In the mid-20th century, Grant Greene fell in love — with “that hill.” Specifically, a rise just off U.S. Highway 321 in Boone where, today, the recently renovated Rhode’s Motor Lodge welcomes guests for a taste of High Country nostalgia. This 54-room, 21st-century take on a classic motor lodge began as a simple 12-room property that served as both the family’s livelihood and their home. It was called, appropriately, Greene’s Motel.

In 1933, Grant and Ruth Greene started their foray into mountain hospitality with a handful of two-room log cabins just down the road at the Grandview Overlook in Deep Gap. In 1953, they opened the Cardinal Motel in Boone. But Grant still had his sights set on that hill, and finally, in 1958, his longtime vision finally came to life.

The history of Rhode’s Motor Lodge is the history of Grant and Ruth Greene — beginning with their Grandview Cafe & Cabins in Deep Gap and including Greene’s Motel. Photography courtesy of Harris Greene

Harris Greene grew up in the family business. photograph by Stacey Van Berkel

“He built on the hill when I was in college,” says his son, Harris Greene, now 89. “My daddy always loved that hill. He always wanted to be there.”

A neon sign promising “Beautyrest beds, air conditioning, and television” beckoned vacationing families and motorists on their way through the mountains to somewhere else. For about $35 a night, they could drive up the hill and park right in front of their room with a stunning view of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

“There was no skiing then, so we’d open just for summer — May to Labor Day,” Harris recalls. And it was very much a family business: “Daddy and Mother and I did 90 percent of all the cleaning and everything else,” he says. “There was one bedroom off the kitchen for Daddy and Mother, and I had the room on the other side.” And like many other families, the kitchen was their gathering place.

The 1960s when Greene’s parents ran Greene’s Motel. Photography courtesy of Harris Greene

Greene’s 1940s childhood at the Grandview Cafe & Cabins. Photography courtesy of Harris Greene

The Greenes worked around the clock and became close friends with numerous guests, many of whom were repeat visitors from the Midwest.

“We’d have people come stay with us a week or two weeks at a time. Some who had stayed at those cabins [in Deep Gap],” Harris says.

When Appalachian Ski Mountain, northwestern North Carolina’s first ski area, opened in 1962, his parents started renting a few of their 12 rooms to skiers. Because they weren’t right next to the slopes, rooms were around $10 a night during what the Greenes considered their off-season.

The next year, at age 53, Grant Greene died from an aneurysm. To help his mother, Harris commuted a few days a week from Mount Airy. In 1967, he built a second, two-story building with balcony rooms rising behind the original motel. The future looked bright.

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In the ’50s and ’60s, motor lodges like Greene’s Motel were a mainstay for travelers looking for easy access to a clean, reasonably priced room. But as bigger motel and hotel chains offered more amenities at lower prices than the mom-and-pop places, many independent travel lodges — like Greene’s Motel — lost customers.

By the 1970s, Ruth Greene was ready to get out of the travel lodge business, so she sold the motel and retired. Still, she stayed close with several guests, even visiting one in Spartanburg, South Carolina, regularly for years.

The rooms at Rhode’s have enjoyed a 21st-century refresh, but the mountain view has remained the same. photograph by Chris Council

Various owners ran the property until 2023, when Loden Hospitality opened Rhode’s Motor Lodge during a resurgence in popularity for renovated mid-century motels.

The reinvigorated Rhode’s Motor Lodge — its name a nod to the signature rhododendrons that dot the surrounding mountainsides and also a play on the phrase “road trip” — has many modern amenities. But Loden has maintained plenty of the motel’s original features, like the steel mesh balcony railings that Harris put in and the speckled terrazzo floors that Grant and Ruth installed in 1958.

In the downstairs game room, vintage video games like Ms. Pac-Man stir nostalgic memories for a certain generation. photograph by Chris Council

“Places are interesting when there’s a mix of polished and imperfect,” says Christine McDonald, chief operating officer for Loden, a development, design, and management company in Raleigh. “I think the reason why there’s a movement on revitalizing older motels is because they have a connection to place. It appeals to a desire to experience authenticity. They have a history and a story.”

“I think it’s beautiful,” Harris says of the updated motel. “They did things I would have never dreamed of, and I think they’re wonderful. And I was glad to see they saved some of the tile that we had. It brought back memories.”

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A recent visit to Rhode’s Motor Lodge brought back memories for me, too: reminders of family road trips and vacations across North Carolina in my youth, back when travel lodges ruled. I recall one such trip in 1973, when my parents took my sister and me out of Raleigh’s summer heat for a few days in Blowing Rock. While they were glued to the televised Watergate hearings, my sister and I constructed houses out of dresser drawers for our Barbies. Though we were “marooned” in our motor lodge, we stayed happily occupied jumping from bed to bed and playing “Mother May I?”.

That was just one memory that returned as I drove up the hill and the reincarnated Rhode’s Motor Lodge came into view.

Inside, the lobby welcomed me with new hardwood floors; a freestanding, mid-century-style circular fireplace; a side table fashioned from a smoothly honed section of a tree trunk; and framed needlepoint depictions of a leaping buck and striped bass, both vintage store finds.

In the lobby, a circular fireplace echoes the property’s mid-century vibe. photograph by Chris Council

Outside, a couple sat in Adirondack chairs around a firepit, and families played cornhole under strings of lights in the courtyard that was once the pool area. “We thought about bringing the pool back. But how long can you really use an outdoor pool in Boone?” McDonald says.

I warmed my boots by the six-foot-long linear firepit, watching the sun set on the Blue Ridge. When it got too chilly, I retreated back inside the motor lodge for a nightcap from the lobby bar.

The next morning, rested and with coffee in hand, I returned to the smoldering fire to start the day, reinvigorated by this dose of nostalgia I’ve discovered up on “that hill.”

Rhode’s Motor Lodge
1377 Blowing Rock Road
Boone, NC 28607
(828) 865-1110
rhodesmotorlodge.com