1 of 2
Photography by Megan Lorenz
2 of 2
Photography by Megan Lorenz
Lauren Thorp’s customers often tell her they’d love nothing more than to move into Bonboni Mercantile Co., her Shaw neighborhood shop, and make themselves right at home. Now, in a way, she’s giving them a chance to do just that. After spending the past summer renovating a rustic log cabin near Lake Wappapello, about 30 minutes north of Poplar Buff, Thorp is welcoming visitors to The Hillside Hideaway, the first rental listing by Thorp’s hospitality venture, Bonboni Room & Board.
“It’s been a dream of ours for years,” says Thorp. “This cabin is a great little place. It’s rough on the edges, authentic, and there’s a lot of imperfections—but I think that makes it more special.”
Thorp and her husband, Justin Thorp, purchased the 2-acre property in early summer, just as the world was beginning to open back up again. They were attracted to the house, she says, because of its “good bones” and its location high on a hill. Thanks to a fortunate break in the treeline, it offers visitors a stunning view of the horizon.
The cottage sleeps six, with a queen-size bed in one room and four twin bunks in the other. A screen porch offers guests a front-row seat for spectacular sunsets. To ready that space for guests, the Thorps had the existing AstroTurf carpeting removed and the floor painted pale pink. Next, they added a daybed and two wood chairs, hand-carved by Thorp’s father, all accessorized with white tasseled pillows.
1 of 3
Photography by Megan Lorenz
2 of 3
Photography by Megan Lorenz
3 of 3
Photography by Megan Lorenz
“I’m inspired by Wes Anderson but [am] a little bit more approachable,” says Thorp. “I love quirkiness. I love a classic vintage look and to combine unique colors.”
Many of the trinkets and furnishings beloved by her shop’s clients have found their way into the cabin, and Thorp is always on the lookout for vintage pieces that she can reinvent. Recently she transformed a vintage bamboo-and-rattan dry sink into a bar cart with a ceramic-tiled backsplash. A vintage banner emblazoned with “FAIR today” is the centerpiece of the main living room wall. Thorp found it wadded up in the corner of a basement during an estate sale years ago and likes to daydream about its provenance. The pink undertones of the stone fireplace gave her a reason to bring two salmon velvet accent chairs, dripping with fringe, into the room. Though the cabin’s furnishings are beautiful, they are meant to be used, says Thorp. “We try to buy quality pieces that’ll stand up to wear and tear, but things happen and we move on,” she says. “If we need to switch the piece out, we switch the piece out.”
Outside, on the front porch and in the backyard among the property’s towering oak trees, Thorp’s penchant for that homey lived-in look is also on display. A stone firepit surrounded by baby blue Adirondack chairs, a blue-and-white–striped hammock, and a children’s tree swing are just waiting to be enjoyed.
Designing the cabin is Thorp’s most holistic project to date, she says. The details—books and board games, reading lights and colorful kitchenware—are there to make her visitors happy and want to come back.
