In 2018, Sara and Rich Combs were planning to expand their hotel business when they remembered a spot they discovered during a trip to Saguaro National Park in Tucson, Arizona.
Couple owned and operated Joshua tree house, a property consisting of individual guest houses in California. But they also fell in love with the Arizona area during their 2014 trip.
Sara told CNBC Make It that the couple kept in mind that it would be a great place for a new experience that their guests could choose from. This space is only about a six-hour drive from Joshua Tree and offers a different yet natural setting.
“We’ve found a lot of satisfaction and fulfillment through creating spaces for people to be in nature. We’re also focused on giving people space to reset,” Sara said. speak.
The Combs spent more than $500,000 renovating the abandoned motel.
Sara and Rich Combs
Fast-forward to May 2018, Rich was searching for properties online that he calls “a form of meditation” and came across a listing for what looked like 38 acres of empty canyons. But he ignored that property because they were planning to buy a location not far away.
That deal fell through, so the couple searched for that empty canyon on Google Maps. The area seems to have a large building in the center and two casitas.
In fact, the property Combs passed had a 7,500 square foot main building and two other homes. Altogether, the three structures cover more than 10,000 square feet.
Sara said: “Our agent advised us to go see it right away but hesitated, so we asked him to take a video for us. “We love what we see in the videos and make offers before we see it in person.”
The property’s owners accepted an offer of $615,000 and asked Combs to include a signed copy of their design and lifestyle book “Stay at Home in Joshua Tree” as part of the agreement.
After their offer was accepted, Combs drove to Tucson and discovered that what they had only seen in photos up to that point was actually an inn that had been abandoned for 10 years.
They closed the property at the end of October 2018.
The property near Saguaro National Park is located on 38 acres of land.
Sara and Rich Combs
The couple say the property is in such bad shape that their biggest challenge is finding someone to lend them money because they can’t get a mortgage the traditional way. Banks will not lend to an existing property that has been gutted and inoperative.
After the couple found a bank willing to give them the loan they needed, they set to work with the goal of completing the renovation and opening of the property within the year.
Rich said that after buying the abandoned motel, they learned that the previous owners, who bought it in 2006, had tried to renovate the property into a luxury housing complex, but had lost money. during the 2008 recession. They destroyed much of it before letting the rest fall into disarray.
“I love this place. There’s a lot of beautiful details that aren’t necessary to the structure, but it’s really cool,” says Sara. “You could say the original builder loved the work he was doing.”
Some nice but completely unnecessary details are the beams throughout the inn – the original builder, Mark Larsen, used scraps from a disassembled bridge in New Mexico to create them.
“As designers, we think these bones are amazing and we are excited to bring it back to life,” says Sara.
Sara and Rich Combs turned the inn’s main house into five suites.
Sara and Rich Combs
The couple admit that they don’t have a budget for renovations and depend on income from sponsored content, loans from friends and family, and maxed out credit cards to open the hostel. in less than 12 months.
“At the end of the project we were in a very bad financial situation and it was very stressful,” says Rich.
The couple told CNBC Make It that they estimate they spent more than $500,000 on the renovation.
“It was really risky but we were very confident that it was a place where people would enjoy it as much as we did, and fortunately it all worked out,” Sara added.
Sara and Rich turned the main building into five suites. One of the smaller homes was their private residence while they were in Tucson, and the other was the home where the property manager lived.
When it came to designing the inn, the couple said they reached out to people in the Tucson community to create the space next to them, from furniture to wall art, including murals. murals on the bar in the common space.
“It became a collaborative project and it was a lot more fun to feel that support throughout the process by getting to know the community and being inspired by them as well,” says Sara.
Joshua Tree: Posada opened in September 2019. Room rates range from $210 to $427 per night. Guests can also book an entire 7-bedroom inn for $2200 a night.
Rooms at Joshua Tree House: The Posada range from $210 to $427 a night.
Sara and Rich Combs
The renovated property includes a chef’s kitchen, rock canyon pool, hot spring bath, rooftop lounge, yoga studio, dining patio, bonfire lounge, BYOB Bar , living room with projector and walking trails on site.
The couple say the best part about bringing new life to the hostel is the support from those who have followed the renovation on social media.
Sara said: “It feels like a very vulnerable thing to get it out there after all the work we’ve put in. “It makes sense to see our followers feel like they were part of the experience and then come watch it live as our first guests.”
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