Anniversary Items collection

A brief history note and pictures


"The Usonian Inn LLC, originally named the Rest Haven Motel, 

was the first Highway lodging between Madison and LaCrosse WI on US Hwy 14. Our Hotel was conceived in 1950, open for business in 1952, refurbished in 1992, and went through a designer makeover in 2008.

The Usonian style, as conceived by Frank Lloyd Wright, is "architecture for everyone," combining readily available materials and straight-forward construction in harmony with the natural settings; nowadays known as green, sustainable concept. We are one of the very few, if not the only, Usonian motels in the world."

"***Now the Hotel was listed - under the original name of Rest Haven Motel and registered on the Wisconsin State Register of Historic Places and on the National Register of the Historic Places as well. ***"

(From the business web page)

It's been a life time since the building was established here; immediately after construction it made history and for more then one reason.

Designed by one of the most famous architect of the world Frank Lloyd Wright's apprentice - J.C. Caraway - a prairie style, the building was a landmark for many on the road.

Also, it was the first Lodging on the US Highway 14 on a big stretch between Madison and La Crosse, Wisconsin. The distance amounts to 127 miles.

The building went from being called Rest Haven Motel to a more appropriate name to reflect the design influence and the origin or the style - was renamed The Usonian Inn.

When we took ownership of the property all we can think about was - green, sustainable, environmentally friendly; we needed some substantial finances and with hard work, we were able to replace windows with a great R value/double pane system. It's not easy to make a historic place green; we had the inn listed on Travel Green Wisconsin and featured on ABC news, our WKOWTV channel 27 

Here are some of the before renovation pictures

Since the property got an upgrade, the much needed - one of a kind - designer makeover; Bathrooms have been remodeled/upgraded also we made room for new flat panel TV sets

Even more significant things happened and one of them is that in 2005 was listed on the Sauk County Registrar of Historic places;  with more paper, patience and fees we we able to accomplish a greater nomination -so the property was listed on the National and State Register of Historic Places

The establishment changed many hands of ownership a few times but now it's our time to celebrate!

60 years in business; what a great time for us to be here and enjoy these type of achievements! 

We would like to invite you to be part of our joyful time and try to preserve history with us.

We like to present our anniversary items and we hope you enjoy some items from our memorabilia collection! Visit our Design on line page on facebook; to see our full collection click here

Thank you for being  part of our business journey!

A few Important Updates

Spring by the Inn is beautiful - Tourist submitted photo

Spring is here, no doubt about it! We love the weather being in the 76s and 70s even and we are welcoming you to a Fresh rich season of Celebration and more fun in the area. 


Stay in touch and get ready for more exciting news on our next post. (that will be on our business best Seasonal Offer) - see and example here 



Many Businesses already have a "spring" start with different events; see more listed on our Spring Green Area Chamber of Commerce Facebook page!


First Friday of the month is still a strong motif for people to visit our unique community, reach in architectural landmarks, and a great variety of artists, and special shopping, cafes and more.

• New business in town is Lexington Fitness, they also offer a 1 (one) day pass to our travelers that need to stretch while in town! (soon to have a new website)

We made a few updates on our web site:

• Along with that our  Inn's Policy has been reviewed and there is a link on our Amenities/Room page now available for you to read with a click of the mouse!
• We are working on our Special Offer for our 60th Anniversary since the operation of the business started.
• Please review our Welcome/Home web page for Special of the Week  OFFER.
• We are trying to update our Facebook business page with the area Business Events as well.

Spring by the Inn, very green indeed

Your reviews on our business

"Life is a journey" - we all hear this so often; a journey is experience, a journey  full of events OR we can also say that Life is a Journey!


Part of my campaign is to capture reviews from those that stayed with us, we hope that all build some great memories with us and look forward to having you come back again.


We put together a "Check out report"  - listing a few links where you can post your reviews;
we appreciate your time and encourage to help us get the word out about our environmentally friendly efforts and the ongoing process of sustainability.


This is the body of the e-mail message we sent when we send out the "Check-out report!"


TODAY'S ANALOGY: a REVIEW = in value, a great tip or,
in other words, we appreciate a Review as much us our housekeeping appreciates a tip on the night stand! 
(I know there is room for interpretation; all I want to say is don't worry if you didn't tip my housekeeping, I'll be much happier or equally the same with a great Review. it's just a different WAY of tipping!)


"Thank you for staying with us, we hope your experience helped you build great memories and you are planing to return!

Please take a minute and rate us, let us know about your experience at our establishment. We thank you in advance for that.

For those with on Facebook, please find us at:Facebook page

Also you can use our guest book - no need to sign or open an account, - of our web page link -  

use Trip Advisor here


Find us on Yahoo also 

Use Google, Kayak, Yelp, Insider Pages and many more sites where our property is listed.

Your time is much appreciated.

We hate spam as much as you do.
We do NOT share or sell your e-mail it to anyone."


Again, thank you for reading this post and mostly for your participation!