Wigwam Motel

Wigwam Village#1 in Horse Cave, Kentucky (1979)

The first Wigwam Village was built in 1933 by Frank A. Redford. It was located on the corner of US-31E and Hwy 218 in Horse Cave, Kentucky.

The central building and gas pumps are visible on undated postcards. Six more wigwams were built to be used as guest rooms.

Village #1 closed in 1935 when the nearby Wigwam Village #2 was opened, but operated under different names until it was eventually abandoned; it was razed in 1982.[4][5]

Wigwam Village#2 in Cave City, Kentucky (2000)

Wigwam Village #2 was built in 1937 on U.S. Route 31W[6] in Cave City, Kentucky, close to Mammoth Cave National Park and a few miles south of the original Wigwam Village #1. The address is 601 North Dixie Hwy, Cave City, Kentucky. ( 37°08'43.0"N, 85°56'43.8"W )

It consists of 15 wigwams used as guest rooms that are arranged in a semicircle. In the center is a much bigger concrete and steel central structure that originally served as a restaurant, plus a common area with playground, recreation space, and pavilion.[7] Each wigwam has a paved pad to accommodate one car.[7] The restaurant is no longer in operation, but the motel is still open.[7][8]

The diameter at the base of each tipi is 14 feet (4.3 m), and they are 32 feet (9.8 m) in height. Behind the main room of each unit is a small bathroom with sink, toilet, and shower. In 2008, the rooms contain the original restored hickory furniture and a window-mounted air conditioner. There are no telephones to maintain the original atmosphere of the motel, but the rooms do have cable TV and internet access.

Original Drawing for Wigwam Motel in Design Patent 98,617[9]

Wigwam Village #2 is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.[2] It achieved this status on March 16, 1988.[6]

This wigwam village was built in 1940, on U.S. Route 61 in Metairie, a suburb of New Orleans, Louisiana. It included a restaurant, cocktail bar, souvenir shop, and Esso service station.[10] Village #3 went out of business in 1954, leaving little documentation behind.[11]

Wigwam Village #4 was built in 1948, and was located at 700 S. Orange Blossom Trail. The builder, Jerry Kinsley, later served as mayor of Edgewood, Florida.[12][13]

This relatively large wigwam village consisted of 27 guest rooms, each in a separate wigwam constructed to resemble a horseshoe shape, with four additional wigwams, likely housing offices and a restaurant.[14] A pool was located in the middle of the lot. Village #4 claimed to be "Orlando's largest and finest Motel."[10]

Village #4 was razed in 1974, and replaced with a Days Inn.[13] The only part of the original design that survived was the swimming pool.[15] An attempt to save some of the tipis by using a helicopter to airlift them to a YMCA Summer Camp failed, as they were too heavy to move.[14][15] A 330-room Vacation Lodge now sits on the site.[14]

The Wigwam Village #5 was built in 1940 in Bessemer, Alabama. It was located 4 miles (6.4 km) north of downtown Bessemer, on U.S. Route 11,[4] and included 15 guest cabins, arranged in a semicircle around the restaurant, restrooms, and offices.[4][11] Rather than the steel, lath, and plaster of Redford's original design, the Village #5 structures were made of steel, wood, and felt, then covered in canvas and treated with linseed oil.[11]

Village #5 went out of business in 1964, and was demolished after falling into ruin, although the restaurant reportedly stood until 1970.[4][10]

Individual unit, Wigwam Motel, Holbrook, Arizona

Arizona motel owner Chester E. Lewis built this Wigwam Village in 1950. It is located on the historic Route 66,[16] at 811 West Hopi Drive in Holbrook, Arizona.[17] Nearby places of interest include Petrified Forest National Park, Meteor Crater (Barringer Crater), and the Grand Canyon.[3]

The plans for this motel were based on the original of Frank A. Redford. Lewis first became aware of the distinctive wigwam designs when passing through Cave City in 1938. He purchased the rights to Redford's design, as well as the right to use the name "Wigwam Village," in a novel royalty agreement: coin-operated radios would be installed in Lewis's Wigwam Village, and every dime inserted for 30 minutes of play would be sent to Redford as payment.[18]

Wigwam Motel, Holbrook, Arizona

The motel is arranged as a square, with 15 concrete and steel wigwams on three sides and the main office on the fourth, flanked by two smaller sized wigwams; there was also originally a gas station on the complex.[3] The individual units are called "wigwams," not "rooms" or "tepees" or "cabins." The units are numbered from 1 to 16, (there is no 13). The base diameter is 14 feet (4.3 m), with each unit 32 feet (9.8 m) in height. Behind the main room of each unit is a small bathroom with sink, toilet and shower. Current rooms contain the original restored hickory furniture, two double beds, satellite TV and a window-mounted air conditioner. In keeping with the authenticity of the restoration, there are no telephones or ice machine. Vintage restored automobiles from the 1960s and earlier are located throughout the parking area. Small green metal benches etched with the words "Wigwam Village #6" are scattered throughout the complex as well.

Lewis operated the motel until closing it in 1974 when Interstate 40 bypassed downtown Holbrook. Two years after his death in 1986, sons Clifton and Paul Lewis and daughter Elinor renovated the motel before reopening it in 1988.[18]

The Lewis family continues to run and maintain Wigwam Village #6. Near the registration desk is a small room that contains much of Chester Lewis's memorabilia, including a collection of petrified wood.[19]

Wigwam Village #6 has been listed in the National Register of Historic Places since May 2, 2002.[2][16]

Wigwam Village No. 7

Frank Redford built this complex for himself in 1947–49 and not as a franchise. The address of the motel is Rialto, California, but the motel is physically located in San Bernardino. It is on the boundary between the two cities on historic Route 66, with an address of 2728 East Foothill Boulevard, Rialto, California.[20]

Unlike the one arch of wigwams in other surviving villages, Village #7 has a double row of wigwam guest rooms. They total 20 in number, as well as a base for what seems to be another never-completed wigwam in the back of the property. A central building is currently used as an office, with a lobby that is open 24 hours a day. There is also a swimming pool, a large grass front and palm trees surround the property.

The property had become very run down and rooms were rented by the hour, aggravated by a sign advertising "Do it in a Tee Pee" that is still on site in the back.[21] The complex underwent renovation, for which the National Historic Route 66 Federation awarded the Cyrus Avery Award in 2005.[22][23] Attention to detail was the main focus during renovation, as the wigwams lost their zigzag pattern.

Since 2012, the motel has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[20][24]