neon signs and retro rooms: ellie seymour’s book maps mid-century motels across the US

ellie seymour traces the revival of america’s roadside icons

Luster Publishing releases Vintage Motels: America’s Most Iconic Motels, Beautifully Restored, a new book by Ellie Seymour that takes readers on a nostalgic road trip across the United States. Seymour documents 40 mid-century motels, once symbols of freedom, anonymity, and the golden age of American car travel, revamped into contemporary boutique hotels while preserving the character of the past.

The Pearl in Florida, the Skyview in California, Hotel Lucine in Texas, and The Dive in Nevada are among the 40 motels presented. Whether it’s 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.

Ace Hotel & Swim Club, Palm Springs, California | © Stephen Kent Johnson / OTTO

the book celebrates the Iconic Motels of a bygone era

The story of America’s motels begins, as travel journalist 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 ‘motel’ itself was born out of necessity, as ‘Milestone Motor Hotel’ simply didn’t 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.

The premise of the book was sparked by a passage from Bill Bryson’s Notes from a Big Country (1998), in which the author declares, ‘I love everything about motels. I can’t help myself. I still get excited every time I slip a key into a motel room door and fling it open.’ For Seymour, this sentiment opened the door to a deeper fascination with America’s roadside culture. Growing up in England, her understanding of motels came from cinematic archetypes, Psycho, Thelma & Louise, Pulp Fiction, and Schitt’s 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.

Blue Swallow Motel, Tucumcari, New Mexico © courtesy of Blue Swallow Motel

design, nostalgia, and the spirit of the open road

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.

Seymour’s book captures the motels’ 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.

Cuyama Buckhorn, New Cuyama, California © courtesy of Cuyama Buckhorn

Skyview, California © courtesy of Nomada Hotel Group

The Pearl, San Diego, California © courtesy of The Pearl

Trixie Motel, Palm Springs, California © courtesy of Trixie Motel

Madonna Inn highway sign © courtesy of Madonna Inn

Madonna Inn-steakhouse ©courtesy of Madonna Inn

The Dive, Nashville © Ben Fitchett

Vintage Motels: America’s Most Iconic Motels, Beautifully Restored by Ellie Seymour

project info:

name: Vintage Motels: America’s Most Iconic Motels, Beautifully Restored

author: Ellie Seymour | @ellieseymourwriter

publisher: Luster | @lusterbooks