Route 66 News learns of properties for sale along the Mother Road from time to time. But the latest one is especially notable for its historic nature, distinctive architecture and relatively good condition.
The Weiland family, which has owned the Shamrock Court for more than 60 years, has decided to put it up for sale. Preservation Missouri recently featured the motel three miles west of Sullivan, Missouri, on Route 66, and the Save Our Route 66 Bridges page on Facebook also featured the property.
Billy Weiland, who co-owns the property with his brothers, said in a telephone interview they’ve been able to keep up most of the maintenance of the motel, which has been unoccupied for about a decade.
“My brothers and I didn’t know what to do with it,” Weiland said about the property. “We don’t have the funding to bring it back to motel status. But we’d like to see it preserved in some way.”
Weiland said he turned down an offer last year from someone who wanted to tear down the structure. He said his asking price for now is $125,000, but it is negotiable.
Weiland said the Shamrock Court needs a new shingles on the roof but noted the current one isn’t leaking and the roof lines seem to be straight. He said some sagging flooring indicates supports need shored up in the motel’s crawl space. But he said the motel’s distinctive giraffe-stone walls remain solid.
“It just needs some TLC,” he said.
The Shamrock Court has been owned by the family since 1953. In the late 1970s, the motel was converted into efficiency apartments with living quarters for the longtime owners, John and Rose Weiland, until they died.
Here are vintage postcards of the Shamrock Court.
Some online sources claim the Shamrock Court was built in 1945 an Italian stonemason named Grandpa Berti. But Weiland insists it was built in 1947 or 1948; an archived St. Louis Post-Dispatch article from April 1953 supports his contention:
Mr. and Mrs. John J. Weiland of Chicago have purchased from Freeman Dodds the Shamrock Court motel on Highway 66 in West Sullivan, Mo., Mrs. Grace C. Licklider, Strout agency associate at Sullivan, reported last week upon a visit to St Louis. The Shamrock was built five years ago, Mrs. Licklider said, by Dodds, who had operated it since. The Shamrock has 10 units with tiled baths; gas heat; living quarters of five rooms and bath for the owner-operator; utility rooms for the whole establishment. The building, a court-shaped structure, is done in native stone; composition shingle roof, is on eight acres of landscaped ground. Consideration of about $90,000 was indicated by the documentary tax.
Those who are interesting in buying the property can call Weiland at (573) 205-9722 or email bweiland(at)fidnet(dot)com.
(Modern-day images of the Shamrock Court via Facebook; postcards images courtesy of 66Postcards.com)
Great memories of John and Rose. As a child I remember he was a mailman and walked the streets of Sullivan. He would always give us kids candy he had stored in the mail drop box on the corner of Euclid and modern . I hope someone will
Purchase this place and keep the Shamrock memories in Sullivan.
Thank you Faith for your nice comments about mom & dad. Yes, let’s preserve the Shamrock and continue the memories for many years to come…
I wish someone would do with it like Wagon Wheel Motel in Cuba. Cuba has done so much to attract people to stop, to spend time there, capitalizing on Route 66, and its history . Sullivan???? It could also be converted into a restaurant where people could eat in its rooms, with each room a theme about the Mother Road. It’s a gorgeous building that needs to be preserved and used somehow. We don’t have a bookstore anymore. Another idea. In the bookstore Serve drinks, snacks. (spirits?)