Lightwell Hotel & Spa has completed an historic restoration of the original Waucoma Hotel building in Hood River, Ore., and will debut as an independent boutique property this fall.
The reconstruction of the hotel—which will be operated by Portland, Ore.-based VIP Hospitality Group and founded by local outdoor sportsmen—was some three years in the making. With a commitment to stewardship of both the building and surrounding Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, hotel ownership achieved status on the National Register of Historic Places as well as sustainability.
“Restoring this historic building wasn’t just about saving bricks and beams, it was about giving the community back a cornerstone of our downtown,” Lach Litwer of Columbia Gorge Capital, one of Lightwell’s founders, said in a statement.
The hotel was named for a four-story light well that was formed in 1910 when the second owners of the 1904 building added onto the original with an L-shaped annex. The goal of this design was to increase the hotel’s capacity and provide a central shaft of natural light flowing in from a glass ceiling to interior windows and the ground floor.
Fully uncovered and restored, the light well is positioned to bring sunlight into Viento—the hotel’s locally-sourced Mediterranean restaurant—as well as the guestrooms surrounding it on all sides. The historic, rooftop veranda with its overhead wooden trellis has been recreated with custom woodwork to canopy Lightwell’s rooftop bar, which looks out over the Columbia River and surrounding hills to the mountains beyond.
Meanwhile, the hotel has 69 modern guestrooms of varying sizes which existed in the original structure from compact queen rooms to king suites with panoramic views of the Columbia River Gorge. Each room features original artwork by local artists and larger paintings and sculptures were commissioned for the public spaces. The original hotel entrance was restored and opens into a grand lobby with a large fireplace and surrounding lounge.