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Home / Other Rooms / Bedrooms

More wacky and wonderful bedrooms from the Madonna Inn

pam kueber - Updated: November 5, 2020

Retro Renovation stopped publishing in 2021; these stories remain for historical information, as potential continued resources, and for archival purposes.

old-mill-room-madonna-in

In my initial post about the Madonna Inn – the iconic 50s motel in St. Luis Obispo, Calif. – I showed five viva Las Vegas rooms. Today – some simply wonderful, kitschy rooms that throw in waterwheels, Flintstones fever, and lots of horsing around. Above is the “Old Mill Room” – I love its coral, chartreuse and teal mashup of color, not to mention the hot pink miniature mills. Now who thought of that?

Let’s always remember to: Not take ourselves too seriously with this decorating stuff… Click through for six more great vintage style bedrooms.


137-caveman-room

I think that Fred and Wilma Flintstone go in “The Caveman Room” (above). It matches Wilma’s hair.

139-jungle-rock-room

Barney and Betty go in “The Jungle Rock Room” (above.)  Zebra stripes look good against aqua, don’t you think?

country-living-room-madonna-inn

The “Country Living Room” above is not a wild and crazy room at all – and it looks like you could live in this space and never leave it. I love the copper hood over the fireplace.

tack-room-madonna-inn

The first of three horse-themed rooms. I love the bordello quality of this space above, “The Tack Room.”

pony-room-madonna-inn

Notice the light fixtures in the “Pony Room” above: A round disco-y ball at the far left, a mini wagon-wheel (?) hanging in the ceiling, and two colonial lantern sconces flanking the bed in the foreground.

chestnut-foal-room-madonna-inn

Not sure about sleeping under a pony here in “The Chestnut Foal Room,” our last eye candy for today. I think that qualifies as bad feng shui….but these folks definitely always get points for decorative imagination. Love the scalloped/painted trim around the front door (far right).

Thanks to  Susie and Peggy at the Madonna Inn for their help with this post and more inspiring bedroom images still to come. Here’s the link to the Madonna Inn – be sure to visit if you’re in the area!

CATEGORIES:
Bedrooms vacation spots, historic homes, museums

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22 comments

Comments

  1. PuNk rAwK pUrL says

    April 24, 2009 at 2:58 pm

    love your blog!
    just to clarify… in case anyone is looking for it.. it’s San Luis Obispo, not St. Luis Obispo.

  2. Amy says

    March 16, 2009 at 9:21 pm

    oh my that is wacky! people actually stay here?

    • Pam Kueber says

      March 16, 2009 at 11:42 pm

      Amy – oh yes, this is a real hotel. The link to their website is at the way bottom of the post – check it out!

  3. kristin says

    March 16, 2009 at 11:59 pm

    Someone please send in pictures of the rock bathroom in the lobby. My picture was underexposed…it is AMAZING!!!!

  4. Cindy says

    March 16, 2009 at 9:19 pm

    The caveman room is my favorite…. My sister is planning to move to St. Luis Obispo….I might just have to check this place out!!

  5. vacationbarbie says

    March 16, 2009 at 4:24 pm

    In the Tack room….is that bedspread made of Naugahyde? LOL

  6. Joe says

    March 16, 2009 at 2:06 pm

    Depending on our route and which cities we end up visiting the Madonna might be on our list for our Honeymoon in Oct/Nov. I know for a fact that I’m staying at the Orbit In, no questions asked, just a matter of hammering out the rest of the stops.

  7. Elvis (aka) Jane says

    March 16, 2009 at 1:55 pm

    What fun! My favorite is the Jungle Rock Room. The aqua and the zebra stripes are just cool. I love the touch of greenery on the wall.
    Makes me want to go to San Luis Obispo next week!

  8. Jita says

    March 16, 2009 at 12:24 pm

    These are wonderful! Wasn’t this inn in a movie back in the 80s?

  9. Fi the imaginator says

    March 16, 2009 at 10:01 am

    How inspiring! I really love the eye-popping colour combos! thanks for sharing these super rooms!

  10. PugFreek says

    March 16, 2009 at 8:38 am

    Wow

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