Project Spotlight: Orlando Soria’s Londo Lodge

Renovating a Yosemite area house firmly stuck in the 90s is a challenge that Orlando Soria is uniquely qualified for. The designer, who you might know from one of many HGTV shows, Emily Henderson’s blog, or his thoroughly entertaining Instagram account, grew up in the area and is eager to share its beauty with others—beauty that they can now find both outdoors and inside the home he’s affectionately dubbed Londo Lodge.

We recently chatted with Orlando, a seasoned Fireclay collaborator, about his masterful use of tile pattern and color in Londo Lodge’s Nancy Meyers-inspired kitchen transformation (seriously, you’re going to want to bookmark this kitchen). Keep reading for the full interview!

Meet Orlando!

Hi Orlando! First, can you tell us a little about yourself and what you do?

I’m an interior designer, writer, and content producer. I live in Los Angeles with my sweet little pit bull Saturday and I also have a home at Yosemite, Londo Lodge. I spend most of my time doing projects around the house. I’m obsessed with DIY and making my homes as beautiful as possible for myself and for my guests. My Yosemite cabin is available to rent on Airbnb and I get a lot of joy out of making sure it’s the nicest place to stay in the Sierra!

We’d love to hear about Londo Lodge. Is there any story behind it and the project that you want to share? What did it look like before, and what did you change?

The story of Londo Lodge goes all the way back to my childhood. I grew up in Yosemite Village, inside Yosemite National Park. When my parents retired in 2014, they had to give up their home inside the park (the homes there are for park employees only). So in 2020 when I’d finally gathered the money for a down payment, I jumped on the chance to buy a dated 1992 located just outside the park gates in a tiny town called Fish Camp. I loved that the house was on a relatively flat lot (most of the houses up here are on the sides of steep cliffs) and that architecturally it was pretty simple, mostly rectangles, so it seemed like the perfect place to make my own.

What type of look or aesthetic were you going for in the kitchen? What was your inspiration?

The goal with the whole house is to transform it from a 90s box into a more historic, traditional home. So with the kitchen I really wanted something that felt old and romantic. I wanted it to feel like it jumped right out of a Nancy Meyers movie. My main style inspirations were Cape Cod and Craftsman style.

Let’s talk tile! What drew you to Chaine Homme for the backsplash? How did you land on Mist for the color?

So, I’ve been in a bit of an obsessive space about this blue/green/grey color since I bought the house. It’s just such a soothing, relaxing, yet warm color. I also love that it relates to the nature outside, visible through all those new windows I added. We have silver tip pines up here, and the tips of those pine needles are that same blue/green/grey, so I wanted to bring the outdoors in in a very subtle way.

Can you tell us why you chose brick for the kitchen floor? What was your inspiration for the brick's color and pattern choice?

I wanted something that had a bit of a stone look yet was easier to clean than a slate floor (I loved the idea of an organic pattern slate floor but my mom convinced me that keeping that clean would drive me nuts). I loved the natural color variation in the brick tiles. They are so stunning and have so much depth. For anyone considering natural stone who doesn’t want all the extra maintenance, White Mountains brick is a really lovely alternative. And the weave pattern has a lot of sentimental value to me. I used it in a past project I really loved and I was happy to get to install it in my own home. I also love that it feels pretty traditional and because there is some size variance it has a bit of the wabi-sabi look I was going for when I contemplated using natural stone instead.

What do you love about working with tile? How about brick?

I love that Chaine Homme brings in a really lovely yet subtle pattern to the backsplash. A lot of people have called it “wallpaper” and it truly does feel like a pretty patterned backdrop for the kitchen. I like that the backsplash brings in just enough movement to give some visual interest but because it’s color matched to the ceiling it feels calm and relaxing.

Brick is a really lovely material to work with because it’s so classic. You can configure it so many different ways (straight stack, staggered, vertical, horizontal, etc) so you can really make it work for any space.

How did the installation process go? Did you face any challenges?

The tile installation was actually the only thing in the kitchen that wasn’t a challenge to install! The kitchen ended up taking a year to complete once we broke ground but the tile went in in just a few days. The only downside was I had to wait til all the cabinets went in to see the backsplash up, which really tried my patience! And the contractor ended up being pulled onto another job and left the floor tile with a grout haze on it, which took a little bit of research for me to figure out how to get off (it took a while but it’s gone now!).

How did you balance the functional needs of a vacation rental kitchen with your signature style?

Honestly, tile was one of the major elements I added to make this room more vacation rental friendly. Originally, I wanted to do wood flooring throughout the home, including bathrooms and kitchen. But a friend who owns a vacation rental advised against it. He’d put wood flooring in his kitchen and it had gotten water damage pretty quickly so he advised me against that. It definitely didn’t feel like a sacrifice because I love tile and I love adding in new finishes. Something that can really make a home feel balanced is combining different materials and finishes so having tile on the floor and backsplash really helps this room feel balanced and eclectic.

What’s your favorite detail or element in this kitchen that you think people might overlook?

I like so many of the details, including the gorgeous tiles! But the tiles are what people notice first, they’re show-stoppers! I love the few “secret” moments in the room: the enclosed coffee station, the hidden Sonos speaker above the refrigerator, and the secret drawer below the antique painting on the side of the china hutch. Those little details feel exciting to me because they’re subtle but make the room feel tailored and put together.

What’s next on your design horizon? Any upcoming projects where we might see Fireclay Tile make another appearance?

I’d love to work with Fireclay again on the bathrooms in the house. There are four dated bathrooms in this house and I’d like to start updating them one by one once I’ve healed a bit financially from the kitchen renovation. I’m also planning on a deck renovation next year but this year I’m concentrating on furniture makeovers that upgrade the house and make it more usable for larger groups of people. Next up is a living room upgrade with a large sectional so there will finally be room for my entire family to sit and watch a movie together. This house is kind of a design lab for me, so I will really never be done experimenting and playing with design ideas I haven’t had the chance to try elsewhere. Stay tuned!