HŌM Dana Point - Your HŌM Away from Home

For Danielle Desimone, owner of HŌM Dana Point, being able to operate her business in her hometown is a dream come true; her ultimate goal of being able to create the feeling of “home” for customers walking through her doors. With a background in retail from the age of 16, Danielle has worked every position from sales associate up to Director of Retail for a multi-national beauty brand, and most recently, Director of Operations for a local interior design firm.

Her decades of experience in retail, merchandising, and design prepared her perfectly for her next role: as business owner of one of the Lantern District’s best new shops and everyone’s HŌM away from home, HŌM Dana Point.  

The concept for HŌM first came to Danielle over a decade ago, but it wasn’t until COVID hit when she really started to dream big. In April of 2021, Danielle quit her job to pursue her goal of opening her own business. A lover of all things design, and a yearning to get back to her retail roots, she envisioned a business where her customers would immediately feel at home, comfortable, visually stimulated, and thoroughly inspired. It was important for her to create a place where anyone could find a unique gift for loved ones or decor and accessories to compliment their home’s style. With a gourmet kitchen by Monogram and a complete dining area, Danielle also hosts cooking demonstrations and dinners, cocktail classes and workshops to bring the community together.

Since opening HŌM on April 28, 2023, it has become a mainstay on Del Prado and has been embraced by the Dana Point community, and recently won Business of the Quarter from the Mayor’s office. As a second-generation business owner in Dana Point, Danielle has a deep love for her hometown and the local community. Another plus is the fact that most of her neighbors and surrounding businesses are either Dana Hills alumni or long-standing locals, with five out of the ten businesses being female-owned. All of these elements solidified her decision and determination to open here and has created a feeling of camaraderie and community amongst her fellow business owners and neighbors.  

Danielle describes HŌM as an interiors and lifestyle boutique, curated with locally sourced goods and art that embrace the casual yet chic style of California. She makes every effort to source products locally and if it can’t be local, it comes from small businesses. You never know what you’ll find at HŌM; from everyday gifts, like candles and books, to kitchen gadgets, decor, and an assortment of accessories, the one thing you can trust is that you’ll always find what you need for your home or someone else’s.

Danielle excels in keeping the store merchandised in new and interesting ways and loves that HŌM can go in so many directions depending on what customers want or need — retail store, event space, design studio, home office, or “a place to escape the kids,” she jokes.

Something that Danielle is really proud of these days is their in-store events. HŌM’s first event was in May of 2023, hosting a mixer for Orange County female business owners, and since then has been host to events such as DP Chamber of Commerce mixer, Sip n’ Shops, and cooking events like Poke Taco Tuesday and Everything But The Turkey, teaching cooking essentials from local chefs. Most recently, HŌM has been host to a variety of holiday-focused events, like wreath-making workshops and an espresso martini class with Lantern District neighbors, Penelope Pots and Bear Coast Coffee.  

In case you didn’t know, Danielle (a mix of Italian and Mexican heritage) enjoys cooking herself. You may periodically find her on the calendar of events, whipping up one of her favorite specialties for the local community, like her most recent offering of Friday Family Dinner, where she shared recipes from her Nana and taught a small intimate group to make caesar salad and carbonara from scratch before sitting down with them all to enjoy those delicious old Italian specialities.

HŌM’s events are super rewarding for Danielle and she’s gotten such positive feedback from attendees. “It’s an honor to be able to provide a place to gather and bring the community together [at events] and can’t wait to see what new events we can come up with in the future.” Interested in attending one? Follow HŌM on Instagram to stay up to date on the latest and greatest.

Opening HŌM Dana Point has been one of the most rewarding parts of Danielle’s career. Seeing someone walk down the street with a HŌM bag, or having customers bring in a friend to see the store and shop makes all the hard work worthwhile. She knows that she couldn’t do half of this if not for her amazing team of four, saying that they have become like family to her. Few of us are fortunate enough to do what we love and when you walk into HŌM, you can see Danielle and her team’s passion come to life. Seeing the growth and development in Dana Point is something that Danielle is proud to be a part of, because the way in which the growth is happening “sticks true to Dana Point and its charm,” with the majority of new businesses being locally owned.  

When passion and purpose intersect, greatness happens. For Danielle Desimone, HŌM Dana Point is that intersection of time, place and mission. When I ask her to envision her future, she pictures having a handful of locations and becoming even more of a pillar in redeveloped Dana Point. If the past eight months are any indication, I think she is well on her way!
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You can find HŌM at 24452 Del Prado Avenue, Suite A, right next-door to Jack’s Restaurant, or on Instagram @homdanapoint.