Design was top of mind for Bruno Roldan and Jacqui Liberty when they embarked on updating and renovating a more than 160-year-old building in Caledon to create a boutique hotel centered around wellness, which they named The Liberty Inn.
“We have tried to think really hard about every single detail, so anyone who walks into any space can feel the level of care and attention that has gone into every corner,” Liberty said.
A “big part” of that was determining how best to preserve many historical features of the red-brick and stone building that stands prominently in the tiny hamlet of Cataract, located between Alton and Belfountain.
“In every room, we made an intentional decision to make it feel fresh, but with a nod to its past,” Liberty said noting every room a historical feature whether it’s exposed limestone walls or picture moulding.
It was no small feat given the building at 1498 Cataract Road has undergone multiple renovations since being erected sometime between 1855 and 1865 (the date it was built is difficult to verify). Since that time, it has housed a general store and post office, a few restaurants and an assortment of inns, most recently the Forks of the Credit Inn.
“There have been many renovations over the years, where a lot of these (historical) features would have been removed, so where we could, we added them back in – things like very high baseboards and picture moulding and wallpaper,” Liberty said.
To assist them in executing their plan for the five-suite, seven bedroom inn, the couple worked with Tiffany Leigh Design, the firm that helped them renovate their home in Erin.
Aside from preserving the building’s history, Liberty, a potter with a studio in nearby Alton, said they also wanted to incorporate and showcase local art.
To that end, very early on, they commissioned original artworks from several Canadian artists, many of them from Ontario, to adorn each suite.
“We showed (the artists) the design of the rooms and gave them dimensions of artwork we were looking for and just had them create what they thought would work, which was a bit of a gamble,” Liberty said. “It worked out really well. They did a great job.”
Liberty’s pottery can also be found throughout the inn. All the plates, bowls, mugs and vases were hand-crafted in her local studio.
As well, Liberty and her brother-in-law worked together to make about 10,000 tiles, which were installed in the bathrooms and kitchenettes, something she had never attempted before.
There were a couple of reasons behind these somewhat daring artistic design decisions.
“I have a huge appreciation for the arts and I love supporting local artists and local makers in any way that I can,” Liberty said, “And part of it was the challenge. I had never made tiles before but I thought, ‘How hard can it be?’
“It’s really hard, but we did it as a challenge to ourselves and to impart something of our own into the space.”
Other design choices were shaped by Roldan and Liberty’s own travel experiences as parents with young twin daughters.
Among those decisions was to ensure a couple of the rooms are large enough to accommodate a family.
“Instead of going the route of adding more suites, we decided to make two, two-bedroom suites so families could enjoy the experience,” Roldan said.
Additionally, each suite features a kitchenette, a living room, and a small dining area.
Most of the bathrooms offer spa amenities such as a steam shower or an infrared sauna so guests can enjoy the offerings of the hotel and surrounding area, on a schedule that works best for them, Roldan said.
“When we were travelling with our kids, it was always very hard to book in the experiences that we wanted because we had twins. We thought it would be really cool if there were a place where you could go and take that experience at your own pace,” Roldan said. “So, in the suites you have the wellness amenities… as well we have the wellness amenities on the property that can be privately booked. With the kitchenettes you can stay for more than a day or two and enjoy your time.”
Another feature Liberty feels guests, especially families, will appreciate is the large storage lockers on the Inn’s main floor, which can fit up to four bikes.
“They’re for skis or bikes or strollers or anything you need that kind of makes it easier for you to keep all your gear that you’ll be using in the area. And, with kids, having ground-floor storage for your stroller that is locked and secured is great,” Liberty said, pointing out the Inn is steps from the Elora-Cataract Trail and Forks of the Credit Provincial Park and a short drive to the TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley golf course.
The couple’s attention to detail and thoughtful design choices weren’t limited to the inn’s interior.
Every aspect of the outdoor spaces was carefully curated including the woodland spa, which boasts a cedar barrel sauna, a hot tub, a cold plunge and a small bonfire area.
Guests can book the outdoor spa space privately, by the hour, for exclusive use, Liberty said.
Transforming the inn into its current form took about two years and the couple encountered some hurdles along the way, mainly due to the chaos brought by the pandemic, Roldan said.
“We made a list of all of the furniture we wanted to buy and that took a lot of time and when we went to buy it, nothing was available… or it would just never arrive,” he said. “It took a lot longer than a typical renovation project would take because we started in the middle of COVID.”
One other key detail that took a lot of time and effort, at least on Roldan’s part, was convincing Liberty to put her family name on the inn.
“I took quite a bit of convincing,” she said. “I’m not really the type of person to go around slapping my name on things.”
Roldan felt it was an ideal name, so he spent nearly two years trying to persuade her to embrace it.
“When the girls were born, they took Jacqui’s last name. I thought it would be really cool if the Inn had Jacqui’s last name because they have Jacqui’s last name and it could, hopefully, one day, stay in the family, if that’s what they wanted, and build a bit of a legacy for them.
“Then there’s the other component that liberty stands for so much more. It’s just a nice name for an inn that’s been around since before Canada as we know it was formed.”