Windy Hill Courtyard Project: Is it possible to combine your love of travel with your love of home design? I think it is. In this blog, I'll share with your one way we created travel-inspired decor from our own travel experiences.
Windy Hill Courtyard Project: Kids standing near a fountain while touring the mansions in Newport, Rhode Island
Designing Summer Holidays
Several years ago we had the rare opportunity to take a long family trip to the Pacific Coast Highway in California. You see, three families that we met here in Pennsylvania while our kids were very young, had recently relocated to beautiful neighborhoods in sunny California. So we decided to design our summer vacation around all three of those families and sightsee as much as we could in between. It was a great decision because on that vacation we had some of the best times we've ever had as a family.
I initially set out to carefully design this vacation and structure it in such a way so we'd be able to spend three nights with each family. One family was near San Francisco, the second was near Los Angeles and the third was near San Diego, so their locations set the stage for the perfect road map and this vacation was a great way for us to see much of California as intended.
We decided the trip would be 12 days total during our summer break in July and that 3 nights each would be spent sharing the homes of our good friends near the cities above. That left 2 nights in between each city for which I needed to find accommodations.
Photo credit: petitsoleilslo.com/gallery
Choosing Creative Accommodations
I'd like to tell you that I used social media to plan this trip, but this was not the case. Instead, one day I was paging through a beautiful book called Country Living Magazine and I came across an article about a quaint hotel in San Luis Obispo, CA, dubbed America's happiest town, by Oprah Winfrey. The hotel was Petit Soleil and boy was the article enticing. First of all, their tagline was A Touch of European Charm in the Heart of San Luis Obispo...which got me right there. Many of you know I have a deep affection for France as it's one of my favorite places and I always try to enjoy little "international adventures" wherever I am.
This little gem, Petit Soleil, is located 3.5 hours south of San Francisco and conveniently it was directly on our path to Los Angeles. Plus, it is only 45 minutes from Hearst Castle, one of our preferred destinations, so a one-night stay at Petit Soleil was quickly booked.
Photo credit: petitsoleilslo.com/gallery
Enjoy Everything, Even Your Hotel
Upon our arrival, we were greeted at the front entrance by a sweet bicycle covered in flowers and giant pots filled with herbs. It was charming, to say the least. Inside there is a cafe that looks like a French bistro and all the rooms have creative names like La Cage Aux Folles, Chocolat, and Herb de Provence. But the space that inspired us the most was the sun-warmed garden patio and because it was July, we were able to enjoy our morning French Toast and also a happy hour glass of French wine in this enchanting space.
Photo credit: petitsoleilslo.com/gallery
While we thoroughly enjoyed that glass of French wine, we both looked around and thought the same thought. "We should create a garden patio courtyard like this one on our farm." And so we did.
Travel-Inspired Design for Your Beautiful Home
The courtyard space on our farm, Windy Hill, sits between the main farmhouse and the guest cottage.
We knew however that it wasn’t in the best of shape and much needed to be done if we wanted to create a quaint courtyard. First of all, we needed to rip out the old, weedy gardens, and lay a lot of weed barrier cloth to prepare the way for the red tipple stones and large overlaying flagstones we were about to bring in.
Windy Hill Courtyard Project: The original weedy courtyard and ominous tree.
The second order of business was to remove the ominous old tree which leaned precariously over the house. We have a lot of high winds here and this tree posed a danger every time it stormed, so we decided it was time to take it down. That was a pretty big undertaking, and a crane and a few professionals were called to handle the job. We also had to consider what to put in place of the big old tree to fill that space.
Windy Hill Courtyard Project: The laying of weed barrier in the new courtyard.
Windy Hill Courtyard Project: The spreading of red tipple stone in the new courtyard. (This was very hard work)
When the tree was removed everyone warned me not to plant anything in its place, they said it would never grow. I didn’t have much choice as this was the only spot left in the courtyard for soft scape so I took my chances and planted a Pee Gee Hydrangea Tree right next to the stump clearing. I am glad I did because this little pee gee not only survived, but it thrived. Year after year it just gets bigger and more beautiful. Clearly, that ominous old tree is nurturing this sweet little baby Pee Gee. I call that “mother tree” love.
Windy Hill Courtyard Project: The Pee Gee Hydrangea Tree
The large flagstones above were delivered on palettes and we rolled each of them into place by ourselves. Eventually, I attempted to grow some walking thyme and mosses in between the stones. The mosses never grew, but the thyme continues to pop up here and there. We’ve recently seen a lot of rich clover in the spaces between the flagstone which makes our honeybees very happy.
At the end of the day, we knew we wanted to incorporate the design concept with a water feature because there was a small one in the garden patio at Petit Soleil and because we had seen many beautiful fountains that we admired on some of our best destinations over the last decade. The trouble was we could not find one that fit the space between our windows and also matched our design aesthetic. So we waited until the time was right.
We carved out the space for it however, by positioning the flagstone in an arch, and patiently searched for a couple of years until we found this perfectly styled wall fountain designed by Campania ironically right up the road in Pennsburg, PA.
Windy Hill Courtyard Project: The fountain and flagstone
After the fountain was delivered, set up, and filled, we were so happy to finally have achieved our goal of creating a little courtyard oasis where once lived many weeds and a scary old tree. We added a few unique lighting fixtures in the form of LED lights that go right in the water and a few simple string lights above, a bit of casual outdoor furniture, and our work was done.
Windy Hill Courtyard Project: Fountain & casual sitting area
A Special Place
So now we have this cozy, little space at Windy Hill and to think it was all inspired by a tiny French-themed hotel in the middle of California. And while I realize that I am a bit of an "obsessed" design lover, you don't have to be one in order to appreciate all the beauty that surrounds you during a simple courtyard happy hour on a random weekday afternoon. There are many different ways to bring a memorable travel experience like this to life in your home.
Years later, the original Windy Hill Courtyard Project inspired us to buy another fountain and create another little outdoor room off our deck. Ironically I even found this blue French Bistro Set on the Facebook marketplace to round out the ensemble. I’ve included a link so you can find a bistro set in your preferred color.
So this summer, I challenge you to bring home those travel souvenirs in the form of tchotchkes or photographs, pull up your Pinterest boards full of interior design trends, color palettes, and your own personal style, and get to work making an interesting space inspired by something you've loved seeing during your own travels!
Windy Hill Courtyard Project: Resting on a fountain in front of The Plaza in New York City
And when you do please include your story and photos in the comment section of this post, we’d love to share.
Windy Hill Courtyard Project: A lovely courtyard in Savannah, Georgia
Create a Place to Reminisce
A Few Hardworking Tips:
Clear and vivid photography helps you remember details when you need them
Focus on one project at a time so it doesn't get overwhelming
Be willing to wait for the pieces (and prices) you really want
Visit the homes of leaders: they have some of the best features and ideas
Explore different cultures for fresher ideas
Take many tours to hear the stories behind the designs
See everything with fresh eyes
Make sure each vacation becomes a visual journey
Windy Hill Courtyard Project: The Kids enjoy Casino Square in Monaco