Wigwam Motel
- Retro roadside
- In Rialto, California
- On Route 66
- National Register of Historic Places
The Wigwam Motel is Wigwam Village No. 7, a motel of 19 tipi-shaped rooms on Foothill Boulevard, the old Route 66, where Rialto meets San Bernardino, California. Frank Redford, the Kentucky man behind the Wigwam Village idea, built it in the late 1940s as the last of seven. One of only three still standing, it was restored by the Patel family in the early 2000s and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2012.
What is Wigwam Motel?
Each of the 19 guest units is its own cone, about 32 feet tall: called a wigwam, shaped like a tipi. The cones stand around lawns, and a larger one serves as the office. They are set out in two semicircles, one behind the other, with a parking area between them.
The grounds have a swimming pool, and the base of one more wigwam, never finished, still sits at the back of the property. The postal address says Rialto, but the motel stands just inside the San Bernardino city limits.
History of Wigwam Motel
Redford opened his first wigwam-style business in Horse Cave, Kentucky, in 1933. The idea, he said, came from a cone-shaped ice cream stand he once noticed in Long Beach, California. He later moved west and began this motel in 1947, finishing it at the end of the decade.
Later owners let it slide: the motel ran down, rented rooms by the hour and advertised with a racy sign telling passers-by to do it in a teepee. The Patel family bought it in the early 2000s, cleaned it up and restored it, and they still run it. The work won the National Historic Route 66 Federation's Cyrus Avery Award in 2005, and the National Register listing followed in 2012. The Wigwam Villages are often cited as the model for the Cozy Cone Motel in Pixar's Cars (2006).
Visiting Wigwam Motel: tips
The motel sits right on Foothill Boulevard, so there is no detour. It is a working motel with 19 guest wigwams, and you can book a night in one.
Heading east, drivers can see a sibling, Wigwam Village No. 6 in Holbrook, Arizona, also on Route 66.
Practical info
- Address
- 2728 W Foothill Blvd, Rialto, CA 92376
- Phone
- +1 909-875-3005
- Website
- wigwammotel.com
- Hours
- We have no opening hours for this stop yet — check the official site.
- On site & nearby
Sources: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) · Wikidata · official site — may be outdated. Suggest a fix
Where to eat near Wigwam Motel
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On the map
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Stops near Wigwam Motel
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Questions about Wigwam Motel
Can you stay overnight at the Wigwam Motel?
Yes. It is a motel of 19 tipi-shaped guest units, restored and run by the Patel family since the early 2000s.
Is the Wigwam Motel in Rialto or San Bernardino?
Both names come up. Its postal address is in Rialto, but the motel stands just inside the San Bernardino city limits, on Foothill Boulevard, the old Route 66.
How many Wigwam Villages are left?
Three of the seven that were built: this one (No. 7), No. 6 in Holbrook, Arizona, also on Route 66, and No. 2 in Cave City, Kentucky.
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