My House: Designer Jessica Pell’s Desert Retreat Came With Her New Hotel Project

Manola Studio founder Jessica Pell is no stranger to renovations. But purchasing and renovating a run-down desert motor lodge was a first. In 2017, Jessica partnered with friends who ran a hospitality brand and purchased the lodge in Twentynine Palms, California with the plan to turn it and the accompanying back house into Hotel Wren. However, during Covid, ownership consolidated and the project evolved. "I was one of the people on Redfin looking at remote cabins in Colorado and Big Sur," says Jessica. "I realized I had this charming two bedroom, two bath house with incredible bones." She decided to make the 1,900-square-foot house her own personal retreat and sometimes artist’s residence called Wren House, and the lodge, Hotel Wren, will open this fall.

Growing up as a budding creative in L.A. meant Jessica’s adolescent years were spent collecting midcentury furniture, visiting Joshua Tree National Park, and venturing to Palm Springs to glimpse a Case Study House. Over the years, she cultivated a breadth of inspiration and experience sensitively renovating LA’s cannon of historic buildings: "Give me an old building and I’ll make it sing," says Jessica. 

Wren House, as Jessica calls it, certainly sings. The existing 1950s home had been maintained by the previous owners, who ran the motor lodge. It had the elusive good bones homeowners crave with a pitched ceiling, navigable layout, and solid wood cabinetry. However, its dim and dark interior, featuring purple and turquoise-painted walls, didn’t fit the serene retreat Jessica envisioned. 

Jessica kept defining original details like the faux rock walls and circular fireplace, while adding thoughtful new insertions. One of the largest changes was replacing a small singular window with a wall of natural light overlooking views of Joshua Tree National Park. The design culminates to what Jessica calls a love letter to the desert.

The space is outfitted with custom millwork, including an expansive custom sectional by Joshua Tree-based Fire on the Mesa and earth-colored tiles from Heath Ceramics. Jessica’s collection of midcentury modern pieces and collected ephemera add a personal touch.  

With the opening of Wren Hotel fast approaching, Jessica talked to Dwell about escaping to the desert, her design practice, and what’s next.