St. Joseph, Michigan has one of the most intriguing Wright-style buildings anywhere- the Snowflake Motel, designed by Wright's son-in-law, William Wesley Peters, in 1961. On the National Register of Historic Places, the motel is extraordinarily true to Wrightian principles. Wright scholar and client Jeanne Spielman Rubin has identified Wright's essential inspiration as the crystalline structures found in Nature, and Peters' work is based on the snowflake, the crystal shape best known to nearly everyone.
In addition to its snowflake-based plan, the motel had snowflake motifs in many places when it was new, including its gates. It was conceived as a resort motel, a getaway for Chicagoans, a place of modest luxury and great beauty. When it opened in 1962, it did very well for a time; the area of St. Joseph and its twin city, Benton Harbor, were dotted with just such summer motels. Unfortunately, time has made many changes in the area; people seem to want more glamorous destinations nowadays, and the Snowflake, now operated as a Villager Lodge, is in some disrepair.
The owner has tried hard to raise consciousness about the motel, and to attract new business, but the declining area around it has been a deterrent to his original plans, which included finding investors to fund a restoration of the property. Despite bargain room prices, and a website advertising the architectural history behind the motel, the Villager mainly serves transients who need a low weekly rate. Occasionally, an architecture buff who knows what the property was intended to be comes to stay for a night or two, but most of the Villager's residents know little of Frank Lloyd Wright, and nothing of Wes Peters.
Despite the owner's valiant attempts at maintaining a decent standard of innkeeping, declining revenues and other factors have made it difficult to keep the place as it once was. The pool, an integral part of the overall design, had to be filled in to reduce costs. A few architectural elements, such as the snowflake-embellished front gates, have been sold. The owner, a Mr. Patel, was recently interviewed by Suzanne Snider of Believer Magazine, and openly despaired at the plight of the place. He wanted to restore a National Register property to glory; he has gotten nowhere. Not only have investors shied away, Patel has encountered open opposition from the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation on certain issues, including his proposal to reinstate the original Peters-designed motel sign. The Foundation, it seems, does not want any associations with a place that is somewhat run-down. The catch is, of course, that if the association cannot be better advertised, the property's condition may never improve.
For now, the six V-shaped buildings huddle forlornly together, trying to survive long enough for some visionary to see their potential as something like a conference center, spa, or retreat of some sort. The surrounding area is not upscale, so whatever is done will have to be funded by deep pockets and deeper reserves of patience. There are plusses- the simple concrete-block construction will be relatively easy to restore, and there are still many Peters-designed elements on the property, including light standards highly reminiscent of the signposts pointing the way to Taliesin West.
For those who would like to see the Snowflake for themselves, it's about 100 miles east of Chicago, and about 30 miles north of South Bend. The address is:
Villager Lodge
Or visit the motel's website at: www.sjvillagerlodge.com/historical.htm
Whether you're in search of a night's lodging, or would like to buy a motel with one hell of an architectural pedigree, you're probably going to get a great rate.
SOURCES
Believer Magazine, The Snow Flake Motel: St. Joseph Michigan, by Suzanne Snider. www.believermag.com/motel/snowflake.htm
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