Durham North Carolina Howard Johnson's Motor lodge and Restaurant
Photo June 2001: Bob Venditti
 
Durham, North Carolina -- 1800 Hillandale Rd
 

Opened during 1966, the 80 guest room Durham property was built in the Howard Johnson Company's classic latter 1960s design. Moreover the Motor Lodge was carefully sited along I-85 with its signature Orange Roofed A-frame Gate Lodge gleaming as a beacon to welcome guests.

The complex's Restaurant was in the standardized A-frame layout derived from the large-sized "Concept '65" prototypes. Motorists north-bound on the Interstate easily saw it, for the HoJo's Restaurant was perched prominently above the superhighway and higher than the Motor Lodge.
 
Photos July 2003: Bob Venditti
 
 
 
 
 

Awaiting demolition, Bob Venditti noted that there were "no 28 Flavors here, or anything else for that matter."

Above: Remarkably intact were the remains of the Dairy Bar, backdrop, and pass through with its copper hood (Is that a frankfurter advertisement hanging under the hood?).
 
 
 
 
 
Photos 2000s: Phil Edwards
 
 
 
 
 
 
Photos July 2, 2007: Robby Delius
 
Above & Below: Even as the Gate Lodge gleamed orange, its days were numbered and by 2007 the Restaurant had been razed leaving a bare pad and just a few traces of rubble.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Higher, Above & Lower: I-85's widening and interchange realignment became too close for comfort. The highway which had brought life to the Howard Johnson's was transformed to suck all of its remaining vitality away and encroached upon the site itself.
 
Photos October 2007: Phil Edwards
 
 
 
 
 
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