A compact layout, the Southington Motor Lodge was scheduled to open in September of 1965 with 72 classically configured guest rooms in two, two-story buildings both featuring central corridors. Unique in the Nutmeg State and one of fewer than a dozen Howard Johnson's, Southington presented itself to the public with a drive-under "canopy" Gate Lodge.

Starting in late 1957, the Howard Johnson Company had endeavored to create a standard image for its Motor Lodges by utilizing an a-frame design for guest lobbies. Known as a Gate Lodge, these lobbies at most Motor Lodges were free-standing structures that came to represent Howard Johnson's modern and superior hospitality offerings. The Gate Lodges themselves were true a-frame structures apparently designed by HoJo's in-house architectural department led by Joseph Cicco and later Lowery Bell. Exuding the modernity of the Space-Age, the Gate Lodges were clad in gleaming orange porcelain enamel roof tiles and topped with a spire cupola and Lamplighter weather vane--a juxtaposition of old and new symbolism that worked!

Since the Gate Lodges were a standard size, they presented limitations for operators that desired larger public spaces. Thus an alternative was use of an in-the-building lobby and drive under canopy Gate Lodge such as what was employed at Southington.