Where do I begin?
To tell the story of The Foxden?
In all seriousness, the Foxden was literally one of the nicest places I have ever stayed in my entire life (and I have some friends/family with REALLY, really nice homes).
My story: So I have lived in the Los Angeles area for many, many years. I actually own a 3-bedroom, 1-bath home that I love very much. When my sister and nephew from Wisconsin told me a few months back they wanted to come visit, I knew they couldn't stay with me because I currently only have one bed and my house is under never advancing home improvements and is not exactly visitor friendly right now. Figured they would stay in a nearby hotel while here. In late December I started to look at AirbnB's for them. Realized that I could pitch in and stay with them too (a little staycation for myself as well). The base prices on AirbnBs are so reasonable; I was looking in Venice because my cousin rented a wonderful home a few years back and I figured that was a great area where my nephew could venture out on his own if he wanted (which he ended up doing several times (the house has several bikes)). Anyway, I didn't find that home; but I did find The Foxden.
I could not stop staring at the beautiful on-line photos; even printed many of them up hoping they might inspire me to do something magical to my own remodel. The price wasn't that bad at all. $413 a night I believe. After adding service fee/tax/cleaning, etc. that's only $200 per person per night (WAY cheaper than when we stayed at a very plain hotel room in Cabo once). The lower priced places were fine, but being in my 50's, my clubbing nights are behind me (and I assumed my sister as well) - I like to do stuff during the day, but I'm definitely a homebody at night and felt that this extremely beautiful home would transport me to somewhere I needed/deserved to be. So I called her and said "what do you think about this house?"
Let me tell you, not only did she (and her 29 year old son) agree it was so worth it, everyone who saw it, did as well.
The day finally arrived and the entire 3 night, 2 full days, and 2 partial days were magic. We were in full on ZEN mode the entire time. I can't truly say it was beyond my expectations, because having lovingly gazed at all the photos for weeks, I pretty much knew every nook and cranny of that beautiful house with the exception of the laundry room and the front bathroom. My expectations were very high and the in person experience matched perfectly.
I could go on and on about Dale's home for you , but with the gorgeous on-line photos all interested can see, no further gushing is needed.
Highlights (in no particular order, but I'll try). The front porch (oohh la la), the side porch, the huge king bed (you could have fit 3 people between my sister and I), the mattress, linens, the lighting, the hot tub, the CABANA!, the Wolf Range, the espresso machine, the Sonos speaker system, the claw foot tub, the amazing kitchen chandelier, the back breakfast room (the horse print is absolutely breathtaking in person), the kitchen island (and all it entails) was hands down one of my favorite kitchens to hang out in/cook in ever!
As one previous reviewer said, if the Foxden were to ever go up for sale and I win the Lottery, I'm putting in my bid. This is not a big house (nor is my 1050 square foot house), but it could definitely win an award for what they've done with it. It is simply stunning.
To wrap up, next year we're hoping to add a few more people and rent one of Dale's amazing homes in Joshua Tree.