Nostalgia-fueled Colony House reopens

Thanks to $10 million in 21st-century improvements, Roanoke‘s Colony House Motor Lodge will once again welcome guests who are into time travel.

The iconic motel, which opened in 1959 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, closed in 2018 as it awaited an extensive makeover that includes redecorated rooms and modern-day enhancements.

With the updates nearly complete this summer, the Colony House remains unmistakably mid-century modern with its A-frame, folding-plate roofline and its original neon “No Vacancy” sign. The National Register application calls the motor lodge a “well-preserved and rare … example of Googie architecture in Roanoke.” Popular in the 1940s and ’50s, the futuristic architecture style was influenced by the Atomic Age and the Space Age.

“It’s Instagram-able,” says Kimberly Christner, founder, president and CEO of Cornerstone Hospitality, the Williamsburg-based boutique hospitality firm that will operate Colony House. Christner’s company has been involved with several historic hotel projects in Virginia, including the Western Front Hotel in St. Paul and The Sessions Hotel in Bristol.

In its heyday, the Colony House welcomed pre-interstate highway vacationers and even celebrities such as singer Lou Rawls, 1960s British Invasion rockers Herman’s Hermits and “Hee Haw” star Lulu Roman.

“Nostalgia tourism” will be a big draw for the 67-room motel, says Brooke Farrell, whose family bought the property in 2018. “People want to see these hotels restored to their original glory with modern amenities.”

The Farrells, long-time owners of Roanoke-based Berglund Automotive car dealerships, bought the Colony House from the heirs of the motel’s founders. The motel, which was open for 59 years, sits next door to a Berglund used-car center in South Roanoke.

When all’s said and done, the Farrell family expects to spend about $7 million on construction, with much of the work performed by Roanoke’s Lionberger Construction, and another $3 million on other improvements, including retro-style furniture made by Roanoke custom-furniture company Txtur.

Following a grand opening scheduled for late August, the Colony House expects to sponsor community events, such as outdoor movie nights. Local residents will also be able to purchase day passes to the swimming pool, which will feature a food and beverage bar housed in a Shasta camping trailer. Room rates will start at around $149 per night.

“We want to have a family-type atmosphere,” says Joy Barlow, the motel’s general manager.