Yucca Motel

The yucca plant, native to the Mojave Desert, inspired the theme and design of the Yucca Motel and its iconic signage. Designed in 1953, the Yucca Motel sign is emblematic of mid-century modern design aesthetics, promoting sleek and functional compositions while embracing soft curves, minimalist lines, and bold colors.

The Yucca Motel signage features design motifs common with the sign trends of the era, such as the incorporation of prominent geometric shapes combined with elaborate neon elements. The triangular shape of the sign itself serves a tangible purpose, directing drivers and passersby towards the location of the motel. This is similar in function to numerous other motels that may have developed in the United States in the economic boom following World War II. With more Americans travelling across the country on road trips and with a readily available surplus of disposable income, motels emerged to meet their lodging needs. The rise of roadside motels occurred alongside the development of the Federal Interstate Highway System in the 1950s. Motels—a portmanteau of “motor hotels”—were originally plain and functional buildings designed with motorists in mind, offering reliable lodging and free parking facilities, with their rooms arranged in low-profile structures with parking directly outside. As their popularity grew, motels began to feature unique, regional aesthetics to attract potential guests.

Bhagu and Manjula Patel acquired the Yucca Motel shortly after immigrating to Las Vegas from India. The property provided the Patel family with both a sense of financial security and the means to send their sons to university. With the closure of the property in the late 2000s, the Patel family donated the Yucca Motel signage to The Neon Museum in 2009, hoping to greet new generations of visitors to Las Vegas while also preserving their family’s legacy. This sign was partially restored by Hartlauer Signs in 2017. On the top of the “motel” portion of the Yucca Motel signage is the phrase “Sleez 83,” the nickname of painter Danny Carthegan of YESCO (Young Electric Sign Company). Carthegan often signed his work where people could not typically see his name.