Dallas-Based Courtney Sinelli Invites Jewelry Fans to Meet Me There™ With Her Dazzling New Le Bungalow Collection

From Montauk to Malibu, we all have a place that makes us the happiest we can be — our personal paradise. For Dallas-based entrepreneur Courtney Sinelli, that spot was a little bungalow owned by her family in Westhampton, New York.

“My parents lived in Manhattan, and through some series of lucky relationships, they had the opportunity to buy this bungalow back in the ’70s,” Sinelli recalls of that home on Dune Road. “Back then, it was all bungalows; now it’s a little fancier. It came into our lives the week that I was born, so I’ve been going there my entire life.”

In the 1990s, a natural disaster eroded the part of the island where the treasured home stood. The area was eventually rebuilt, with another family bungalow standing in its stead. There, Sinelli eventually married her husband, Jeff, and brought her two children for screen-free vacations with the sound of the sea as a backdrop.

“I loved that feeling of the memories, plus it’s a place where everyone is really paying attention to each other,” Sinelli muses. “I wanted a reminder of living that way, to watch a sunset and have a one-on-one conversation. Everybody has a place like that, where it’s their childhood home or a vacation place, so I felt everyone could relate.”

The Inspiration Behind Le Bungalow

Spotting someone wearing their house key on a chain around their neck, Courtney Sinelli had the idea of using a key as a symbol to represent that special place in one’s life. Going through “a million keys” before sketching out the design she liked best, she ultimately discovered a Los Angeles artisan to help her bring her idea to life, naming her concept Le Bungalow after that first cottage by the sea.

V.O.D. boutique owner Jackie Bolin spotted Sinelli’s charm last year and hosted a trunk show where Dallas’ finest fashionistas quickly snapped up their own keys. Bolin memorializes her favorite Le Marais neighborhood in Paris. Fragrance designer Niven Morgan’s key (a gift from interior designer Shelby Wagner) bears his home address, while Facture Salon owner Jessica Watts Ayres’ key is engraved to memorialize her beloved rescue dogs.

Customization of Meet Me There™

With up to five handset pave letters or numbers on one side and a “Meet Me” phrase on the other, each design is custom to the wearer. Inset with diamonds or sapphires, each solid gold key ranges from $5,400 to $6,500, depending on the gemstones. The keys can also be engraved, and Sinelli plans to offer a more affordable sterling silver version soon.

Packaged in beautiful boxes adorned with imagery by photographer Molly Dickson, each Meet Me There™ pendant can be added to an existing chain or complemented by handmade Rounded Box chains that the designer sourced in Italy. Sinelli says the keys were made to function, and she hopes to offer a surprise secret lock to owners of her jewelry sometime down the line.

But in the meantime, she’s just thrilled that her design can represent something so personal to the ones who wear it. With a “90 percent palm tree, 10 percent chandelier vibe,” her designs also look equally at home at a beach resort or swanky soiree.

“I love storytelling in all its forms…and I love that the keys tell stories about meaningful places and memories,” she explains. “They are each a unique piece of art. And I love the overall message of the project—a reminder to ‘check in’ and live like you do when you are in the places you love.”

The Meet Me There™ collection can be ordered on LeBungalow.com or via special order at Grange Hall in Dallas and Sunroom in Malibu, California.