The South Wind of Columbus, Ohio
COLUMBUS, OHIO—The mid-century modern breeze of Columbus makes for one of my favorite tropical getaways.
Part of that comes from the fact I spent time as a kid on North Star Road in the suburb of Upper Arlington. Summer nights were long and songs were short. There were wide-eyed trips to the since-razed Kahiki Polynesian Supper Club, an architectural and cultural classic of tiki life.
And beyond the horizon, there was the South Wind Motel, a place I had not heard about until I visited Columbus over the summer.
The South Wind opened in 1959 at 919 S. High St. in the German Village section of Columbus. It went through some funky times and reopened in July 2022 under the loving guidance of local developer Michael Kelley and his fiancé Michaela Dempsey. During my June visit, I talked to Dempsey, 30, who was working the front desk. I enjoy going on “vacation” and then writing free blog entries. The 22-room South Wind is so nice I couldn’t resist.
The South Wind was designed by Columbus architect Harold Schofield, a student of Prairie School architecture. The two-level motel is defined by eave overhangs, restored stonework, and horizontal lines.
“He took a lot of inspiration from Frank Lloyd Wright,” Dempsey said during a morning conversation in the front lobby. “He was the grandfather of one of my best friends in middle school in Grandview (a neighborhood just a couple miles away from the motel.) His son came to our opening. He was excited to see his dad’s work be rejuvenated.”
South Wind, 1959 (Courtesy of the motel.)
Kelley, 39, is in Columbus real estate development and does historic preservation projects. He is a partner at Kelley Companies Firm which concentrates on apartments and some retail space.
In late 2020 a broker reached out to Kelley about turning the forsaken motel into studio apartments. Kelley and Dempsey were dating and they walked through the property together. “People were getting kicked out of the motel,” she said. “They had bags of trash on the sidewalk. We were stepping over it. It was, ‘What are we doing here?’ And then Michael was, ‘All right! Let’s do it.’ He wanted to keep it as an operating motel.” They purchased the motel in February 2021.
And by 2023 the South Wind was a finalist in the Columbus Landmarks James B. Recchie Design Award competition, where judges said in part, “With new owners, the motel reopened with a thoughtful attention to 1959 period details with a modern twist.”
South Wind, June 2024 (D. Hoekstra photo)
The South Wind has a colorful history. In 1996 a guest was killed after leaving the Tremont Lounge, a historic gay bar at 708 S. High St. that is still in operation today. And in 2002 a motel clerk was shot during a robbery in the front lobby.
“In the 1990s it was known as a ‘hot pillow joint’,” Dempsey said. “This lobby used to have a window walk-up or drive-up so people would drive through, get the key to the room, and go to the room. The pillows were still hot. It’s not that way anymore. We don’t do walk-up reservations. In the late 1990s and 2000s this area was neglected, as neglected you can be right outside of German Village. The motel fell into disrepair. It was a franchise motel.” A neighborhood of historic bars and restaurants,
German Village began to experience gentrification around 2010. The original South Wind owner was Benny Newpoff (1922-2019), a golfing chum of Upper Arlington’s Jack “The Golden Bear” Nicklaus. The most recent owner was Barry Patel. Kelley and Dempsey have playfully renamed the motel suites “Benny” and “Barry.”
Yet no one is sure how the South Wind got its name. “I have no idea,” Dempsey said. “Maybe South High Street. But I don’t know why wind. Columbus isn’t known for being windy.” The South Wind is also a nice departure off the I-270 outer belt that circles around Columbus.
The July 26, 1959 edition of the Columbus Dispatch covered the motel opening with a photograph and a one-paragraph story. It did not mention the origin of the South Wind, but the article did say, “Sealy Orthopedic mattresses are used and a new innovation of Columbus motel circles is the Continental breakfast served without charge for all guests each morning.”
Kelley also grew up in Upper Arlington, a fine mid-century modern destination in terms of housing stock and the immortal Chef-O-Nette diner that opened in 1955. (that story is on this website.) “I have such great memories of the Chef-O-Nette,” Kelley wrote in a mid-August e-mail. “In my elementary school years I used to spend just about every day of the summer at the Tremont Pool (across the street from the Chef) and a few times a week my friends and I would saddle up to the counter at Chef-O-Nette and order a chocolate milkshake and occasionally a burger.
“While I did not draw specifically from the Chef-O-Nette when envisioning the possibilities for the South Wind Motel project, I did want to tap into that sense of nostalgia that you and I both have for the Chef-O-Nette and which many feel for certain elements of the 1950s and 60s in America. That era was when motels were in their heyday as a quintessentially American offering and motels (particularly independently operated ones) conjure up memories of childhood, family vacations, road trips and adventure.”
Dempsey added, “Both being from Columbus, we have a lot of Columbus history. My uncle owns Byrne’s Pub in Grandview. My fiancé’s brother opened Emmett’s Cafe (744 S. High) in 2020. Plank’s across the street, that’s Michael’s family.” Plank’s Bier Garten opened in 1960 at 888 S. High Street. It has nothing to do with former Ohio State-Chicago Bears grinder Doug Plank.
The South Wind has been attracting mid-century modern tourists. “Unfortunately Columbus went through a period where it tore down a lot of stuff,” Dempsey said. “Like the (downtown hotel) Christopher Inn, it was a big circular thing.” And the Kahiki. And the retro Round Bar/cocktail lounge that was part of the Clarmont (No ‘E’) Motor Inn, 650 S. High St. Scenes from Jodie Foster’s “Little Man Tate” were filmed in the Clarmont’s intimate Round Bar.
Clarmont Motor Inn with “Round Bar” in front.
I stayed at the Clarmont for the Kahki’s farewell party in August 2000. The Clarmont is now a Holiday Inn Express. My dad had business lunches at the neighboring Clarmont steakhouse where dim lighting was created by art deco rose lamps.
The Clarmont steakhouse has become the Cobra, a hip Asian-Amercian bar and restaurant that was pretty crowded on a Monday night. Check out Mama Chien’s Dumplings (pork or sweet potato fillings) with dumpling sauce.
“We do have people seek us out because we’re mid-century,” Dempsey said. “One woman planned a birthday party. She rented three suites for herself and two sisters. They dressed in mid-century and brought in cute decorations and a photographer. We have a history of mid-century architecture but sometimes it can be hard to find.”
Here’s a pro tip: check out Rush Creek Village in the quaint town of Worthington just 12 miles north of Columbus. The Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired village was established in 1956 by designer Theodore van Fossen. He graduated from the New Bauhaus school in Chicago and worked on several Wright buildings. Each of the 49 Usonian-style houses was uniquely designed for the owner. Rush Creek is believed to be the largest organically designed subdivision in the United States according to the National Park District. The village was placed on the National Register in 2003. There had been Rush Creek Village tours before COVID, I was told they are still on pause. However you can park your car and walk around the village’s winding and woodsy roads. Rush Creek Village is at the east end of South Street in Worthington.
Rush Creek Village (D. Hoekstra photo.)
Kelley hired an interior designer for the South Wind project but added unique touches with the help of his future wife. “We thought remodeling would take six months,” Dempsey said. “It took well over a year.”
Working on renovations during the tailwind of the pandemic turned out to be beneficial for the young couple. “Things were starting to open up again but people were cautious,” she explained. “Supply woes are what took time. But COVID did inform a lot of the ways we operate today. We thought about what life would be after COVID. Both of us are very passionate about sustainability and conserving the future of the world. Travel can have a big impact on the environment. Traveling is good for individuals but maybe not for a group.”
So new solar panels on the roof supplies electricity during spring and summer months. Four outside electric chargers are also powered by solar in sunny days. “It is clean energy going into your car if you charge it here,” Dempsey said. The front of motel is beautifully landscaped by native plants, blue pine, lavender and native grasses. Rainwater is used to nourish the plants. Mattresses are custom made from organic materials and all interior wood is real walnut. The South Wind uses refillable bottles of shampoo and conditioner, using skin care products with high-quality and toxin-free ingredients. “It saves a lot of plastic,” Dempsey said.
The new mid-century neon sign in front of the motel was designed to illuminate Columbus signage of the 1960s. “The previous sign was up was put in the 1990s and it wasn’t very pretty,” Dempsey said. “It was falling apart.” The lobby is cleverly accented with a large card catalog salvaged from a local library. Each catalog drawer is stocked with items that travelers might forget; toothbrushes, floss, hair ties, bug spray, tampons and other necessities. In their spare time Dempsey and Kelley peruse local antique stores.
Repurposed card catalog for motel lobby.
Restoring the roadside motel was Kelley’s idea. Dempsey was a social worker at Huckleberry House in Columbus. “I was most recently working with young adults who were transitioning out of homelessness,” Dempsey said.
The couple tag teamed their time at the South Wind during the renovation and early days of the operation. “And last summer I quit my job to do this,” she said. Dempsey is full time at the motel and works at other Kelley Companies properties around Columbus. Her family is also in the service industry as the owners of Dempsey’s Food & Spirits, 346 S. High St.
Motel owners Michael Kelley and Michaela Dempsey at the beautiful South Wind. (Courtesy of the motel.)
“We learned a lot about operating a motel and hospitality,” she continued. “In the beginning, it was re-educating people on what was going on. We got constant phone calls or people coming to the door trying to get a room by the hour. We had to learn how to make that adjustment in that’s not what we’re doing.
“But the biggest surprise is how much people have liked it. I still get surprised when someone says this changed their perspective of what they are looking for when they travel. One woman was here for a work trip. Her co-worker booked it. She kept calling, ‘Is there room service?’ ‘Am I safe?’ I reassured her she was safe and no, that we didn’t have room service, and that it is a motel at its core. She wanted to be at a hotel by the airport. That’s not what this is. We’re the opposite. By the end of the trip, she comes down here (to the lobby) and says, ‘This was the best hotel I’ve stayed in’.”
The South Wind also has made its mark with the LGBTQ community. Pride influencers were booked at the motel not long after my visit. Besides the Tremont Lounge, Club Diversity, 863 S. High is another popular gay bar within walking distance of the South Wind. Club Diversity is located in a vintage 1880s house.
Dempsey and Kelley have had their hands full with busy summer tourism and wedding planning. Their wedding date is Sept. 21. This begs the question of where the motel owners might spend their honeymoon night. “Not here,” Dempsey said with a laugh. “Lots of people do have honeymoons here.”
And you also will fall in love with the sweet South Winds Motel.
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