In the summer of 2014, the 16-room Dogfish Inn opened in downtown Lewes, Del. It’s an off-centered home base for beer geeks and beach lovers reflecting Dogfish Head’s offbeat approach to style, quality and craft. This new motel experience embraces modern style and convenience while celebrating an analog era of family vacations, big cars and endless summers.
City Lights Books (website)
Founded in 1953 by poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Peter D. Martin, City Lights is one of the few truly great independent bookstores in the United States, a place where booklovers from across the country and around the world go to browse, read, and just soak in the ambiance of alternative culture’s only “Literary Landmark.” The people behind the landmark San Francisco bookstore curate, hand-stamp and replenish the Dogfish Inn’s City Lights Library.
Steve Rogers (website)
Delaware fine artist Steve Rogers, a signature member of the American Society of Marine Artists, has created a treasure hunt of sorts. Somewhere on the walls of each room of the Dogfish Inn, he’s painted the historic Lightship Overfalls. A National Historic Landmark and one of only 17 lightships remaining, the Lightship Overfalls is docked just a few hundred feet away in Lewes Harbor. The Lightship is open for tours seasonally.
Rise Up Coffee (website)
The Dogfish Inn serves Basecamp Blend Coffee, a custom blended, medium roast coffee made just for us by our friends at Rise Up in Easton MD.
One Man Gathers (website)
One Man Gathers Studio, run by New Jersey organic gardener, chicken raiser, composter, rainwater collector and food preserver Matt Myers, specializes in giving old wood a second chance. Myers began working with Dogfish in 2013, providing 200 frames for Dogfish Head’s eclectic art collection on the ceiling of its Milton tasting room. For the Dogfish Inn, Myers is framing Steve Rogers’ Lightship Overfalls paintings with wood he salvaged from an 1840s barn in Warren County, N.J.
Brian Kolakowski (website)
Woodworker and craft beer fan Brian Kolakowski has been exhibiting his artwork since 2001. Located above the stairs heading up to the Sweet!, the wood burnings he’s made for the Dogfish Inn are signature pieces meant to draw in viewers, provoke thought or memories, empower or just produce a silly smile.
Dogfish Poster Artists
- Tara McPherson (website)
A thought-provoking painter and illustrator from New York City, Tara created Dogfish Head’s 2012 Seasonal screenprints. She’s explored people and their odd ways in work for DC Comics, Warner Bros., Nike, Death Cab for Cutie and many others. - Dave Plunkert (website)
An illustrator, designer and teacher, Dave was the artist behind Dogfish Head’s 2011 Seasonal screenprints. He cofounded Spur Designs in 1995, and his client list includes Capitol Records, Gatorade, MTV, NPR, Rolling Stone and Wired. - Mara Spusta (website)
Spusta, Dogfish Head’s 2010 Seasonal artist and the man behind several labels, is a fan favorite. He’s done work for many great bands, companies and people, including Bill Graham Presents, The Black Crowes, Sex Pistols, Widespread Panic and New Balance. - Jim Mazza (website)
One-time welder Mazza, Dogfish Head’s 2013 Seasonal artist, took his blue-collar work ethic to illustration and has built an impressive career, working with Band of Horses, Eric Church, The Melvins and many others. Through concert promoter Goldenvoice, he’s done posters for Snoop Dogg, The Avett Brothers, Chris Cornell and Seth MacFarlane. - Jermaine Rogers (website)
Dogfish Head’s 2014 Seasonal artist is at the top of his game, best known for his modern rock poster art, but also concentrating on fine art and design. He’s created artwork for Neil Young, David Bowie, The Deftones, Eddie Vedder and hundreds of others, and his work is a favorite of collectors.
Fort Standard (website)
Fort Standard is a contemporary Industrial Design studio founded by Gregory Buntain and Ian Collings. Ian & Greg designed their version of a large communal ‘farmhouse’ table and matching bench for the lobby; made to congregate around and share stories and meals. In addition they crafted the beautifully made mirrors showcased in each room.
Fort
Jacqueline Sharp is the founder and CEO of FORT, a Los Angeles-based company that leverages reclaimed materials to create beautiful pieces of custom furniture. For the Dogfish Inn, Jacqueline built her signature FORT HANGER systems featured in each of our guest rooms.
Stephen Kenn (website)
Born and raised in Canada, artist and designer Stephen Kenn moved to Los Angeles in 2006 to pursue his passion for design. We worked with Stephen and his wife Beks to design a custom couch for the lobby with a nice blue powder-coated frame and cushions wrapped in a heavy duty khaki cotton canvas provided from our friend Fred Gold.
The Hill-Side Mills
The Hill-Side is a men’s accessories and clothing brand based in Brooklyn, N.Y., run by brothers Emil and Sandy Corsillo. The “Old Virginia Modified Herringbone” fabric for Dogfish Inn was developed for The Hill-Side, and was woven on a 1930s Crompton & Knowles shuttle loom in rural Virginia by a 6th-generation weaver.
Erickson Aesthetics (website)
Ben Erickson was born in 1978 in Vermont and grew up in N.J. He comes from a long line of Swedish craftsmen who helped nurture and shape his career in woodworking.
In 2004, Ben founded the Brooklyn-based company Erickson Aesthetics as a custom furniture design and prototype studio that builds and collaborates on unique commissions. For the Dogfish Inn, he’s done the oak and brass barstool, leather lounge chair and tripod side table.
Eric Trine
Eric Trine is an object-based studio artist and designer. He describes his aesthetic through the imaginative question: What if Charles Eames, Buckminster Fuller and Sam Maloof were surfing buddies? For the Dogfish Inn, Eric made a custom version of his signature Bar of Soap table for our lobby and leather sling side-tables for the guest rooms.
Apolis (website)
Dogfish began collaborating with Apolis in 2012 when the two companies co-designed a felt, wool and leather baseball hat and T-shirt together. For Dogfish Inn, we partnered with Apolis on their iconic Market Bags for a special edition that has the functionality and ease of ability to carry some of Dogfish’s signature 750ml bottles.
The Douglas Collection
The Douglas Collection was founded by Austin D. Robbins in 2013. Based in Lancaster County, Pa., Austin Robbins crafted our guest room desks out bleached ash. All of Austin’s furniture is solid wood and built of heirloom quality.
Black Point Mercantile / J.S. Bennett
Black Point Mercantile is the brand name of Jeremy Bennett. A U.S. Army veteran, Jeremy continues to be inspired by the military’s unique blend of function and fashion. We worked with Jeremy on the custom canvas rugs in our rooms and lobby. One of them is a hefty at 9’x12’ and has the Lewes’ state motto on it: “First town, first state.”
OneFortyThree (website)
OneFortyThree started out as a blog about a house that husband and wife Logan and Roxy were finishing in Southern Nevada. One Forty Three pulled individual details from various designs in their inventory to create custom lighting for the Dogfish Inn.
Lawn Chair USA (website)
Since 2010, owner Mark Pokrandt has been manufacturing solid lawn chairs that you remember from your salad days. For Dogfish Inn, Lawn Chair USA created a custom webbing and arm color combination based on their classic low-back beach chair.
Dust to Dust (website)
Kristin Grant is a woodworker from New York. She is trained in traditional wooden boat building with a background in interior design and architecture. The Rope Chair that Kristin has contributed to this project is a project that she first built while a student at the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding and references materials used in traditional wooden boat building in both its aesthetic and practicality. The Folding Lawn Chair she has built for the Dogfish Inn is an update of an old classic.
The Parsonage (website)
The Parsonage produces our handmade soaps and shampoos using the spent grain from our off-centered ales! Located in Lovettsville, VA, they blend olive, palm and coconut oils with extra emollients to create gentle bars making for a silky feeling to your skin - you'll notice the difference!
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