Wigwam Motel

Chester E. Lewis purchased the plans for the Wigwam Village concept from original designer Frank Redford in 1947 for a reported one dollar plus a royalty arrangement. Redford had built the first Wigwam Village in Horse Cave, Kentucky in 1933 and patented the distinctive teepee-room design in 1936; by the late 1940s he had built six additional Villages and was looking to license the concept to other operators rather than continue building himself. Lewis, who was a Holbrook businessman with an eye on the rapidly-growing Route 66 tourism economy, paid the nominal fee and committed to the Redford-designed royalty structure (which typically required coin-operated radios in each teepee, with the dimes feeding back to Redford as ongoing royalty payments).

Construction of the Holbrook Wigwam began in 1947 and the property opened in 1950 as Wigwam Village #6 — the sixth of the seven Villages Redford and his licensees would eventually build. Lewis built the property with hired Holbrook-area craftsmen using welded steel armature covered with concrete sculpted into the distinctive teepee silhouette. Each teepee is 28 feet tall at the peak, roughly 14 feet wide at the base, and contains a single guest room with a queen bed, a small bathroom, and the characteristic diamond-shaped windows that became the Wigwam Village visual signature. The fifteen teepees were arranged in a gentle semicircle around a central parking area — the layout that has remained essentially unchanged for over 70 years.

The property opened in 1950 and operated as Wigwam Village #6 through the 1950s and 1960s — the peak of the Route 66 commercial era. Holbrook in those decades was a thriving Route 66 stop with multiple motels, restaurants, gas stations, and tourist services lining Hopi Drive (the local name for the original Route 66 alignment through town). The Wigwam's distinctive design made it the town's most-photographed property even at the height of the era, and the property typically operated near full occupancy through the summer tourism months.

The Wigwam Village concept originated with Frank Redford, a Kentucky entrepreneur who built the first Village in Horse Cave, Kentucky in 1933 as a roadside curiosity inspired by Native American teepee imagery (though the actual structural design is closer to a Plains Indian-derived cone shape and bears limited resemblance to the architectural traditions of any specific Native nation — a generally-acknowledged historical inaccuracy that the modern Wigwam owners typically address with visitors honestly). Redford patented the teepee-room design in 1936 and built six additional Villages across the 1930s and 1940s, mostly along major tourism corridors in the southeastern and southwestern United States.

The seven original Wigwam Villages, in roughly the order they were built: #1 in Horse Cave, Kentucky (1933, demolished); #2 in Cave City, Kentucky (1937, surviving); #3 in New Orleans, Louisiana (1940, demolished); #4 in Orlando, Florida (1948, demolished); #5 in Bessemer, Alabama (1940, demolished); #6 in Holbrook, Arizona (1950, surviving); and #7 in San Bernardino, California (1949, surviving). The three survivors — Cave City, Holbrook, and San Bernardino — are all on the National Register of Historic Places and are generally considered essential pilgrimage sites for serious Route 66 enthusiasts and mid-century roadside-Americana fans.

The Cave City property is the only surviving Village in original Redford ownership lineage; the Holbrook and San Bernardino properties were both Redford-licensed builds operated by other families. Among the three survivors, Holbrook is generally considered the best-preserved — the Arizona climate has been gentle on the original concrete, the Lewis family's continuous ownership has preserved the original Chester Lewis aesthetic decisions, and the property has not undergone the more substantial modernizations seen at the other two survivors. A serious Route 66 traveler will typically try to visit all three Wigwam Villages across their road-trip career; the Holbrook property is the consensus first recommendation for travelers who can only visit one.

Chester E. Lewis operated the Wigwam Motel from its 1950 opening through his death in 1986. During his thirty-six years at the property, Chester saw the full arc of the Route 66 commercial era — the 1950s and 1960s peak, the 1970s decline as Interstate 40 was completed and bypassed Hopi Drive, and the 1980s near-death of the property as Route 66 tourism collapsed. The Wigwam closed briefly in the early 1980s when Chester was no longer able to operate it; the property sat largely vacant for several years and was at risk of demolition.

After Chester's death in 1986, his children reopened the motel and have continuously operated it since. The property is currently run by Chester's grandson Clifton Lewis and his sister, who took over day-to-day operations from their parents in the 2010s. The Lewis family has maintained the original aesthetic decisions across three generations — same teepee paint scheme, same Chester-era vintage neon sign (which sadly no longer functions but is preserved as a property feature), same furniture style in the rooms, same vintage automobile decoration in the parking lot. The continuity is unusual among surviving Route 66 properties and is a substantial part of what makes the Wigwam feel genuine rather than restored.

The vintage automobiles parked outside each teepee — typically 1950s and 1960s American sedans and coupes in various conditions — are a signature element of the property and were added by Chester's son in the late 1980s as part of the reopening effort. The cars are decorative only (none are driveable; many have been on the property for decades) but produce the property's defining photograph: a row of curved white teepees with a row of curved chrome-and-paint vintage automobiles in the foreground, both arranged in the same gentle semicircle. The visual is generally considered one of the most iconic mid-century American roadside images.

The Wigwam Motel's exterior is fully accessible to non-guests as long as visitors are respectful of guests staying in the teepees. The semicircle parking lot is open during daylight hours; visitors can drive in, park briefly, walk around the property, photograph the teepees from multiple angles, and visit the small lobby museum (which is generally open 8am to 9pm). There is no admission fee for non-guests and no required purchase; the family is genuinely welcoming to Route 66 travelers who want to pay their respects without booking a room.

The best photography times are early morning (the sun lights the east-facing teepees and the vintage automobiles in front of them) and late afternoon golden hour (the sun lights the west-facing teepees with warm golden tones). Cloudy days produce flatter but more even lighting that's good for documentary photography of the property's details. The signature wide-angle photograph — the entire semicircle of teepees visible at once with the vintage automobiles in the foreground — is best taken from the parking lot's southern edge looking north.

The small lobby museum is genuinely worth a visit. Chester Lewis was a serious collector and the lobby includes original Route 66 highway signs, vintage Holbrook photographs from the 1920s through 1960s, Native American artifacts (purchased by Chester across his decades of operating the motel, mostly from regional Hopi and Navajo artisans), and Wigwam Motel memorabilia spanning the property's seven-plus decades of operation. Allow 20-30 minutes for a focused museum visit; the family is typically happy to answer questions about the property's history if a Lewis family member is on duty.

The Wigwam is the centerpiece of any Holbrook Route 66 visit and pairs naturally with the other Holbrook attractions covered in this guide. The natural day plan: arrive in Holbrook from the east (driving in from Gallup, New Mexico, 80 miles east) or from the west (driving in from Winslow, 35 miles west), check in at the Wigwam by mid-afternoon, photograph the property in late-afternoon golden hour, dinner at Joe & Aggie's Cafe (a 5-minute walk away on Hopi Drive), evening exploring the rest of the Holbrook Historic Route 66 District, and a full second day at Petrified Forest National Park (entrance 25 miles east).

For travelers who can only stop briefly without staying overnight, the recommended quick-visit plan is to arrive at the Wigwam mid-morning for photography (45 minutes), have lunch at Joe & Aggie's (60-90 minutes), then continue east to Petrified Forest National Park for the afternoon (3-4 hours minimum). This compressed plan captures the essential Holbrook Route 66 experience in a single half-day and leaves time for either Winslow to the west or continuing eastward toward Gallup and New Mexico.

For serious Route 66 enthusiasts making a pilgrimage to multiple Wigwam Villages, Holbrook is generally the recommended first stop given its status as the consensus best-preserved survivor. A multi-week westbound Route 66 trip can sequence the Wigwam Villages naturally: Cave City, Kentucky early in the trip, Holbrook midway through the western leg, and San Bernardino, California near the western terminus — a full Route 66 Wigwam pilgrimage that few road-trippers complete but that is genuinely rewarding for those who do.