\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Pearl in Florida, the Skyview in California<\/a>, Hotel Lucine in Texas<\/a>, and The Dive in Nevada are among the 40 motels presented. Whether it\u2019s through restored neon signs glowing once more at sunset or minimalist reimaginings that reinterpret classic Americana, these projects show how design celebrates a design era when every roadside lodge was a small architectural experiment, shaped by the optimism of postwar America.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n the book celebrates the Iconic Motels of a bygone era<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The story of America\u2019s motels begins, as travel journalist<\/a> Ellie Seymour reminds readers, exactly a century ago in 1925, when architect Arthur Heineman opened the Milestone Mo-Tel in San Luis Obispo, California. The term \u2018motel\u2019 itself was born out of necessity, as \u2018Milestone Motor Hotel\u2019 simply didn\u2019t fit on the rooftop sign. Offering private garages and hot showers, it catered to the rise of automobile tourism and set the blueprint for a phenomenon that would flourish after World War II.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The premise of the book<\/a> was sparked by a passage from Bill Bryson\u2019s Notes from a Big Country (1998), in which the author declares, \u2018I love everything about motels. I can\u2019t help myself. I still get excited every time I slip a key into a motel room door and fling it open.\u2019 For Seymour, this sentiment opened the door to a deeper fascination with America\u2019s roadside culture. Growing up in England, her understanding of motels came from cinematic archetypes, Psycho, Thelma & Louise, Pulp Fiction, and Schitt\u2019s Creek, which portrayed them as both seedy and strangely alluring. But her own first road trip across California, Nevada, and Arizona shifted that perception entirely.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n design, nostalgia, and the spirit of the open road<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n By the 1960s, over 60,000 motels lined American highways, each distinguished by its own signage, architecture, and character. Yet, as the Interstate Highway System expanded and air travel became accessible, many of these independent motels fell into decline, abandoned, demolished, or left to crumble into noir backdrops for crime and melancholy.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Seymour\u2019s book captures the motels\u2019 revival, showing how a new generation of owners, architects, and designers is restoring mid-century motels across the country. Some remain time capsules, keeping their kidney-shaped pools, wood-panelled interiors, and retro furniture intact. Across 256 pages, Vintage Motels brings together storytelling, archival materials, and contemporary photography to document this shift from decay to rediscovery. Each motel is featured across four to six pages, accompanied by the history of its original construction and the creative strategies behind its rebirth.<\/p>\n![\"neon](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/neon-signs-retro-rooms-ellie-seymour-book-maps-mid-century-motels-us-designboom-01.jpg\")
Ace Hotel & Swim Club, Palm Springs, California | \u00a9 Stephen Kent Johnson<\/a> \/ OTTO<\/p>\n![\"neon](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/neon-signs-retro-rooms-ellie-seymour-book-maps-mid-century-motels-us-designboom-02.jpg\")
Blue Swallow Motel, Tucumcari, New Mexico \u00a9 courtesy of Blue Swallow Motel<\/a><\/p>\n![\"neon](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/neon-signs-retro-rooms-ellie-seymour-book-maps-mid-century-motels-us-designboom-03.jpg\")
Cuyama Buckhorn, New Cuyama, California \u00a9 courtesy of Cuyama Buckhorn<\/a><\/p>\n![\"neon](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/neon-signs-retro-rooms-ellie-seymour-book-maps-mid-century-motels-us-designboom-08.jpg\")
Skyview, California \u00a9 courtesy of Nomada Hotel Group<\/a><\/p>\n![\"neon](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/neon-signs-retro-rooms-ellie-seymour-book-maps-mid-century-motels-us-designboom-09.jpg\")
The Pearl, San Diego, California \u00a9 courtesy of The Pearl<\/a><\/p>\n