rottet stands but 5 feet, 3 ½ inches tall. (Add another 3 when she dons her Manolo Blahniks or Jimmy Choos.) Yet the architect is a towering force in the hotel sector. Rottet Studio, where she is founding principal and president, ranks 16th among the Interior Design Hospitality Giants, not to mention 79th on the top 100 list. Headquartered in Houston, the studio has designed properties around the world—from New York and Los Angeles to Bogotá, Colombia, and Dubai, United Arab Emirates, as well as nearly 70 vessels for Viking Cruises. Her latest endeavor, however, is closer to home: in Lubbock, deep in the west Texas panhandle surrounded by red dirt and tumbleweeds—a far cry from the glamorous urban hubs that typically host her projects. But Cotton Court Hotel is rife with references not only to Lubbock but also the overall Lone Star State, which happens to be where Rottet is from.

Cotton Court is the fourth in Valencia Hotel Group’s Court Collection—Rottet Studio has designed all of them, seven properties total for Valencia—which is all about providing a destination-worthy, boutique-style hotel in a college town. For Cotton Court, that school is Texas Tech University. Rottet and colleague Chris Evans, design director and associate principal, pay homage to it along with the rich history of Lubbock, long a center of cotton production and live music, and Texan-style outdoor living. “Visitors aren’t getting something dumped on them,” Rottet says of the concept. “It’s Lubbock’s own vernacular. That’s what we love.”

The Cotton Court Hotel Honors Its Locale With An Industrial Aesthetic 

The team began with the master plan. Five structures, all new-build but with an airy, sort of repurposed warehouse aesthetic, occupy an approximately 3-acre site, a former parking lot. They’re arrayed around a courtyard with an expansive swimming pool. From there came the exterior materials selection: a tight palette of corrugated and weathering steel and brick is simultaneously minimalist, industrial, and desert. For the interiors, which encompass 50,915 square feet and 165 keys, references to cotton and the local music scene abound, with furnishings and finishes that are luxe yet rustic—oversize tufted-leather sofas, wide wooden floor planks, exposed brick. “People can’t tell it’s new,” Evans says of the project. “It looks as if it’s been renovated.” Or, from Valencia executive vice president John Keeling, “We’re creating adaptive reuse for buildings that don’t exist yet.”

The journey begins in the double-height reception lobby. “We played off the trading floor of a cotton exchange,” Evans continues, noting that Houston has one. At Cotton Court, a wall-size mural on the mezzanine resembles an old futures trading board, its numeric patterns looking like they’re done in chalk. Further, they come together to compose a portrait of musician Buddy Holly, a Lubbock native. (The city was a touring stop for the likes of Elvis Presley and Waylon Jennings.) Under the mural, behind the reception desk, a series of guitars displayed like artworks are available for guests to use.

Rottet Studio Nods to Local Legends 

Cool Off in the Cotton Court Pool

Between the guest-room components stands a low-slung, cotton gin-esque building distinguished by hand-painted signage saying Midnight Shift, which is the property’s restaurant and concert venue (live weekend music is part of the Valencia program). Its cinematic interiors play up the agro-industrial theme. “Pipe framing expresses the machinelike structure,” Evans notes, while the slatted banquette and bar front evoke visions of flat-bed trucks used to transport cotton bales. The restaurant is joined by two meeting rooms envisioned for Monday-to-Thursday professional travel. They can be conjoined as a ballroom for events (there’s also a boardroom capping the entry piece).

If not at Midnight Shift, Rottet says, “Within 5 minutes of checking into their rooms, guests hit the courtyard—to socialize or grab a drink,” or take a dip. Lubbock is hot, with temperatures climbing upwards of 90 degrees during summer. At 50-feet long, the pool is a real swimmer’s pool and the courtyard’s heart. Overlooking it is a shade structure and an outdoor bar with a slatted banquette made to resemble cattle fencing. “It’s like a small urban resort,” Evans says. In fact, pool privileges are extended to locals, so the property has become part of the community, too. “Before Cotton Court,” Rottet concludes, “there was no ‘there’ there for Lubbock.” There sure is now.

Inside the Cotton Court Hotel by Rottet Studio

Rottet Studio: jeff horning; bernardo rios; maksim koloskov; felipe cosio; wade meadors; parker nussbaum; ashlee owens; veronica pesenti

mayse & associates: architect of record

word + carr design group: landscape architect

dci engineers: structural engineer

wh engineering: mep

hugo reed & associates: civil engineer

brand standard furnishings: custom furniture workshop

signco america: custom signage

teinert com­mercial building service: general contractor

through matt camron rugs: vintage rugs (lobby)

Cepac Tile: penny tile

West Elm: coffee tables

schoolhouse electric: sconces

wood goods industries: custom tables (restaurant)

barn light electric: pendant fixtures

Industry West: chairs (restaurant), stools (Pool)

barlow tyrie: chaise longues (pool)

serena + lily: hanging chairs (suite)

rejuvenation: sofa, cocktail table

CB2: side tables

crate and barrel: armchair

daltile: tile (bath­room)

signature plumbing: tub

shaw carpet: custom carpet (guest room)

elegant lighting: custom pendant fixture, custom sconces

wells industries: custom bed

rh: sofa (suite)

new american reel company: custom record table (hall)

ram windows & doors: windows

sherwin-williams company: paint

Dufner Heighes Transforms a Historic House in Pelham, New York into a Modern Family Home

Flip back a page, please. Now, kick up your feet, relax—here, have a cocktail—and observe this intriguing wood-paneled room: the resolutely leafy view, that groovy triangular window, the serene quiet, the vintage-heavy furniture scheme. Bet you think this is the living room of some cozy ’70’s-mod cabin on a remote rural plot, right? Well, surprise! In fact, this is the second-floor sitting room of a painstakingly preserved century-old Edwardian-style manse within shouting distance (although please don’t; the baby’s sleeping) of the Bronx.

Dufner Heighes was the firm tasked with future-proofing the historic Pelham, New York, house for a growing family. The 7,100-square-foot dwelling has an intriguing back story. Previous owners include the island nation of Barbados, which used it as an embassy, and a Coca-Cola executive who frequently hosted President Eisenhower there back in the 1950s. Another head of state, George Washington, reportedly stayed on the property, too, in a structure that once stood on this abode’s exact footprint. That provenance piqued the interest of Erica Holborn, CEO of Sandow Design Group (Interior Design’s parent company) and a self-professed real-estate enthusiast. “I’m a house-with-a-story person,” she admits.

When Holborn and her husband, Andrew, first saw the property listing, they deemed the eight-bedroom too big for their needs. Fast forward a year later. Their Dufner Heighes–designed Sutton Place apartment was getting a bit too snug for their expanding family (especially with WFH in the mix), and their upstate getaway, a 1970’s A-frame designed by Frank Lloyd Wright protégés, was too far from the city for full-time residency. Plus, the Holborns got an offer on the latter that they couldn’t refuse. So when the price dropped on the Pelham place around the same time, they finally took a look—and were sold.

Among the structure’s many attributes was that it had been pristinely restored, from the oak millwork to the original hardware. “It was a perfect situation, because the previous owners had updated a few things, like the kitchen, but restored everything else—stripping layers of paint off moldings and all that stuff no one wants to deal with,” notes Daniel Heighes Wismer, firm copartner with Greg Dufner. In short, it was practically turnkey. Early site visits suggested the project would be primarily decorative and cosmetic: reupholstering some existing furnishings, buying new items to fill in a few gaps, replacing antique light fixtures with more modern designs, updating cabinetry, hanging artwork. Midway through planning the new kitchen, however, it became apparent the current footprint was underscaled for the size of the house and had an awkward, dinky island unsuited to cooking and dining. “During one of our meetings with the team from Bilotta, with whom we were designing the kitchen,” Wismer recalls, “someone questioned whether we could tear down a wall to annex the adjoining butler’s pantry—and that changed everything,” necessitating plumbing and electrical rerouting plus new structural steel. “My dream has always been to have a butler’s pantry,” Holborn sighs. “And then I finally buy a house with one—and promptly take it out!”

The monthslong renovation was well worth it. The new scheme is much brighter and airier, with a long Arabescato Corchia marble island that seats four, plus a window-wrapped breakfast nook. Dufner Heighes deployed two patterns of Artistic Tile terrazzo flooring, one incorporating marble chips, to create area rug–like accents that delineate spatial zones. Shaker-style cabinetry is simpatico with the period architecture yet modern enough to suit the décor. The same flooring and cabinetry also extend into an adjacent space, a former family room that now serves as a storage-packed mudroom.

The reinvention of a living space as service-oriented hub made sense, given the floorplan already offered a generous number of hangout areas, including the ground-floor salon and contiguous sunroom, a second-floor playroom for two-year-old Marlowe and baby Bodhi, a sitting room off the primary suite, and the family and game rooms that anchor the daylit basement level. “The challenge,” Dufner says, “was how to make each living space feel like it had a unique function and purpose.” Seating in particular was selected with specific activities and postures in mind. Thus the salon’s more upright Bob sectional, its firm, snakelike form perfect for perching with a glass of wine; the sunroom’s more lounge-y Bouroullec Brothers Ploum sofa, a holdover from the upstate house (albeit newly reupholstered); and the super deep, nap-conducive sofa in the family room, where TV viewing occurs.

Though the house has a traditional layout, with discrete rooms, they open graciously onto each other, and curating sight lines was particularly important. Many features were considered holistically so they would work together from room to room. On the first floor, for instance, “there are points where you can see the ceiling fixtures in the sunroom, living room, entry hall, and the dining room all at once,” Wismer explains. “So the lighting we specified all needed to work within their respective rooms and also as a cohesive group.” Furniture and other accents were chosen and placed similarly, he adds. “There was a balancing of where we could go a little wild and where something had to be toned down so it wouldn’t get too heavy or layered.”

Speaking of going a little wild, check out the dining room wallpaper. The pattern, a trippy graphic confection in riotous hues, tents the room, extending up from crisp wainscoting lacquered a mercurial green-gray color. The op art patterning is the perfect jazz riff on the abode’s 1914 bones. “The contrast between historic and modern is just so great,” says Wismer. A sentiment that summarizes the project top to bottom.

knoll: sofa

dunbar: side table

design for macha: ceiling fixture

through noguchi shop: floor lamp

garrett leather: armchair shearling

kvadrat: side chair fabric

blå station through scandinavian spaces: sofa

house of finn juhl: chairs

Gubi: coffee table

aronson’s: rug

bd barcelona through ddc: green side table.

Fredericia: daybed

lawson-fenning: vessels

bilotta: cabinetry

Artistic Tile: flooring

seungjin yang through the future perfect: pink stool

Blu Dot: yellow ottoman

through noguchi shop: pendant

Louis Poulsen: pendants

voutsa: wallpaper

e15 through stillfried wien: table

Carl Hansen & Son: chairs

iittala through fiskars group: glass birds

bd barcelona through ddc: credenza

aronson’s: rug

mitchell gold + bob williams: sofa

aronson’s: rug

Carl Hansen & Son: Lounge

Blu Dot: side table

through john derian: artwork

ligne roset: sofa

iacoli: coffee table

CB2: side table

Artistic Tile: flooring, counters

bilotta: cabinetry

Carl Hansen & Son: chairs, stools

e15 through stillfried wien: table

Louis Poulsen: pendants

casey johnson studio: custom table

Blu Dot: ottoman

through john derian: flowers

aj madison: appliances

lee jofa: wallpaper

through design within reach: rocking chair

dunbar: sofa

house of finn juhl: coffee table

floyd: shelving

stokke: crib

rejuvenation: ceiling fixture

nessen lighting: gold lamp

&tradition: coffee table, ottoman

Carl Hansen & Son: green lounge chair

mitchell gold + bob williams: sofa

aronson’s: rug

kvadrat: mama bear chair fabric

zak & fox: club chair fabric

design for macha: ceiling fixture

michael robbins: bench

lawson-fenning: bed

once milano: quilt

aronson’s: rug

flavor paper: wallpaper

Gubi: mirror

visual comfort through circa lighting: table lamps (sitting room, dining room, family room, bedroom); ceiling pendant (living room, dining room, foyer); floor lamps (living room, nursery); reading lamp (living room)

through furniture from scandinavia: items from fredericia, house of finn juhl, gubi, carl hansen & sØn, louis poulsen, and &tradition