Jacumba Hot Springs has been nominated for four SD Architectural Foundation People's Choice Awards. Your vote in each category would mean the world to us. Cast your vote by tapping the "thumbs up" icon on each nomination page.
Orchid
Founded in the 1920s and home to a hotel since the 1950s, this desert portal reopened in 2023 with a thoughtful remodel: local lava rock, reclaimed wood, and natural desert earth ground three mineral hot spring pools, a bar, restaurant and live music lawn in sustainable, conscious design. More than a vibe, it's an authentic gathering place where out-of-town guests and the 550 locals of this Sonoran Desert town come together as one community.
Orchid
Jacumba is a newly remodeled boutique hotel along the Old Spanish Trail on Old Highway 80, home to this hot spring destination since the 1950s. Reopened in 2023 with local lava rock, reclaimed wood, and natural desert earth grounding three mineral hot spring pools, a bar, restaurant and live music lawn, it's an authentic gathering place where out-of-town guests and the 550 locals of this Sonoran Desert town come together as one community.
Orchid
Reopened in 2023, the hotel reads as public space first, private retreat second: three mineral pools, a bar, restaurant and live music patio arranged so locals and travelers naturally cross paths rather than stay separated. The architecture leans on what was already there and what belongs there, lava rock pulled from the site, desert earth left bare underfoot, timber salvaged from the original 1950s building, so the built environment steps back and lets the Sonoran Desert lead. It's public architecture built around gathering, not just occupancy.
Orchid
This project earns its recognition in Urban Design because that's the category that captures the whole story: not just the architecture, adaptive reuse, interiors or lighting alone, but how the pools, music venues, dining and gathering spaces relate to each other and weave into the town's Main Street. Sitting at the edge of our county, our country, the Laguna Mountains and the Sonoran Desert, Jacumba Hot Springs is culturally, historically, economically, environmentally and architecturally significant, urban design exemplified.
