Colony House Motor Lodge
3560 Franklin Rd SW
Roanoke, VA
A 1959 Googie motor lodge. Saved, restored, and back on the road.
About Colony House Motor Lodge
Colony House Motor Lodge is one of a small number of largely intact Googie-style motor courts surviving in the United States. The futuristic sensibility ran through every detail: starburst shapes, boomerang angles, folded-plate rooflines, original neon, and Space Age references that peaked in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Colony House earned a place on the National Register of Historic Places and sat dormant for years before a full restoration completed in 2025 returned it to operation. The property sits on US-220 in Roanoke, Virginia, where the Appalachian Valley narrows toward the Blue Ridge. The Blue Ridge Parkway begins five miles south.
What Colony House Motor Lodge Is Known For
The Colony House Motor Lodge survived because the right people looked at a 1959 roadside motel on a Roanoke hillside and saw what it actually was before it could disappear. The Virginia Department of Historic Resources spent the time to document and list it. The renovation team spent the time to restore it without erasing it. The folded-plate rooflines and the exterior corridors and the pool enclosure and the neon are not interpretation, they are the original building, brought back to working condition and opened again in July 2025. A National Register listing is not given out for sentiment. It is given to structures that are genuinely irreplaceable, and the Colony House earned that designation honestly.
Amenities
- Pets Welcome
- Pool
- Original neon signage
- Exterior corridors with parking outside each room
What Guests Love
- One of the few surviving intact examples of Googie-style motor lodge architecture in the eastern United States, listed on the National Register of Historic Places and reopened after a full boutique renovation in July 2025.
- Exterior corridors with parking directly outside each room in the original 1959 motor court configuration: park, walk to your door, done.
- Five miles from the Blue Ridge Parkway and ten minutes from downtown Roanoke, positioned for both the outdoor itinerary and a city evening.
- The original neon signage and folded-plate rooflines are intact. This is the 1959 building on the 1959 site. Nothing has been invented.
Worth Knowing
- The outdoor pool is seasonal. Confirm current open dates when booking if you are visiting in spring or fall.
- Located 2 miles from the Blue Ridge Parkway, with McAfee Knob 12 miles west and downtown Roanoke 3 miles north. A car is useful for both.
- Pets are welcome. A pet fee applies; contact the property directly to confirm current amounts and any restrictions before booking.
The Room
Rooms at the Colony House are accessed directly from exterior corridors, with parking immediately outside each door. The building's two-story design means upper-floor guests walk out onto an exterior walkway; ground-floor guests step directly onto the apron. The 1959 Googie structure gives the rooms their proportions and their orientation, both of which the renovation worked with rather than against. The interiors reflect the property's mid-century bones: updated furnishings and quality bedding in rooms shaped by the original architecture rather than erased by a renovation that tried to forget it. Each room faces either the property's internal grounds or the wooded hillside behind the site.
The Grounds
The Colony House occupies a dramatic position along US-220, on a hillside site with 450 feet of road frontage that makes the property impossible to miss at speed. The original breeze-block pool enclosure anchors one end of the property; the two buildings with their signature folded-plate rooflines define the other. The wooded hillside rises behind both structures. Original neon signage illuminates the site at night, not reproduced or restored from archive photos, but the actual signage that has been here since the building opened. Parking is directly in front of each room. The Blue Ridge Parkway entrance is five miles south.
The Experience
The Colony House sits between Roanoke and the Blue Ridge in the most useful way: close enough to the city for dinner and a museum, angled toward the mountain for the days that matter most. McAfee Knob, the most photographed overlook on the Appalachian Trail, is twelve miles out, a 7.9-mile round trip with views that justify the drive. The Blue Ridge Parkway begins five miles south, with overlooks and trailheads accessible for the length of the range. Downtown Roanoke has the Taubman Museum of Art and the Roanoke City Market, both within three miles. The property's own architecture is part of the stay: a Googie motor lodge from 1959 with National Register credentials is not a common accommodation. Guests who know the category will understand immediately. Guests who do not will figure it out by the second morning.
Details
Roanoke, VA 24014
The Boutel designation is earned, not purchased. Boutels is editorially independent and has no financial relationship with any listed property.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Colony House Motor Lodge have EV charging?
No, Colony House Motor Lodge does not have on-site EV charging. The Road Trip Planner map shows public chargers near the property.
What is there to do near Colony House Motor Lodge?
Blue Ridge Parkway: 5 miles, about a 10 minute drive, or you can bike there. Downtown Roanoke: 3 miles, about a 5 minute drive, or you can bike there. McAfee Knob: 12 miles, about a 25 minute drive.
How far is Colony House Motor Lodge from Blue Ridge Parkway?
Blue Ridge Parkway is about 5 miles from Colony House Motor Lodge, roughly a 10 minute drive or a short bike ride.
How far is Colony House Motor Lodge from Downtown Roanoke?
Downtown Roanoke is about 3 miles from Colony House Motor Lodge, roughly a 5 minute drive or a short bike ride.
How far is Colony House Motor Lodge from McAfee Knob?
McAfee Knob is about 12 miles from Colony House Motor Lodge, roughly a 25 minute drive.
Is Colony House Motor Lodge pet friendly?
Yes. Colony House Motor Lodge welcomes pets. A pet fee applies; contact the property directly to confirm current amounts and any restrictions before booking.
What is Googie architecture?
Googie is a style of mid-century commercial architecture from the 1950s, characterized by dramatic geometric shapes, angled planes, cantilevered rooflines, and the deliberate goal of stopping passing motorists. The Colony House Motor Lodge is a documented and listed example, built in 1959 and recognized on the National Register of Historic Places in 2023.
Is the Colony House Motor Lodge on the National Register of Historic Places?
Yes. The property was listed on the Virginia Landmarks Register in 2022 and on the National Register of Historic Places in 2023, recognized as a rare surviving example of Googie roadside architecture in the Roanoke region.
How far is the Colony House from the Blue Ridge Parkway?
The Blue Ridge Parkway is approximately 5 miles from the property, about a 10-minute drive. The parkway provides access to overlooks, trailheads, and some of the most celebrated scenic driving in the eastern US.
How far is Colony House from McAfee Knob?
McAfee Knob is approximately 12 miles from the property. The trailhead for the 7.9-mile round-trip hike begins off VA-311. It is the most photographed overlook on the Appalachian Trail.
Does the Colony House have a pool?
Yes. The pool has been restored as part of the 2025 renovation. The original breeze-block enclosure from the 1959 construction is intact.
How far is Colony House Motor Lodge from downtown Roanoke?
The Hotel Roanoke and the core of downtown Roanoke are approximately 6 miles from Colony House, about a 12-minute drive. The Grandin Village neighborhood, with independent restaurants, a historic theater, and specialty coffee, is approximately 3 miles away.
Is parking available at Colony House Motor Lodge?
Yes. Free on-site parking is available at Colony House Motor Lodge.
Does Colony House Motor Lodge include breakfast?
No. Breakfast is not included at Colony House Motor Lodge.
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Things to Do Near Roanoke and the Blue Ridge
Blue Ridge Parkway
1.7 miles away
America's Favorite Drive, a 469-mile mountain parkway with no trucks or billboards, running the crest of the southern Appalachians from Shenandoah to the Great Smokies.
Mill Mountain Zoo
2.0 miles away
A right-sized zoo for young kids, up on Mill Mountain next to the star. Mill Mountain Zoo is small enough to walk in an hour or two without meltdowns, and it has genuine highlights: red pandas, a snow leopard, and other...
Virginia Museum of Transportation
2.9 miles away
Roanoke is a railroad city to its core, and this is where that story sits.
Roanoke Pinball Museum
2.9 miles away
Most visitors ride the elevator at Center in the Square for the aquarium or the science museum and miss this.
Taubman Museum of Art
3.0 miles away
People are often surprised a city this size has a free art museum in a building this bold.
McAfee Knob
11 miles away
The most photographed overlook on the entire Appalachian Trail, a flat sandstone ledge that juts out over sixteen hundred feet of open air with a near 270-degree view of the Catawba and Roanoke valleys.
Downtown Roanoke
3 miles, about a 5 minute drive, or you can bike there.
A compact and walkable small-city downtown with independent restaurants, the Taubman Museum of Art, and the historic Roanoke City Market, one of Virginia's oldest continuously operating farmers markets.