York Beach's iconic Nevada Motel on the market for $2.75M — same family for 70 years

YORK BEACH, Maine — For the first time in its 70-year history, the iconic beachfront Nevada Motel across from Long Sands Beach is on the market.

The motel at 141 Long Beach Ave. is impossible to miss, with its unique shape, eye-catching bright teal trim, ocean views and, best of all, the ability to transport guests to a more nostalgic era — one of value, simplicity and small-but-mighty family-run operations.

Generations of families have grown up visiting this motel, which is currently listed for sale at $2.75 million by Keller Williams Coastal Realty. Alongside the visitors are three generations that have kept the motel running since its original opening in 1951.

Henry de la Pena was the motel's original owner. He named it after the U.S. Navy ship he served on in World War II, the U.S.S. Nevada, according to his obituary. Henry even designed the motel to resemble the flybridge of a battleship, according to his son, Paul de la Pena.

Paul said his father left the Navy in 1947 and was inspired by a visit to Florida, where his sister-in-law's husband had opened a motel in Pompano Beach. Henry de la Pena came back to Maine with the idea of opening a motel of his own in Wells.

Then he found York.

“When they took a ride up here, and they came around the corner, he was like, ‘Oh, this is it, this is the place,’ and then he purchased the empty lot in 1951," said Paul de la Pena.

Motor hotel, a piece of Maine history

A series of devastating wildfires in 1947 — which became known as the "Year Maine Burned" — catalyzed the motel industry's takeoff in Maine, according to the New England Historical Society.

At that time, Maine was 90% forested and unequipped to handle the unprecedented wildfire season the state faced. Two hundred fires consumed a quarter of a million acres of Maine forest between Oct. 13 and Oct. 27 that year, wiping out nine entire towns. In York County, the fires destroyed most of the homes in Shapleigh and Waterboro, and then consumed swaths of Alfred, Lyman, Newfield, Kennebunk, Kennebunkport, Arundel, Dayton, Wells, Biddeford and Saco. In all, the the 1947 fires destroyed 851 homes and 397 seasonal cottages, leaving 2,500 people homeless, according to the historical society.

As communities in Maine rebuilt in the wake of the 1947 fires and automobiles took on increasing importance in American life, motels — short for "motor hotels" — proliferated up and down the coast of Maine, as they did throughout the United States.

By 1951, about 50,000 motels and motor courts were operating nationwide, and the industry peaked in 1961 with about 61,000 motels nationwide, according to the historical society. Today, you'll find perhaps a quarter of those motels still in operation, the society adds.

"The mom and pop motel fell to motel chains like Holiday Inn and Best Western, then to discount hotels like Hampton Inn and Marriott," the society continued. "But many still cherish the retro comfort and convenience — not to mention the individuality — of the mom-and-pop motel."

A piece of family history

Paul de la Pena said some of the same families from all over the country have returned each summer to the modestly priced Nevada Motel with their spouses, children, grandchildren and so on. Some have even rented out the exact same room each visit, to relive the experience and create new memories.

“We're middle-income. We aren't big and fancy. But we're really clean, and we've been a family-friendly place the whole time,” Paul said.

Three generations of de la Penas have cleaned rooms, washed bed sheets, scrubbed bathrooms and helped guests at all hours of the night, with kids chipping in since they were about 10 years old. Paul said he began working for his father, monitoring beachgoers who paid to park in the lot behind the motel.

Shortly thereafter, he graduated to cleaning rooms and moved on to doing laundry and assisting customers. His mom taught him and his siblings how to make beds, and their father taught them how to mow the lawn. Paul would get a running start to crank up the old rotary mower, he said. 

Up until high school, Paul de la Pena and his two siblings moved back and forth from York to Pompano Beach, Florida. They would start school in York in September through the end of October, then they would transfer to a Florida school until April 30, and then transfer back to York. That didn’t work out well, Paul said, so the family decided ultimately to settle in York.

The heights of some youngsters who grew up in this motel — Jeanette, Tyler, Catey, Ashley, Laura, Jack, Charlie and others — are recorded with faded black and orange lines on a wall that divides the motel office lobby from the maintenance closet and living quarters, with markings dating back more than two decades.

The mattress in the office where Paul would rest, so he could assist his customers at all hours of the night no longer has a sheet or a pillow, only dust and boxes waiting to be packed with seven decades worth of memories.

Upon graduating from York High School, Paul and his siblings settled in Florida, but Paul moved back to York full-time in 1986 after his mother, Maria, died, leaving his elderly father to run the business by himself. Since then, Paul said he has not had a single day off in the summer.

Henry de la Pena worked the front desk of the motel until he was 92, and he died in 2015 at 96, leaving the business to his three children: Paul, Edward and Jeanette Prues. Edward and Prues still own the property, and Paul continues to run it for the family, along with his wife, Janet, and until recently, his two children.

For many years, Paul gave up things others may take for granted, like being able to go eat lunch outside on a beautiful summer day. This year, over the Fourth of July, Paul and Janet were able to go out to lunch for the first time ever during the busy season.

A final summer at the Nevada's helm

This summer was likely going to be the last season of running the Nevada for 65-year-old Paul de la Pena, who said he planned to retire after so many summers running the family business.

Most of the maintenance work and day-to-day operation was handled by Paul and Janet, but they had always hired four or five high schoolers in the summer to work at the motel. This summer, however, not one person applied for a job — a reflection, perhaps, of the nationwide worker shortage impacting many businesses this year in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

After years of dedicating his life to this motel, Paul de la Pena said he took the hiring woes as a sign that it was finally time for him to move on. The realization had been a long time coming in an industry that requires a lot of sacrifice, he said.

The two-story, 21-unit motel now sits empty, other than Paul de la Pena allowing a few close friends and family members to stay.

Paul often soaks up his last days at the Nevada's helm by sitting on the porch, smoking a cigarette and waving to the many familiar faces walking by the idyllic front lawn. Although he said he’s looking forward to retirement, he will soak up that unbeatable view for as long as he can. He has a front row seat to the beach, after all.

“I took it for granted because it’s all I’ve ever known,” Paul said.

A "for sale" sign went up three weeks ago. Since then, Paul has fielded numerous calls from customers who have returned for as many as four decades, asking why he was selling the place. One guy showed up while the motel was closed and said he remembered Paul from when he was in diapers, sitting on the front lawn back in the early 1960s. This place is packed full of memories.

A few offers, a lot of interest

The outpouring from people who have reached out to tell him how special the Nevada is to them has been a shock, Paul said. A flood of comments on social media community pages, calls, emails and people stopping in to say their goodbyes has been eye opening, he added.

Paul said he's already had a few offers submitted from potential buyers, and several people have toured the motel.

Although the family, their former guests and other motel admirers have expressed a hope that a buyer will come along and keep the charm of the quaint motel intact, the overall architectural trends in the area may point to different scenario, Paul said.

Troy Williams, the listing agent for the property, said he himself worked at the Nevada while growing up in York. Williams said he believes it will take a special person to maintain the charm of the motel. That being said, with just a fresh coat of paint, the rooms would practically rent themselves, he said.

“He’s never needed to worry about advertising ... the place is iconic and quintessential to the town,” Williams said.

Williams said the way he feels selling this local treasure is a lot like the way he felt when he listed his own parents' home in York, the place where he had grown up.

Up until four summers ago, real estate prices along Long Sands Beach had remained relatively steady, but they have been rising significantly in recent years as demand for oceanfront homes intensifies, Williams said.

Paul de la Pena said the COVID-19 pandemic forced him to contemplate the fact that he is not invincible, and he came to the realization that he didn't want to spend the rest of his summers tied to a motel 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Paul said he and his wife, Janet, will retire in York, and he'll return to some of his favorite activities he couldn't do while running the motel, like fishing and surfing, two beloved hobbies he gave up when his kids were in school and he couldn't visit Florida. Eventually, Paul said, he dreams of moving to Puerto Rico, but he still has to convince Janet.

Stepping out of the Nevada Motel one last time will be a bittersweet transition, Paul said.

"It's sad to see it go, but it's time to move on," Paul de la Pena said.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Seaside nostalgia for sale: Nevada Motel, York Beach, ME, 50s Art Deco