Wagon Wheel Motel and Restaurant

I have been wanting to write this post up for quite some time, but kept putting it off for one reason or another. Today I sat me down and made me stay at the keyboard until I was finished. Too bad I wasn’t as good a disciplinarian with myself back when I was in school. I probably would have had a job I enjoyed a hell of a lot more. But, that’s another topic for another blog entry. Let’s get back to the subject of my earlier procrastination.

There is this quaint little almost truck-stop between Ventura and Oxnard that any local will immediately recognize as simply "Wagon Wheel". That is the abbreviated name for a motel and restaurant complex that has gone by the name of The Wagon Wheel Restaurant and Hotel for over sixty years. It officially closed a few months ago, but its fate is still up in the air. There are rumors that it might be declared a historic landmark, but for now what was once an iconic roadside attraction and rest spot for more than half a century sits silently and sadly neglected along a frontage road next to the 101 freeway.

The kitschy motel and restaurant was built in 1947. You could even say it was "relocated" because the man whose dream of a roadside motel that ultimately became the Wagon Wheel Motel put the place together piece by piece from surplus World War II barracks.

Martin Vance 'Bud' Smith won the surplus Sea-Bee barracks at an auction in nearby Port Hueneme, and after having them transported to the site had them arranged in a sort of horseshoe shape, and converted others into a restaurant and motel office. Legend holds that shortly after purchasing the property, Smith found several branding irons in the dirt. Bud figured the land was at one time used by a cattle rancher, and decided on a western theme for his motel and restaurant.

When my family first moved to Ventura in 1967 the large, neon wagon wheel sign was the most identifiable landmark in the entire county. It was so prominent that people would base their directions to Oxnard and Ventura by telling travelers to exit the freeway just south of the large, turning wagon wheel to get to Oxnard, or just north of it for Ventura.

It was high enough, large enough, and bright enough that when lit up at night the animated wagon wheel could be seen from all over these here parts. It was a fantastic piece of neon artwork that rivaled its Las Vegas contemporaries. As it rotated on its base, the wheel appeared to be rolling along, and one by one each letter in "Wagon Wheel" would light up until both words were fully illuminated. Then they would all go out, and then come back on all at once. It was quite a sight. There was also another animated neon sign of a horse-drawn buckboard which appeared to be racing across the prairie. A smaller version of that sign still exists. (At least I think it is a smaller version. It might be the original.)

The old neon sign has been gone for years, and the motel and restaurant has fallen on hard times, but the place is still beautiful if you ask me. Just take a look at these pictures...

(Remember, click on the pictures for a larger version.)

This is what's left of the neon sign announcing the motel and restaurant. Like I said, I believe there was a much larger version of this sign at one time, but that might just be the remnants of my eight-year-old childhood memory playing tricks on me. The office of the motel. Classic architecture, if you ask me. Right down to the lettering and trim the attention to detail is impressive. You don't see this sort of building much anymore. The entry to the restaurant. On the left side of the entry is one of my favorite parts of the building... ...a window fashioned out of a wagon wheel! Is that fantastic or what? Of course the wagon wheel was a prominent fixture around the building. That flag has been up there for as long as I can remember, and I can remember pretty far. The last T in "restaurant" makes the sign look rather pathetic, but even in this state it is a work of art. A view of the office from in front of the restaurant. Color TV AND a pool! What nuclear family wouldn't love to vacation here? They don't look like old military barracks, do they? This is the walkway in front of the lounge. I don't know if the lounge was part of the original layout or not, but it sure looks like it was. It follows the original design to a T. Well, maybe not "to a T". This is the door to the lounge, and it is the one thing that makes me question when the lounge was built. This wagon wheel embedded in the door doesn't look like many of the others around the property, and it doesn't seem to have the same style or quality, either. Inside the office. I was very pleased with how well this picture came out since I took it through a closed window.

So there you have it, some pictures of a dilapidated motel and restaurant that might one day be mowed down in the name of progress, and transformed into just another cookie-cutter strip mall. What a shame that would be.

So far, though, no determination has been made regarding the fate of the property. As I mentioned earlier, there are talks of preserving the old place. I personally would like to see that happen. The architecture and craftsmanship that went into these buildings in stunning to see in person; my pictures do not do them justice.

Beyond the aesthetics of the buildings is the history that resides in their walls. I have heard that such luminaries as Clark Gable and Jack Nicholson have stayed there. I for one would be very interested in learning more about the history of Wagon Wheel, and I hope one day that history will be made available to the public, on the property, in a roadside museum tribute to the wonderful old Wagon Wheel Motel and Restaurant.

Posted by Jeff at February 9, 2007 2:47 PM