Watching The River Flow

A custom, bespoke design is always an enjoyable experience for an interior designer.  But a bespoke design within a modern addition to a late 1800’s building originally built by Minnesota’s lumber barons, set on the edge of the St. Croix river, in the charming river town of Stillwater… that gets a designer’s creativity really flowing.

So it is with the Water Street Inn.  The Lumbermen’s Exchange Building was built in 1890 for the wealthy lumber merchants using the St. Croix river to transport their materials from Minnesota’s and Wisconsin’s forests.  Adjacent to the Exchange Building was Union Station, Stillwater’s train depot.  Union Station was later destroyed, but the Exchange Building stood. 

In 2019 the owners of the Exchange Building undertook a renovation of the building, along with a new addition, designed to be a model of the former Union Station.  The 61 guest rooms and dining and public spaces are today the Water Street Inn.  The Inn is the living, contemporary blending of these two Victorian era buildings, one original and one a modern reproduction, with an interior design that bridges the modern with the vintage while paying homage to the flowing river right outside the window.

Each room at the Inn is designed with attention to detail to blend with the ambience of this river front town.  Gas fireplaces adorn some of the suites, along with details of the Victorian era that have been both preserved and modernized.  Brick, wood and stone was used throughout, and tasteful tartan plaids in carpets and bed throws reflect the woodsy nature of this charming lumber town.

Minnesota’s own Bob Dylan wrote the song Watching the River Flow with the lyrics “but right now I’ll just sit here so contentedly and watch the river flow”.  The design team created the perfect spot to do just that.