Kelley's Villa Cottages - Port Orford, Oregon
Hwy 101 – M. E. Kelley’s Villa Cottages – site of Port Orford’s first automatic clothes washing machines – c1940. People came from miles around to check out the ’new-fangled’ automatic clothes washing machine.

These cottages were located on an undersized city block on the north end of Port Orford on HWY 101 across from the present day site of Gold Beach Lumber. Marion Kelley owned this lot between 19th and 20th according to 1944 tax records. His son, Maurice, developed the adjacent undersized city block south of them into the Villa Motel (perhaps with the help of his father). Maurice Kelley and his wife moved to Port Orford after 1935 (marrying in Idaho in 1930).

According to Leon White, the motel’s laundry room had the first automatic washing machines in Port Orford. Automatic washing machines were a novelty at the time.  Curious locals would drop in to watch them working in the motel’s laundry room.

The motel had 18 rentals, half with kitchens. It developed into what later became the more elaborate Motel with the Chevron Gas station.

Hwy 101 - M.E. Kelly’s Villa Motel
Hwy 101 – M.E. Kelley’s Villa Motel
Back of Villa Motel Postcard
Hwy 101 – M.E. Kelley’s Villa Motel, “An Ideal Vacationland — On The Pacific”, depicted on a “Colourpostcard.”

Years later, the property was under new management (owned by Charles Saxton of Utah in 1957) and looked like this. The Chevron Gas Station appears to be gone (it was torn down in 1960-61).

Hwy 101 - M.E. Kelly’s Villa Motel
Hwy 101 – M.E. Kelley’s Villa Motel
Back of Villa Motel Postcard
Hwy 101 – M.E. Kelley’s Villa Motel – Under New Management – US 101
“THE VILLA MOTEL: On U.S. 101. North End, Port Orford, Oregon. Largest and Most Modern. Single – Double – And Any Size Family Accommodations – Lobby TV – Fireplace – Ocean and Mountain Playground. Commercial People Welcome. Phone Edgewood 2-3153-2-2522.”

The Villa Motel was later renamed the Blanco West Motel (Zona Sacket, manager). The north part of this establishment was torn down and burned by C. Fell Campbell in 1979. The remainder of the motel mysteriously burned in Dec. 1983. (1983 Port Orford News article, below).