Tiller House hotel honors Laguna Hill’s rancher legacy

Elite Hospitality, Inc. is pleased to announce the grand opening of the Tiller House, a Tribute Portfolio hotel by Marriott.

The 76-room boutique hotel located in Southern California is nestled within what was once the Historic Moulton Ranch and celebrates Orange County’s proud rancher legacy as well as the historic contributions of Lewis Fenno Moulton and his wife, Nellie Gail Moulton.

The Tiller House is designed in a Coastal Farmhouse style that evokes the relaxed and casually elegant ambiance of Southern California. The hotel also thoughtfully incorporates references to the Moulton family’s achievements and rancher heritage, while being located on the land Moulton cultivated by tilling the soil and raising sheep.

Principal of Elite Hospitality, Kevin Akash, said the Tiller House, like all Tribute Portfolio Hotels, is about giving guests the opportunity to embrace the history and legacy of the community they are staying in.

“Tiller House is not a standard hotel, but a hotel woven within this community,” Akash said. “We wanted to create something that celebrated the 21,000 acres of land that Moulton Ranch resided on. Allowing guests to experience the extraordinary legacy of Lewis Moulton and Nellie Gail and how much their sheep and cattle ranch was a commodity to Laguna Hills.”

Tiller House features a clubhouse-style lobby and boutique rooms with a custom feature headboard wall, a featured credenza, modern lounge chairs, nesting coffee tables, farmhouse-style barn doors, and a transitional sofa.

The hotel's interior design is credited to Los Angeles-based interior design firm Atwater Inc. Studio and its Founder-Creative Director, Stina Funch. The Coastal Farmhouse architecture is credited to Huntington Beach architecture firm HMR Architecture.

Akash said it was Funch and her team that came up with the idea to center the theme of the Tiller House around the Moulton Ranch and really make the idea come to life.

“It was Stina and her team at Atwater who leaned into the Moulton family story and knew we could do a lot with it,” Akash said. “I have worked in this business for a long time, and I don’t think I have ever fallen in love with a company like Atwater. They are truly boutique and helped us through every step of the way. They loved this project as much as we did, and it shows in the finished product.”

Tiller House features custom furniture in the guest rooms and lobby, procured by Eclipse Hospitality, a hotel furniture manufacturer in Phoenix, Arizona.

“Eclipse did an amazing job procuring unique furniture for this hotel,” Akash said. “All the guest room furniture is custom. You can’t duplicate this furniture at another hotel. Everything is designed for Tiller House, nothing is shelved, and every piece is a showstopper.”

Anand Patel, Principal of Eclipse Hospitality, said procuring custom furniture for 76 unique rooms and the clubhouse lobby was a welcome challenge. The Tiller House is a testament to his team’s successful hard work.

“This was a great opportunity and challenge for us to procure and build all these unique pieces that many firms would not have the people, process, or flexibility to accomplish,” Patel said. “It was an honor for Eclipse Hospitality to help bring the Vision of the Tiller House to life.”

The Tiller House has partnered with the Moulton Museum to help guests learn the history of the Moulton Ranch and the family who ran it. The Museum has donated some introductory art pieces to the hotel, and the Tiller House has dedicated multiple hotel sections to photos and art depicting the history of Moulton Ranch.

Akash sees the Tiller House as an Ambassador of the Laguna Hills community, and the hotel’s commitment to providing a boutique experience that highlights the Moulton legacy is a way to embrace that ambassador role.

“We want the Tiller House to serve as more than just a hotel,” Akash said. “We want it to be a place where guests can learn the roots of the community they are staying in. Come on by and learn a bit about the past while enjoying the present.”