Country Almanac
A Fine Vintage
"Reclaimed materials and an eco-friendly design approach bring a faded California classic back to life."
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LX TV Life/Style Television
"Don't worry -- none of the luxury you'd expect from travel accomodations is sacrificed."

April 2010
Observer/Guardian
The 10 best holiday apartments outside Europe
"Eco-friendly, seriously stylish and with Venice Beach and Abbot Kinney Boulevard right on their doorstep, these three solar-powered urban retreats tick all the boxes."
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2010
Loft Life 2010 listing
TAKE THE TRIP: Venice Beach Eco-Cottages
"From 1920s vacation rentals, to housing for migrant workers, then to 1970s-80s crack houses, the Venice Beach Eco-Cottages have seen many face lifts through the years. But its most recent rehab by owners, Cynthia Foster and Karel Samsom, has made the beach-side bungalows an appealing vacation rental."
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December 7, 2009
fem. (german fashion magazine)
Live like a Local
"In den Venice Beach Eco-Cottages wohnt man originell, komfortabel, nachhaltig und strandnah – genau wie die Locals."
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September 2008
Tripadvisor
"At the risk of revealing this wonderful secret, the Venice Beach Eco Cottages are the real deal."
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September 1, 2008
Culture + Travel
Oldies But Goodies
"The rehab of the bungalows took nine months. Foster and Samsom had no business plan and no architect. They were their own contractors, and Foster says they approached the undertaking as “a giant mixed-media art project—the art of sustainability.” It was a perfect fusion of the talents of the artist and the environmentalist."
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June 2008
EcoSalon
Green Destination: Venice Beach Eco Cottages
"If warm weather, cool water and a big chunk of green are your idea of a perfect weekend get-away, theVenice Beach Eco Cottages should be your next destination of choice."
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May 2008
Elle Magazine
Fun with a Repurpose
“We laud large hotel chains’ recent greenlining attempts, but for a truly tiny (and pretty) footprint, we love the Venice Beach Eco-Cottages.”
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May 2008
Los Angeles Magazine
Need a Room?
“Three wee California bungalows with eclectic interiors in a dense Venice neighborhood opened in December with rehabbed furniture, repurposed wood, and efficient appliances.”
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April 2008
New York Times
For Those Traveling With a Light Carbon Footprint
"The Venice Beach Eco Cottages, three 1922 bungalows in Venice, Calif., owned by Cynthia Foster, an actor and artist, and her husband, Dr. Karel J. Samsom, an emeritus professor at Nyenrode Business Universiteit in the Netherlands, opened in January as short-term rental units for the eco-conscious traveler."
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April 2008
Whole Life Times
Venice’s Sustainable Stay
“While it may seem like Venice is razing its bohemian bungalows in favor of shiny-new multi-story rentals, at least one new urban getaway has managed to remain true to the seaside town’s beachy roots without leaving a monster footprint: the Venice Beach Eco Cottages.”

April 8, 2008
The Sundance Channel’s “Big Ideas for a Small Planet” TV Show

March 2008
Hospitality Design: The Green Issue
Off the Grid: Eco-friendly design leads a coastal revitalization
“Venice Beach has always been known for its free spirit and laissez-faire charm. But when this stretch of the California coastline fell to disrepair, Karel Samsom, a professor specializing in sustainable entrepreneurship, and his actor/artist wife, Cynthia Foster, resolved to do their part to restore its bygone charm.”
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March 3, 2008
Travel Agent Magazine
Venice Beach Eco-Cottages
“When it comes to being hip, green is the new black. Nowadays it’s hard to find a resort or hotel that isn’t knee-deep in green initiatives. But you’d have to search hard and long to find a more eco-sensitive property than the newly opened Venice Beach Eco-Cottages.”
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March 2008
Yogi Times
The Future of Living
“If Los Angeles were a poet slumbering in a concrete tenement block, she’d dream of traveling to the misty seaside neighborhood of Venice Beach and finishing her chapbook in a 1920s Craftsman bungalow.”
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Apartment Therapy.com
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February 2, 2008
Tree Hugger.com
"In this post, we will examine the cottages' building process, as told to us by the entrepreneurial duo behind the project, Karel J. Samsom and Cynthia Foster."
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February 1, 2008
Ideal Bite.com
Welcome to the Eco Cottage California
“Have your guests’ heads grown heavy and their sight grown dim? Put ‘em up at The Venice Beach Eco Cottages, where three charming little former crack houses have been restored in a completely green way.”

December 24, 2007
Tree Hugger.com
The Venice Beach Eco-Cottages
"We should all be so fortunate as to be able to afford or design our own eco-friendly pads ... Karel J. Samsom and Cynthia Foster, two entrepreneurs living in Venice Beach, CA, have spent the better part of the past 8 months demonstrating just how much such a DIY approach can accomplish."
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November 29, 2007
Santa Monica Mirror
Venice Beach Eco-Cottages
“The Venice Beach Eco-Cottages are now open for rental. These three small houses at 447 Grand Boulevard, built in 1922, have been remodeled by husband and wife entrepreneurs Karel Samsom and Cynthia Foster…”
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VRBO narrated tour of the cottages, featuring Le Bébé