Off the main street in Occidental, a transformation has been taking place on the site of the former Union Motel — one that has become all the more visible thanks to a highly active Instagram account. The Little Bohemian, a fresh inn awash in barn red, is set to open in Feb. 2027.
Eli Sokol, the founder of Little Bohemian, comes from an architecture and design background; he’s been working in development roles for hotels for over a decade. The Little Bohemian will be his first personal project. “I’ve always wanted to do my own work,” he said. The Los Angeles native splits his time between San Francisco’s Castro neighborhood and Guerneville, recently spending much more time in the latter as the renovation ramps up.
He looked at around 10 to 15 properties in the Russian River area and “kissed a few frogs” over the past seven years before finally landing on Hill Street’s Union Motel. Built in 1959 by the Panizerra family as a sister to the Union Hotel, the property exudes midcentury vibes — and some spookiness after having been closed for over two decades. “There was definitely some Scooby Doo ghost town energy,” Sokol said. “It had not been touched in a long time.”
Yet the bones are great, Sokol said, and the location is amazing. “The goal is to create something that feels like it always could have been here, and that only belongs here,” he said. One of the most important changes for Sokol was moving the parking from in front of the rooms to behind the property, which transforms the sightlines for guests.
“Instead of opening your door and looking at a car parked two feet away, now you’ll see this nice courtyard, and a pool deck, and then the redwoods behind,” he said. “I like that kind of layering—that connects all these spaces together.”
While the property will be well-appointed, it will be reflective of the alternative community who lives here: hippies, artists, seekers, creatives. Think West County nice, not Napa nice. “The energy is a little bit cheeky,” he said, “and not too serious.”
The property will highlight many artist collaborations — including one with his own mother, who will be painting a mural on a central wall. He is also in the process of crowd-sourcing a muralist to paint the retaining wall facing the street (a pool of six contenders has been narrowed down from 35 online submissions). “The engagement online has really blown me away,” he said. An “iconic” local artist, who Sokol couldn’t yet identify, is providing prints for the interior, and the inn’s Creative Director Peter Williams is crafting an art installation composed of birdhouses.
The Los Angeles native moved to San Francisco a decade ago and went to Guerneville the first few weeks he was in the city. “I fell in love with this area immediately,” he said. “This is as much home to me as anywhere at this point,” he said.
Sokol called the town of Occidental a “fairy tale village,” and he adores the community. Most of the businesses are queer- or women-owned, he said, and it’s a place where people support one another. It’s also an incredible location.
“It’s the perfect jumping-off point to enjoy everything about West County,” he said. “Go down to Wildflour and have the best breakfast ever, go to the coast in 20 minutes, go to Guerneville and float on the river, do wine stuff, go to Bodega Bay. It has all of the flavors.”
The inn’s signature barn red will be splashed across its pool mural and within the interiors of the rooms (it will also be the background color on the mural out front). The pool house edging the swimming area will have self-serve snacks and drinks and a sauna with porthole windows, with a second sauna up the hill in the back.
The property contains 13 rooms along the main structure, with four rooms having private patio gardens. An additional four rentals, called Ood houses, will be perched up the hill. The reception area will be bright and cozy, where a continental breakfast and light bites will be served.
“On the weekends we’re going to do a pastry partnership with the Altamont and a kitchenette with grab-and-go,” he said. “Living here, there’s a few days a week when there’s not a lot of food options in town.”
The burning question on many locals’ minds: Will the pool be available to area residents with a guest day pass? “It’s definitely our intention to,” Sokol said. “But we have to go through a permit process first.”
You can carry out your own Bohemian dream by applying to one of the open job positions the inn still has available: full-time innkeeper or part-time innkeeper. Sokol said the response from the community in reviving the abandoned property has been fantastic.
“This is hard work,” Sokol said. “Seeing how much people are excited for it gives me a lot of energy, and I need a lot of energy.”
Occidental Pride: OUT in the Woods goes all out for its annual Pridefest
The idea for the Occidental Pride celebration, OUT in the Woods, began on a back deck with a glass of wine. Friends Jolene Beilstein, Chris Lewis and Adrian Chang were chatting when they hatched the idea.
“Chris probably said, ‘We deserve a bloody Pride,’” said Chang, who co-owns the popular Two Trees Tea House along with Lewis. It was 2023, when a lot of people were particularly frightened with the crackdown on drag story hours and trans life. “We needed to remind people this community is beautiful and queer, and we have a right to exist,” Chang said.
That was four years ago, and the trio recently celebrated their fourth successful Pride event on Occidental’s Main Street on Sept. 26.
The vision for the event had always been a block party, which returned in 2026 after a one-year deviation at the Occidental Center for the Arts. “It was more of a music show than a festival,” Chang said of the event they hosted there. This year’s festivities included a Pride walk, crafts and a DJ dance party.
There’s a deep-rooted LGBTQIA+ community in Occidental, Chang said, a natural spillover from queer-friendly Guerneville. Yet often, there’s not an awareness of how big the community is. Since those who are attracted to Occidental are often “introverted, forest people,” as Chang described, they need a reminder that there are other people like them in their community.
The celebration has evolved over four years to accentuate inclusion and accessibility. There are lots of nonbinary and trans folks in Occidental in particular, Chang said, and also a significant neurodivergent population. That was part of the rationale behind expanding arts and crafts offerings so people could engage in what’s called “parallel play.”
“It can help to make social gatherings less stimulating,” Chang said.
“It’s nice to have a reminder that we have family out here,” Chang said, who noted a lot of non-queer families joined in the celebration as allies. “The good people of Occidental want to get together and support each other,” he said.
Other highlights included an opening ceremony led by Dr. Brenda Flyswithhawks, a professor and the board president of LandPaths. “The opening is always a highlight,” Chang said. “To feel connected to the land with the blessing of an indigenous leader.”
DJ Dyops has performed in the past; this year it was newcomer DJ Eminor Bass. The goal is to feature local talent at the event, Chang said, and the ethereal sound of band Cloudrune rounded out the musical offerings.
Chang was born and raised in San Francisco and Oakland but later moved to Japan, where he met Lewis. He was there with Lewis in 2011 when the earthquake and tsunami struck, which prompted the couple to leave the country and travel before coming back to the U.S. to get married and look for a place to live.
“We wanted to be in the countryside,” Chang said. “And I spent a lot of time at the Russian River as a kid.” Returning to the area, he stumbled into Occidental and fell in love with its tight-knit community. “People really look out for each other here,” he said. “We want to be of service and be part of something bigger than ourselves.”
