For most, if not all the world, 2020 was the year of Before and After. Before the world shut down due to a global pandemic and after. How we went about our daily lives, did business, and communicated with each other all took on new definitions and meanings. For me, my Before and After year was 2014. That was the year I sold my business, a Segil Fine Art Gallery, my husband left his corporate job, we sold our home, packed up our kitty cat and moved from Los Angeles to Port Angeles to pursue another life. We had had enough of city living, wanted to focus more on the moment, rather than the outcome, but weren’t ready to retire.
Our solution was to buy Sea Cliff Gardens Bed & Breakfast, a Victorian B&B with a 20-year history on the Olympic Peninsula, and it was the best decision of our lives. We went from a “we” focused life to a “they” focused life revolving around hospitality and the desire to make people happy & share our home and gardens. Bill and I quickly found our individual strengths in the business and how we best related to guests. Mine happened to be the desire to pamper our guests and offer them special products in their rooms to do just that. From simple bath salts and lotions, guests began to request more specialized items such as oils, scrubs and cleansers.
Through feedback from guests and a lot of trial & error, I developed our own line of skin care and spa products which we private labeled, called Sea Cliff Gardens Botanical Skin Care. (Sea Cliff Gardens being the name of our B&B). When one problem is solved, another inevitably arises! However, new problems are only challenges waiting to be conquered and the new problem was what to do with the massive amount of skin care we now had on hand for only 5 rooms at a time. A gift shop was born in an unused office.
Of course, a successful gift shop requires more than just one type of merchandise, so it was time to shop! Also, one of my strengths! Quickly the gift shop overran that little office space, spilling out into the lobby area, the living room and finally the dining room with specialty teas.
It was time to think bigger and outside of the box. I began to see the concept of sharing beautiful products with guests to sharing more beautiful products with customers and La Petite Maison Blanche was born in 2022. We are a specialty gifts retail shop carrying a wide variety of carefully curated merchandise with a bent towards French feminine. Our mission here at La Petite Maison Blanche is to Cultivate Beauty, Foster Creativity and Promote Passion.
Our selection includes Babies & Kids, Boudoir, Spa & Wellness, Fine Art, Garden & Outdoors, Home Décor, Kitchen & Table the Pantry and many more uniquely curated gifts. We believe in the art of gift giving and that gifts reflect the uniqueness of the giver.
Visit us in person in beautiful downtown Sequim, Washington on the picturesque Olympic Peninsula.
