The Wigwam, also known as the Wigwam Hotel or Wigwam Resort, is a resort hotel in Litchfield Park, Arizona which opened in 1929.

History

The Wigwam Hotel originally served only as guest housing for executives of the

Goodyear Tire Company The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company is an American multinational tire manufacturing company founded in 1898 by Frank Seiberling and based in Akron, Ohio. Goodyear manufactures tires for automobiles, commercial trucks, light trucks, motorcycles, S ...

when they visited their cotton farms located in the area. Goodyear executive and primary overseer of the company’s cotton production,

Paul W. Litchfield Paul W. Litchfield (July 26, 1875 – March 18, 1959) was an American inventor, industrialist, and author. He served as President, Chairman, and the first CEO of the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company and the founder of the town of Litchfield Park, ...

, built the hotel on his land in what is now Litchfield Park. The hotel opened to the public for the first time on Thanksgiving Day 1929. The first building on the property was the Organization House, a meeting place for Goodyear built in 1918. The structure still stands today. The hotel has since expanded into a resort with 331 rooms. The resort boasts such amenities as three golf courses, nine tennis courts, and three swimming pools. During the Great Recession, in 2008, the property had gone bankrupt. Local businessman

Jerry Colangelo Jerry Colangelo (born November 20, 1939) is an American businessman and sports executive. He formerly owned the Phoenix Suns of the NBA, the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA, the Arizona Sandsharks of the Continental Indoor Soccer League, the Arizona ...

, purchased the property. Colangelo’s company, JDM Partners, invested heavily in the resort making historically sensitive renovations. The Wigwam Hotel has been listed by the

National Trust for Historic Preservation The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a privately funded, nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that works in the field of historic preservation in the United States. The member-supported organization was founded in 1949 by ...

as a member of the Historic Hotels of America since 2010. In 2022, the hotel was named by Historic Hotels of America as the best historic resort in the United States. Among the celebrities which have stayed in the hotel are

Maya Angelou Maya Angelou ( ; born Marguerite Annie Johnson; April 4, 1928 – May 28, 2014) was an American memoirist, popular poet, and civil rights activist. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and ...

, Donald Trump,

Daniel Day Lewis Sir Daniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis (born 29 April 1957) is an English retired actor. Often described as one of the preeminent actors of his generation, he received numerous accolades throughout his career which spanned over four decades, incl ...

and

Paul Newman Paul Leonard Newman (January 26, 1925 – September 26, 2008) was an American actor, film director, race car driver, philanthropist, and entrepreneur. He was the recipient of numerous awards, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, three ...

Golf Courses

In 1930, less than a year after the hotel opened to the public, a nine hole golf course was developed and opened at the resort. In 1935, this course was expanded to eighteen holes by VO “Red” Allen. In 1965, Robert Trent Jones was brought to the resort to design and oversee the development of the properties’ second course, as well as redesign the first course built in the 30s. These courses were renamed the “Blue” and “Gold” courses. The resort’s third course, the “Red Course,” was built in 1972. The hotel's

golf resort A resort hotel is a hotel which often contains full-sized luxury facilities with full-service accommodations and amenities. These hotels may attract both business conferences and vacationing tourists and offer more than a convenient place to stay ...

is the only 54-hole golf resort in the state of Arizona.

References

{{Reflist Hotels in Phoenix, Arizona Hotels established in 1929 Historic American Buildings Survey in Arizona Tourist attractions in Phoenix, Arizona Spanish Colonial architecture 1929 establishments in Arizona