We spent $615,000 on an abandoned inn, and $500,000 creating this desert oasis—take a look inside

Sara, 36, and Rich, 37, Combs weren't readying connected purchasing 38 acres of bare canyon successful the Arizona desert, but that didn't halt them from jumping into the caller task headfirst.

"It was a immense risk... but we truly believed successful this place, knew it had a batch of imaginable and conscionable enactment everything into it," Sara tells CNBC Make It.

In 2015, the mates discontinue their full-time jobs arsenic web designers to commencement a hospitality business, The Joshua Tree House. Now, the group's properties see 2 that are disposable for guests to publication successful Joshua Tree, California and Tucson, Arizona. The Combs besides person a spot successful Marfa, Texas that they program to yet unfastened up to guests.

"We were truly craving moving with our hands again and looking for a originative retreat from San Francisco, astatine the time," Rich said.

In 2018, Rich was browsing listings online erstwhile helium came crossed what looked similar an bare canyon successful Tucson, Arizona.

The spot was an abandoned inn, sitting connected 38 acres of onshore and had been bare for a decade. The spot had a main gathering that was 7,500 quadrate feet and 2 further houses.

Altogether, the 3 structures came successful astatine implicit 10,000 quadrate feet.

The proprietor accepted an connection of $615,000 with a three-month escrow and requested the Combs see a signed transcript of their plan and manner publication "At Home successful Joshua Tree" arsenic portion of the deal.

The mates couldn't get a accepted mortgage: Banks mostly would not springiness retired a indebtedness connected an existing spot that had been gutted and wasn't functional.

They yet recovered a slope to springiness them a hard-money indebtedness and got to enactment connected finishing the renovation with a extremity of opening the inn wrong 12 months. It was capable clip for them to refinance the archetypal indebtedness into a tiny concern loan.

Rich says the mates spent implicit $500,000 connected renovations unsocial — that wealth came from maxing retired recognition cards and borrowing from household and friends. The mates besides received escaped products from assorted societal media partnerships.

The Combs didn't specify but did accidental they ended up getting "hundreds of thousands of dollars of product" and "wouldn't person been capable to bash this task without that."

"We emotion offering this arsenic a spot wherever radical person the clip to truly deliberation astir what they love, what they privation to bash with their lives, what they genuinely enjoy, and get a quiescent infinitesimal to bespeak connected everything," Sara added.

When it came clip for the inn's design, the mates wanted to incorporated arsenic overmuch of the surrounding quality arsenic imaginable and support the transportation betwixt the 2 spaces similar utilizing furnishings and creation from the section assemblage passim the space.

The Combs opened The Joshua Tree House: The Posada, successful September 2019. Rooms scope from $200 to $600 a night. Guests tin publication the full 7-bedroom inn starting astatine $2,200 a night.

A enactment astatine the spot includes entree to a blistery tub successful the benignant of a blistery spring, a grove of olive trees, a canyon pool, a walking way and a occurrence pit.

Looking ahead, the couple's eventual extremity is for the inn to beryllium wholly self-sufficient and usage the energy grid arsenic a backup. That volition mean adding star panels and rainwater harvesting.

The mates plans to proceed expanding The Joshua Tree House: "Eventually, we would emotion to person a mates much inns passim the Southwest," Rich says.

"But close now, we are moving connected our idiosyncratic location and our idiosyncratic lives and conscionable enjoying everything that we get to acquisition each day," Sara added.

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