With locations in Miami, Nantucket, and soon even Bali, Life House—a New York–based, venture-backed hotel brand established in 2017—creates luxe accommodations that reflect the distinct culture and history of each locale. We talked with CEO Rami Zeidan about the vision behind the brand’s new Denver hotel, a cozy, 16-room retreat that opened in LoHi late last year.

5280 Home: What made the LoHi neighborhood a good match for Life House?
Rami Zeidan: Its rich history: Highland was one of the first residential neighborhoods in Denver following the westward expansion of the late 1800s, and still retains many of its gorgeous Victorian mansions. Today, it’s home to stylish bars, restaurants, coffee shops, and breweries, but it lacked an upscale accommodation offering.

How did the neighborhood’s history influence the hotel’s design story?
When creating narratives [for our hotels], we always take cues from past eras of the neighborhoods we inhabit, while balancing out the design with modern touches. Our team went through an intensive three-week research process to kick off the design concept. We dug into digital archives of local newspapers and property records, which helped us envision the Highland neighborhood during the 19th century. We also spent time on the ground to better understand the local arts scene today.

And what did you find?
We serendipitously found Georgia Amar in the Art District on Santa Fe while shopping for vintage furniture. Two of her large-scale prints are displayed in the dining room of Wildflower, [the on-site restaurant,] and are for sale through October as a part of our rotating gallery. We also sourced two oil paintings for the entry from another local artist, Michael Dowling.

We love the hotel’s old-West-meets-contemporary-cool look. How did the design team pull it off?
We combined modern finishes like polished concrete and tinted glass with more nostalgic furniture and objects that our design team collected from local vintage dealers. And details throughout the hotel reflect the spirit of our geographical muse, local wildflowers: [The lounge includes] vintage club chairs upholstered in a wildflower-print velvet, Victorian candlesticks filled with dried flowers, and William Morris floral art prints.