Tradition Lives On in a Historic Home and Lodge
The Sou’wester Lodge at Seaview, Washington, has an extensive record of home made creative freethinkers. When friends Thandi Rosenbaum and Anastasia Corya discovered the beachfront property was up for sale at the summer of 2012, they welcomed the chance to continue its heritage of creative expression.
However, the friends did not realize at first that the lodge came with the eclectic and impressive assortment of vintage trailers parked outside. The two devoted themselves to sprucing up the lodge and also the 10 trailers outside, restoring a unique set of overnight rentals available to curious individuals who wish to linger.
in a Glance
Who lives here: Thandi Rosenbaum and Anastasia Corya
Location: Seaview, Washington, on the Long Beach Peninsula
Size: The 6,000-square-foot lodge has six suites, and you will find 10 vintage trailers and four cabins on the home as well.
That is intriguing: The lodge was originally constructed as a holiday home for U.S. senator Henry Winslow Corbett at 1892.
Louise Lakier
“We fell in love with the chance to continue the rich legacy of entertainment, artwork and retreat,” says Rosenbaum. The lodge’s lovely beach pines, honeyed timber and historical bones instantly motivated her and Corya.
The home is a five-minute walk from the sea. “There are rolling dunes as far as the eye could see, covered in long golden beach grass,” says Corya.
Louise Lakier
The front porch is Rosenbaum’s preferred place for a sundowner. Much like the previous owners, who arrived to Seaview on holiday and never return, Rosenbaum — a South African native — arrived with a backpack and still has not completely unpacked.
Louise Lakier
When they moved in, Rosenbaum and Corya combined their private collections together with the lodge’s existing style. Both have a similar style and enjoy well-built vintage furnishings and bohemian artwork. This enclosed wraparound porch on the first floor serves as their sunroom, mudroom, action space and office.
“There is something in every room that’s private to us and fits in its new area flawlessly,” says Corya.
Louise Lakier
First, the couple cleared out the clutter in the home. “We had been peeling an onion, and the furnishings which stay hold the nostalgia of this lodge,” describes Rosenbaum.
The first floor has three bedrooms, a shared bathroom, a huge living room and the lodge kitchen. “Oddly, the hardest part of remodeling was creating curtains. So many windows to pay. We tried to salvage lots of the vintage tapestries and curtains, which slowed the process,” says Corya.
Louise Lakier
Corya’s bedroom is tucked around the corner from the living room and the kitchen. The remnants of a beautiful brick fireplace decorated with her first Mexican folk art act as a headboard.
Louise Lakier
“In between meals, the cleanup, preparation and managing the daily running of the place all happens from the kitchen,” says Rosenbaum.
Louise Lakier
The second floor was initially a ballroom, but in the 1940s it was divided into four suites, one of which is your master suite. Each suite contains a large bedroom with a kitchenette and bathroom.
Louise Lakier
This master suite of this lodge has access to a balcony and also serves as the lodge’s living room. After a playful weekend entertaining guests, Corya and Rosenbaum settle in here to see movies and fold laundry.
A performer and friend, Grant Olson, custom made the quilt for both.
Artwork: Joslyn Fry
Louise Lakier
On the third floor are two suites constructed from the 1940s. The bigger suite has two rooms and is often called the “ring area,” because it houses entertainers for Saturday-night music occasions. This third-floor kitchen serves as a communal kitchen for guests.
Louise Lakier
The two friends often host wellness and restorative retreats on the property. “We’d love to encourage the local market and exhibit the peninsula’s creative bounty,” says Corya. “We currently sell crops to get a local horticulturalist as well as local goods in our honor-system store, called Starvation Alley: cranberries, preserves, honey, blueberries, greens, garlic and whatever is in season”
Louise Lakier
The trailers on the property are often the most asked rental components, offering cozy appeal, a sense of adventure and unexpected space efficacy.
Rosenbaum and Corya set to operate right away sprucing up the 10 trailers. “We needed to strip the floors, repair water damage and paint the panels in some cases. We replaced most of these furnishings with our very own and picked colors and decor which best improved the golden wood panels distinctive to [each] inside,” says Corya.
Louise Lakier
The two friends are currently working on a few additional trailers, renovating one for accommodation and the other as a thrift store.
“We also have one Airstream called the Potato Bug, and it’s extremely near Thandi’s heart. It’s a small and cozy trailer which exemplifies the efficacy of the trailer layouts,” says Corya.
Louise Lakier
Based on the holiday, guests may enjoy activities which vary from clam digging to pumpkin carving, dine on special fare prepared by a featured chef and end the day with live music.
Here, Corya watches Rosenbaum artfully split a pumpkin on the porch after a local carver presented tips and techniques in the lodge.
