Wolhwa Inn
why

The Space to Remember the Ocean

Wolhwa Inn first opened in Jukdo Beach during the late 1970s when things were entirely different in the area. The Inn offered a space where anyone from outside of the area could squeeze in for rest and relax after their hard labor in the oceans. And three decades later, Wolhwa Inn opened its door once again. The hosts sought to reopen the inn filled with the atmosphere that it had had for many years. But they soon faced tough reality. The inn had been packed with smaller-sized rooms to accommodate as many guests as possible. And furthermore, the brick building itself was assessed to be less than safe for remodeling. Demolishing was inevitable before building a new one.


Yet the hosts still sought to carry on with the ambience of the former inn. A few of their choices were to finish with the construction with white colored wall and oak flooring and then fill the space with wooden furniture to revive an image of an inn located by a seaside. Indeed, use of wooden material for the space in overall turned out to be just adequate for fusing sensibility of the old and the unique elements of wood – warmth and simplicity -into the inn. The clever choice has created comfortable atmosphere, while avoiding banality from use of similar materials throughout the building. The space that would give little fatigue to eyes – that is how you would describe Wolhwa Inn.

To the hosts of Wolhwa Inn, wooden furniture from Standard.A set themselves apart from other wooden furniture. Rather than looking dull and weighty, sleekness and simplicity blended well with the sensibility that hosts of Wolhwa Inn had been looking for. The hosts went through numerous thoughts on exterior design of the building to avoid clashing with the atmosphere of the neighborhood. And such thoughts seem to have led to them to choose furniture pieces from Standard.A – the pieces that would be relevant with the space, yet still have their own color.

Wolhwa Inn offers a place for rest and relax in Jukdo Beach, one of the trending neighborhood of Yangyang in Gangwon Province. You may want to indulge yourself in vacation vibes trying gilmac or street beer, feeling sea breeze, and immerse yourself in the sensibility of the neighboring village. Ingu-ri is one of the trending spots of Yangyang, while it is a neighborhood where the locals continue their everyday lives. And Wolhwa Inn would definitely be your best pick for traveling in Ingu-ri.
people

Neighborhood Travelers Who Explore Lives of Locals

The hosts are a couple who like traveling. The couple first came to know the beauty of the beach - where Wolhwa Inn is located - in the late 2000s. A drive along the former national highway number 7 lead the couple to a chance encounter with the neighborhood. On the quiet and peaceful Jukdo Beach, which is quite unlike today, the couple recalled that they pulled over their car and endlessly gazed at the sea, with freshly brewed coffee in their hands. The beach nudged them into wishing that they had a small house that would make a cozy home of their own. But they soon forgot what had flown into their mind after returning to their home in Seoul.

Time flew by since then, and the couple came back in mid 2010s and found themselves fascinated by the neighborhood transforming, with a number of surf shops settled. Their wish to find a tiny space of their own in the seaside neighborhood grew stronger again, and the couple instantly moved ahead with their search for older houses. Their spontaneous and brave exploration took them to Ingujoonang-gil, the street lined with a long strip of gingko trees. Attracted by the atmosphere of the street, the couple began looking for houses for sale, and were finally referred to the place where Wolhwa Inn is standing today.

The host couple believes that travelling is about leaving weighty burden of life behind, to be part of someone else’s everyday life for a little while. Rather than pushing themselves around tourist spots, they prefer a kind of travel that they could stay in inns in a small village, strolling along neighborhoods, and drop by local shops to experience everyday lives of locals. The hosts thus hope that Wolhwa Inn makes a space where they could share such experience with many.

The villages surrounding Jukdo Beach and Ingu Beach - Ingu-ri, Sibyeon-ri and Dongsan-ri - is filled with distinct vibe created by a unique mix of older-aged locals and younger-aged migrants who relocated themselves in pursuit of their passion for surfing. Wolhwa Inn was a place the host had long been looking for to share the inexplicable atmosphere of the neighborhood. Surely, this is the space that started with the hosts’ sincere wish to share their experience in exploring the neighborhood, as well as the place for themselves.
Wolhwa Inn
location

Offering a Place for Retreat at the Epicenter of Surfing

Yangyang is the epicenter of surfing in Korea. Many are relocating themselves to the area just to get immersed in surfing, and surfers in their surfing suits can easily be found striding on streets. Wolhwa Inn is nestled nearby two of the “hip” neighborhoods – Jukdo Beach and Ingu Beach. The three-story building has mezzanines on the second and third floor, two bedrooms, two and a half restrooms, a living room and a dining space. Interestingly, although Wolhwa Inn is located in a seaside village, it doesn’t aspire to be one of numerous “seaside stays” that would be easily found in the area. It is only a few walks away to get to beaches, but the inn doesn’t necessarily offer ocean view. Instead, you may find that Wolhwa Inn offers mountain view.

Guests get to spend some time for a getaway from stressful and tiring everyday lives and experience lives of the locals in Ingu-ri, the areas with a good balance between simplicity and splendor. You may find yourself refreshed and recharged after indulging in the ambience of village outside and relaxing in one of the rooms of Wolhwa Inn. The highlight of experience with Wolhwa Inn will be watching sunset going over the mountain from the terrace, in a village of East Sea that has made its name for beautiful sunrise. Indeed, the sunset makes a pleasant surprise for guests staying Wolhwa Inn. The hosts sought to make their guests make most out of the privilege of staying in Ingu-ri, a remote seaside village with fresh and unique atmosphere created by the locals who have lived for generations and the younger-aged migrants.
MAKING STORY

Duksan Construction Company had had extensive experience in Sokcho and Yangyang areas. The company took charge of construction of Wolhwa Inn, despite some tough and challenging works, including mezzanines and skylights, that the host couple could count on it without worries. Since the hosts did not stay in the facility on a regular basis, what they paid the most attention to was energy source. Boilers fueled by oil or LPG were some of the limited choices in Ingu-ri where gas lines did not reach back then. But these types of boilers demanded constant check and refueling. The couple decided that it would not be as easy as they first thought.

In the end, the host couple decided to source energy from electricity for everything necessary - spanning from air conditioning, boilers for floor heating to cooking tops. The task was obviously challenging. But after closely working with the construction company that made ceaseless efforts, the needs of the hosts were well met. The choice definitely pushed up the cost but turned out to be more convenient to manage and operate, and drastically reduce one of the risks of fire – the issue that the locals had always been concerned about. Air conditioning and heating or all remotely controlled by Google Nest so that all rooms are maintained at adequate temperature before guests check in.#
The host couple decided to build entirely new, but still sought to leave a few of elements of the old inn intact. The previous building had had beautiful windows on the second floor, opening to the main street in the east that the couple wanted to present it to any visitors. Against the backdrop, the two hosts set a few rules when they began working on the new building.

First, Wolhwa Inn should continue its legacy, maintaining the unique atmosphere created by the façade of the former building. This was because the couple did not want to make the building stand out from the rest of the buildings in a quiet village. The first priority was to keep the design of the interior understated and make it blend well with neighboring buildings.

Second, flow of light, air and human traffic should be the key elements to pay attention to for interior design. All the windows of Wolhwa Inn let light in, from morning with five windows on the east side until sunset with the terrace on the west side. Ceiling fans and windows are designed to let wind and air from the mountain side flow every corner of the inn. The focus was laid on design ideas to let air and light in, deftly coinciding with flow of movements of guests. The design idea centered at the movement of guests spanning from the entrance, guestrooms, bathroom and restroom to the living room with high ceiling, and then perpendicularly to the guestroom in upstairs.

Third, the interior should be finished with understatement and simplicity. With a strong belief that proper construction of space would make the best interior design idea, efforts were made to underline such construction of space. Instead, all materials used were genuine. The hosts chose materials and furniture pieces made with genuine wood. These were part of careful choice and efforts to create a space that would look like a well-designed furniture.#
SPACE

Finding a Friend’s Home in Yangyang

Wolhwa Inn was far from a perfectly refined space. Instead, wooden furniture designed by Standard.A would warmly welcome guests, culminating the comfortable atmosphere of Wolhwa Inn. It would have been a nice idea to stroll around the cozy neighborhood and see the vast ocean, but I found myself urged to stay inside, once I entered into Wolhwa Inn. Though it was my first time, it felt somewhat familiar. And I liked the comfort from the familiarity from the travel that I am supposed to look for unfamiliarity.

I picked my favorite piece of music and carefully listened to the analog sound playing out from the vintage audio equipments. After the experience, I could clearly see now why the hosts took their pride in the audio equipment. Travelling past the high ceiling to the second floor, the music presented some soothing time. You would never spend time without music, when you quietly treat yourself with some good wine sitting at the dining table, with the empty living room behind.

The guest room placed nearest to the entrance is a place where you can have some sound sleep. If you like to travel yet have had experience feeling fatigue because of less than comfortable beds, Wolhwa Inn would definitely be one of your best picks. It may not look anything special yet boasts adequate and near-perfect brightness. Instead of pouring out, sunlight quietly stays and then disappears with time. Furthermore, the books on the bedhead hints at the tastes of the hosts as well.

Every space unveils at least one element that would make you want to live. High ceiling, a long and stretchy staircase in front of the entrance door, sunlight pouring into a large window, a kitchen that lures anyone into cooking food, and restrooms – all are packed in Wolhwa Inn. These are part of thoughtfulness the host couple wishing any guests to return to their lives filled with happiness from their experience bordering between everyday lives and travel. A night at Wolhwa Inn blessed by splendid moonlight – anyone would be welcomed with warmth.
INTERVIEW

INTERVIEW with the host of Wolhwa Inn, Kim Yu-jin

stayfolio
Wolhwa Inn
What moved you to open Wolhwa Inn?
The two of us like traveling. But both of us prefer a kind of travel that we could blend in with local neighborhoods, rather than being travelers from outside. We like experiencing everyday lives of locals, strolling around neighborhood streets and dining at local restaurants. And we sought to share our idea of traveling with many. We chose Ingu-ri, because it is the area with a unique mix of locals and migrants, and we felt that we could find at least a few people who would agree with our idea of traveling. So we started materializing our idea.
Could you walk us through each spaces in Wolhwa Inn. And what is your favorite?
When you climb a long strip of stairs, pass by the entrance on the second floor and a low pathway, and then turn two of the corners, then you will find a living room with a high ceiling. The living room is definitely my favorite. It is a gallery of sunlight, with five large windows to the east, three small windows on the upper part, one large single window to the north, and two windows to the south. You would be left with an unforgettable memory experiencing the sunlight in the early morning, in particular, pouring out from the five main windows on the east side and the ceiling. I personally like the living room and the dining space next connecting to it as well. I like them because I can spend time talking to my loved ones at the table, indulging in the wind coming in through the window in the evenings during the fall season. I would recommend treating yourself with a cup of tea or a glass of wine, listening to your favorite music playing out from the vintage audio system.
From the name Wolhwa Inn, Wohwa is a Sino-Korean word with the meaning “splendid moonlight.” What motivated you to choose the name?
When I purchased the building, I asked the previous owner about what the name meant. I heard that the father of the previous owner ran the accommodation many years, and came up with the name. I really liked how it sounded. So I chose wol (月), Chinese character symbolizing moon and hwa (華), meaning splendid and shining to combine and add some fresh perspective to the name.
Could you name any architectural pieces or brand names that gave you inspiration for Wolhwa Inn?
We got inspiration from designers of Standard.A, where we had most of our furniture built. Wooden furniture may often look dull, but Standard.A, without a doubt, offered us some different ideas to solve problems. The designers designed the furniture with solid structure and gave a stunning finish to the style, which would normally have been challenging for wooden furniture. Indeed, many parts of Wolhwa Inn owe a lot to the furniture designed by Standard.A designers.
What is the message you wanted to deliver with Wolhwa Inn?
The place is very close to Ingu Beach and Jukdo Beach, but we didn’t want to define it simply as “an accommodation nearby a seaside.” We wished our guests to briefly get away from their exhausting everyday lives and live like the locals of Ingu-ri, the area where residents take pride in for being one of the fabulous areas in Yangyang. We wish you could feel the unique vibe of the village and take some good rest before you go back to your everyday routine.
What kind of atmosphere you want to keep up with and what would be your future plan?
It has already been three years since we opened Wolhwa Inn. And where Wolhwa Inn has settled, Jukdo Beach and Ingu Beach went through a lot of changes for these past years, as the hub of surfers began to attract family travelers. When we first opened Wolhwa Inn, we did not plan to accommodate underaged travelers, because of safety reasons that may be caused by mezzanines and stairs. But with changes in the neighborhood and moreover, we began to receive requests from family travelers that we are now serving our family guests, after assisting them with safety guidelines. We seek to offer a comfortable space for diverse range of guests, including family guests who travel to the area.

STAY’s recommended
Local Destination

Jukdo Beach and Ingu-ri

The neighborhood is just right for a stroll in your comfortable clothes, leaving your luggage in the room. The recommended route is a stroll along Ingu Joonang-gil toward the Myeon Office to tour around small shops and restaurants, move over to the Jukdo Pavillion in Ingu Beach to have a thorough look around the neighborhood, and then stroll along the beach to Dongsan-ri.

STAY’s recommended
Local Restaurant

Schurrers

This is a café located on the first floor of Wolhwa Inn. The chairs and parasols on the side of the café would make you feel for an instant that you are having a getway in faraway places like Bali. The café also sells surfboards, clothing and accessories and offers drinks after sunset.

STAY’s recommended
Local Cafe

In Dongsan

The only roastery café that is located on Dongsan Beach. The café is not a popular destination for travelers – rather, it is a café strongly recommended by the locals.

Surfer’s Paradise

Surfer’s Paradise serves great coffee, watermelon juice and waffle. The place has tables both in and outside, and sells clothing personally picked by the owner.

Stone Fish

This is the place where you can have beer outdoors, enjoying the vibe of the seaside village. A jug of beer in the place would make you feel like you are one of the local surfers. The place is recommended for those of you who are looking for chances to experience the life of local surfers.

STAY

My First Experience Staying in an Inn

To be honest, inn is a word that I encountered from TV dramas during my childhood years. The TV dramas would often illustrate inns as a space that laborers could barely lay themselves after a long day of work. And for some inexplicable reason, I had long believed that inns were not relevant for the time like today, when “staycation” has become part of the trend. But paradoxically, because I had not experienced what it would be like staying in an inn, I found myself in curiosity. The experience in Wolhwa Inn proved to be right for me. For anyone, the first experience should always be important. And for a person like me who vaguely had resisted staying in an inn, the encounter with Wolhwa Inn in Yangyang, Gangwon Province turned out to be a complete reversal of my biased perception.

When I stepped into Wolhwa Inn, what first caught me was its adequate room temperature. Whereas accommodations I experienced normally had been either chilly or stuffily warm because of excessive air conditioning or heat, the Wolhwa Inn seemed to have found the right temperature and deftly kept it. I got an impression that the system remotely operated by Google Nest was running fairly well that guests wouldn’t have to take any actions once they were inside. This may have been trivial yet I felt that it would turn into a key strength.

The dining space was designed with close attention to detail. The space was equipped with decent tableware, cooking tools and coffee machines – making it good enough to cook. I spend time sitting at the table and listening to music with vintage audio equipment or dazing on the sofa in the spacious living room. Reading or listening, in fact, keeps your brain working. I personally recommend spending time for your brain to rest and relax, literally doing nothing at all. And Wolhwa Inn is the place where you can get away from everything for a retreat.

Standing in front of the eastern seaside where sun rises, Wolhwa Inn presents a beautiful reflection of moonlight on the surface of the sea. At night, I finally came to know why Wolhwa Inn was named with inspiration from a Sino-Korean word meaning “splendid moonlight.” I have seen numerous sunny places, but only a handful of places to appreciate beautiful moonlight. And living up to its name, Wolhwa Inn was nicely filled with warm moonlight. Even without lightings, moonlight snuck in like thick fog that I felt like I was snug and surrounded by it in my sleep.
4 POINT OF VIEW

ORIGINALITY

Design with Ethos

The hosts of Wolhwa Inn made their best efforts in avoiding copycat products. They filled the inn with pieces from designer brands with uniqueness and originality, though the brands may not be luxury or high-end. Similar to packing the space with stories and pursuits, the host couple sought to find pieces that would best share their stories.

DESIGN

The Space That Reveals the Taste of Hosts

Audio equipment, flip clock, and book in the guest rooms are some of the items and accessories that the two hosts spent many years collecting. These items reveal that Wolhwa Inn is a space that is not built in a rush to open an accommodation – rather it is made with layers of time and tastes of the hosts

Hospitality

A Moment to Spare to Live, Not Travel

Wolhwa Inn makes itself complete not just only on its own, but also with the neighborhood. In a small village with vast diversity, Ingu-ri, you may want to turn yourself into a migrant, rather than a traveler, to enjoy a day. A slight change in attitude would bring about a big shift in how you travel.

PRICE

Vacation to Enjoy in Different Ways

Wolhwa Inn has two bedrooms, two and a half restrooms, an exceptionally spacious living room and a dining space, and uses the entire double-decker building. The kitchen is nicely equipped for those who enjoy cooking with local food ingredients in their travel destination, while the space is just right for those who seek time for rest and relax.

Stay Name
Wolhwa Inn

Stay Type
Rental House

Contact information

Address
57-1, Ingujungang-gil, Hyeonnam-myeon, Yangyang-gun, Gangwon-do, Republic of Korea

Guests / No. of Room
4~5 / 1

Price
US$ 250.79 ~ US$ 322.44

Check-in / out
16:00 / 11:00

Feature
Kitchenette, Tub (ex. Jacuzzi, Hinoki)

PHOTO BY PARK KIHUN(@arc_factory) | http://arcfactory.net
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