What is Meter Haus?

After many months of collaborating and ideating on our shared dreams for hospitality, Meter Haus was formed as a partnership because we both are compelled to create places and experiences that deeply touch the individuals exposed to them: places where they feel seen and cared for, where they are moved by the beauty and thoughtfulness of place expressed through design and the land surrounding them, and by the thoughtfulness and connectedness created through attentive and attuned service. 

Who We Are

Hi. We are Molly Miller and Lisel Morris. While the Miller-Morris alliteration was convenient, we came together as mentioned above through a shared love for hospitality as well as a mutual history in the hospitality and real estate development industry. Together we share over 25 years of experience and have helped to develop over 50 restaurants and 25 hotels and resorts across the United States. Throughout our careers, we have worked on development pipelines, valued at well over $1billion, playing key roles in capitalization, redevelopment, development, and capex initiatives. Key industry leaders we have had the privilege of working with throughout our careers include but are not limited to: Rockbridge Holdings, The Allen Morris Company, Equity International, Makeready Experience, Ford Fry Restaurants and Marriott’s Autograph Collection.

Our history within the industry has been marked by a recognition of the need for a central leader to help synthesize the overarching concept direction and ensure each path forward is consistently mirroring the necessary message – financially, aesthetically and operationally. What we love most is to bring a unique and relevant vision to life on time and on budget. And then to watch as people happily interact with the space, successfully placemaking and driving ROI at the same time.

The Name

The name Meter Haus was born out of numerous conversations distilling what it is we have done throughout our careers. We have both had the extraordinary privilege of working for significant developers in the industry and playing a role as the ones who attempt to provide innovative clarity amidst the sometimes-diverging branches of Ownership, Asset Management, Construction and Operator. Our roles and passions have been, and continue to be, to create harmony, beauty, and clear direction through synthesizing these three to four distinct branches in the pursuit of creating a beautiful space with a distinct brand, informed by an ever-changing market.

Each project and each brand we create has the opportunity to become inimitable when its inception begins with a clear directive; highly attuned to place and to the people surrounding it and consistently informed by the unique voices and needs it aims to support and be supported by.  This foundation alone is what will set a project on a path to effectively and spontaneously take into account the ever-changing dynamics throughout the creative process, and to dynamically solve for the financial thresholds and consumer needs that must be met.

So, the name.  With jazz, no song is created twice.  Only the simple structures of key and meter are needed to begin.  The success of jazz comes from a high level of dynamic attunement between the players, including one to set and dynamically modulate the meter.  Molly and I take immense pride in establishing the tone and the rhythm for a project, allowing the messy and unconventional creative process to come to life, while holding baseline structure in place.  This means helping others make sense of the market, distilling the desired concept to its essence, selecting the right players to bring the concept to life, and staying attuned to the vision and the team each step along the way to ensure the project is in sync all the way through to the end.

The graphic below is a depiction of our roles. As consultants who have long sat in-house with Ownership, we believe the best results come from starting with a high level of attunement with the place (a place-centric approach versus project-centric approach) and its stakeholders.  As project leaders, we set the proverbial meter, then focus on the magic of the team and the once-in-a-lifetime creations that come from a highly attuned team.

As for Haus, this may be more on the nose as it represents the comfort and restoration of home, as we aim to provide for those who experience our projects.  With everything we do, whether in collaboration or on our own, we are determined to create spaces that emulate the familial welcoming of a warm-lit house: where the table is full of food, drink, and welcoming companions.  You belong here.  You are seen and cared for.

Our Aim

In taking on the role as owner’s representative, owner’s rep, our role is optimized when it begins with ownership’s vision and then distilling the essence of this vision into a directive that is in harmony with the appropriate program, budget, and schedule.  Together, these structural elements become the north star in determining “best fit” for the team: that includes designers, branding, general contractors, and all other consultants.

The real fun begins once the chosen team has been assembled, the structures of vision, budget, and schedule are in place, and we kick-off branding and concept design.