From history to Hotel Trundle, new downtown addition will bring new life to old walls

Skylights, exposed brick and plaster, graffiti-esque carpets and a heavy emphasis on creativity and local flavor will make for a one-of-a-kind stay in Columbia later this year.

Walking through the gutted spaces of the old downtown Western Auto and Rose Talbert buildings, Rita Patel imagines how they will transform into Hotel Trundle, a boutique hotel she’s developing with her husband, Marcus Munse, in Columbia’s increasingly vibrant Main Street district.

“You’ll have these beautiful pieces of furniture that are tufted with buttons and really cool fabrics and textures, but also kind of interject this quirky, fun sense of humor with our artwork and colors,” Patel said.

The early stages of renovation are underway in the century-old Taylor Street buildings, along with the adjoining Powell Furniture building facing Sumter Street. Patel and Munse hope to open their 41-room hotel in October.

Patel is fascinated by the concept of a “palimpsest” – a surface that still bears traces of its earlier identity even after it has been transformed into something new.

That’s how she envisions Hotel Trundle, with the architectural history of the buildings peeking through in their new life.

A number of original features of the buildings will be preserved. And others that can’t will be echoed in the design and character of the hotel – such as the crumbling plastered and papered walls of the old Rose Talbert paint store, now devolved into pretty swaths of moldy greens and pinks and blues.

Hotel Trundle will come before the city’s Design/Development Review Commission on Thursday for approval of changes to the buildings’ exteriors.

This story was originally published April 13, 2017 at 3:18 PM with the headline "From history to Hotel Trundle, new downtown addition will bring new life to old walls."