Motel History

The Desert Air Motel was built in 1960.  There is no way around the vintage feel of cinder block walls and pink bathroom tiles.  We admire the sturdy construction of days gone by that has allowed the motel to withstand desert conditions for over 60 years.  Clearly, we are smitten with the original Desert Air vintage sign and roadside motel draw.  We are the proud fifth owners of the motel, and have been researching its history and previous owners. The Stavleys, who owned the Motel in the 70s, introduced themselves to us during our first week of ownership and wished us well in our endeavor.  They provided us quite a bit of information and it was fun hearing their stories.  We also procured the "Terrell County Texas, Its Past Its People" book from the visitor center.  It's an impressive reference guide to the area and its families and where the research began.

Ervin Grigsby moved to Sanderson as a child with his parents in 1917.  After high school he was hired on as part of the road crew that improved the road between Dryden and Sanderson.  The State at this time was working on the highway between Del Rio and Dryden.  All of this is now part of Highway 90.  Shortly there after, Ervin left to attend Tyler Commercial College.  Upon graduating, he returned to Sanderson and was hired on at the Kerr Mercantile Store, which is now Z-Bar.  Ervin worked at Kerr Mercantile for 35 years, until he resigned in 1959.  It was while he was working there that he met Melburn Glass, who came to Sanderson to teach after earning her degree from Sul Ross University in Alpine.  They married in 1933, and eventually bought a house on School Street which they owned for the rest of their lives.  In 1960, the Grigsbys built the Desert Air Motel and operated it until 1971 when they sold it to Charles and Kay Beth Stavley.

Charles and Kay Beth spent the first years of their married life together in Micronesia teaching English.  When they grew tired of being so far away from family and friends they decided to move back to Texas.  Charles took a job in Balmorhea before eventually landing a teaching job in Sanderson.  The Grigsbys knew the Stavleys when they were growing up and asked them if they wanted to buy the motel.  They took over operation and settled down in the house on the adjacent property to the west.  Charles worked as a teacher and eventually the county judge while Kay Beth managed the motel.  The Stavleys were responsible for planting the large Oak tree in the front of the Motel and also bringing the "Hoot Owl Rock" that sits under the tree.  When we were walking with them through the breezeway Joe and I had been working on, they pointed to the pinkish-peach paint and explained it was the original colors of the motel.  They also mentioned how they had a greenhouse off the back porch of the apartment as well as several banana trees.  The Stavleys ended up selling the motel in 1985, at which point Kay Beth went back to school at Sul Ross.  Upon her graduation, she became a counselor at the school in Sanderson, and eventually became the first women elected to the school board in Terrell County.  The Stavleys left Sanderson in the early nineties and currently reside just north of Brownwood, TX.

Merv and Geri Degraff were the third owners of the Motel.  They operated it for many years.  Unfortunately, I have not been able to dig up too much information on them at this time, but we do know that they operated it until Merv passed away.  At which point his son, Scott inherited the motel.  Scott was living in Florida at the time and was a musician and motorcycle enthusiast.  Scott owned the bus that is currently still on the property.  The bus was converted into an RV on the interior.  Scott evidently loaded up his motorcycles on the rack on the back of the bus and drove from Florida to Sanderson, parked the bus behind the motel, and there its sat ever since.  Scott, unfortunately, passed away about 3 years ago in a motorcycle accident in between Sanderson and Fort Stockton.  

James Stone and his daughters were the fourth family to own the Motel.  James bought the motel from the Degraff estate and his daughters and granddaughter operated the motel for a couple of years but determined it was not a great fit for them.  They decided to sell the motel.  It sat on the market for almost a year while they continued to run it.  Then a couple of friends returning from a Big Bend trip noticed the For Sale sign while getting gas across the street at the Stripes.

And this is where our story begins... 

Our Story

Our journey with this motel all started with a wrong turn. 

When leaving Big Bend National Park in February 2018, the driver (not mentioning names) missed the turn to Fort Stockton out of Marathon.  An hour later we ended up in Sanderson, and a bit confused.  After checking the iPhone for a re-route we ended up on some of the most beautiful desert roads leading up to Ozona.

A couple of months later we were craving another trip to west Texas.  In the past we had always spent our first night in Fort Stockton, but the hotel prices were tracking with the oil business in the area.  It was then we remembered our accidental detour through Sanderson.  After looking online, we found a motel in Sanderson and booked it.  Our first evening back in west Texas we got to discover Sanderson, and we loved it! 

The next morning we headed off to Big Bend and spent a few days in the park.  Our last night in the park we were hanging out at our back country campsite when another camper pulled up.  Turns out, when we were reserving our site at the beginning of our stay, the park ranger made an error in our reservation.  So we had to relinquish our campsite... but that's ok, we headed back to Sanderson!

We spent the night in Sanderson and as we were leaving the Stripes Gas Station the next morning, we noticed a 'For Sale' sign in front of the Desert Air Motel.  We chuckled about the possibility of owning a motel in west Texas.   When we stopped chuckling, we decided to call the number listed.  One thing led to another…

For more about our story, read our blog posts that go into more detail.  Link

Our Plans

We plan on preserving the charm of Desert Air Motel, but we also want to make changes that will increase the guest experience here.  We have found some pieces of the past, like the orginal blue door paint, which we plan to keep.  Other pieces of the past we will leave in the past, like the fragmented pink and peach paint in the breezeway.

We plan on creating more spaces for guests to enjoy outside, after all it’s the scenary and the weather that makes the desert beautiful. We have already added a shaded arbor with swings and seating. Now we wait for the plants to establish their roots and flourish. We also opened up a breezeway between the office and the rooms that connects to the back yard. This project has had a transforming feel for the grounds as it improves the flow and openess of the walkways. We have big plans for the back yard where the bus is situated - guest seating, food trailer, etc. But this will be a little bit into the future.

As owners in a solar business, energy efficiency and sustainability are always a priority. We have installed solar panels on the east wing of the motel and plan to install additional arrays in the future. We will also be upgrading the windows and air-conditioning units to conserve energy, but this may be a year or so away.  

We have replaced all of the carpet in the rooms with tile to make them more comforable and appealing.  While vintage is cool—sometimes old is just old, and the carpets were old. The majority of the rooms have been repainted and have new accenting art work.

Our journey with the Desert Air Motel is being documented on our blog with posts on Facebook and Instagram as well.  Join us and let us know what you think of the progress. Click here to see some of the blog posts on the improvements.