Described in promotional material as "luxurious," the classic highway-style Richmond complex opened in 1963. As one of the earlier properties of its type, each part of the facility was detached. The Company learned by the middle 1960s to connect by covered or (better) enclosed walkways each section (guest wings-Gate Lodge-Restaurant) to allow guests protection from the elements as they utilized all that Howard Johnson's had to offer.

The 80 room Motor Lodge survived Under the Orange Roof into the 1990s--just long enough to have its signature A-frame Gate Lodge squared off. Then as Blackstone-HFS morphed Howard Johnson's into Cendant's bevy of brands, the property was purged and became a Cendant (now called Wyndham) branded Super 8.

Above: Northern exposure provided a short season for Richmond's outdoor swimming pool. Nonetheless even an outdoor pool was viewed as a significant attraction and any swimming pool indoors or otherwise would have been mostly used during the summer vacation months. Note that the property's 2010 Super 8 listing indicated that the pool had become unavailable.

Below: Curb appeal be damned! Any exposed concrete block or brickwork was hideously stuccoed over and painted an unattractive color. Note too that even worse than the stucco, the sliders were removed and replaced with small windows adding to the overall unappealing look of the guest buildings.

Above & Below: The Richmond complex featured a classic Nims-type Restaurant complete with neon roof signage and a Simple Simon and the Pieman topped finned space-age spire cupola! Note the large overflow dining or Lamplighter Room which could have also served as a function room for the Motor Lodge or for civic groups.

Lower: The Restaurant may have been converted into a Big Boy as early as the middle 1980s while Marriott carved up the Howard Johnson Company. At any rate, the unit became a part of the Frisch's Big Boy empire. Unfortunately even the well run Cincinnati, Ohio based Frisch's chain has faced contraction, and the former Richmond HoJo's turned Big Boy was closed and subsequently converted into a local eatery by the end of the 2000s.