Joseph, Oregon, named after Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce tribe, sits at the foot of the Wallowa Mountains in cowboy country a long way from anywhere. And yet it was in this town, population approximately 1,000, that self-described “serial entrepreneur” Greg Hennes opened the Jennings Hotel. Originally from Minnesota, Hennes lived in Portland for more than a decade before moving east to become a hotelier. “The fact that it’s a tourist destination was important, but the community and the landscape were my chief reasons [for moving],” he says.
Hennes’ journey to set up the town’s first boutique hotel got serious when he toured a circa-1910 apartment building in 2010; four years later he bought the building but lacking additional funds, he turned to Kickstarter, raising more than $100,000. “For reasons both practical and philosophical, crowdsourcing was the best option,” he explains. “That Kickstarter campaign created a community of people who support and promote the project that has been vital to its success.”
Though Hennes has no professional training as an interior designer, he does have a good eye and knows how to surround himself with experts. The hotel’s first incarnation was just three rooms and a Finnish wet-dry sauna made of cedar. Recently, Hennes unveiled two more rooms plus a cheery kitchen-library created with designers Matt Pierce of Portland and Stevenson, Washington-based Ben Klebba—a light-filled space with whitewashed ponderosa pine flooring. Books line fir shelves, and a blue kasuri tapestry by weaver Alayna Rasile Digrindakis hangs over the dining table.
The Jennings’ Room 8, the first, was imagined by Hennes as “a love letter to cabin life,” and features rough-cut lumber and exposed red brick walls. Portland designer Ashley Tackett rendered Danish hygge throughout Room 2, adding elegant ebony wainscoting against white walls and accentuating columns in arched doorways with black paint. An extra twin bed nestles into a nook within a bespoke coal-tinged frame, and a black tufted Belmont sofa fills out the living room area.
Jennings’ newest digs, co-created by Klebba and Pierce, is furnished with a mix of curated garage sale finds and new pieces. Textile art woven from locally sourced yarn depicts a moonrise and under a dramatic, inky ceiling, snow-hued subway tiles line Room 3a’s bathroom walls and Carrara marble covers the floor for an indulgent yet edgy feel.
Hennes has five rooms open for business (which guests book through Airbnb), but his work at Jennings is far from done. He has plans for seven more rooms and a soaking tub that will debut this winter. Plus, he’s pushing to fill his artist residency program and launch a supper series featuring a different chef monthly. “What’s important to me is connecting people who care about art, design, and architecture to a landscape and community that are really powerful. I want the Jennings to be a catalyst toward stewardship tourism and to attract the kind of people who care about a place and its story.”
