For Sale: A Clown-Themed Motel in Nevada

Bethany, Flickr/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Bethany, Flickr/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 | Bethany, Flickr/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Creepy clown sightings are no longer a trending news topic, but the craze is still arguably alive and well in Tonopah, Nevada. The former mining town is home to a circus-inspired roadside motel, located next to a 100-year-old cemetery—and as KLAS-TV reports, the inn is up for sale.

Owner Bob Perchetti—who, not surprisingly, loves clowns—founded the Clown Motel around 20 years ago, after retiring from his state tourism job. The hotelier decorated the motel’s office with more than 600 clown figurines, posters, and toys, and he even hung pictures of the comical figures in the guest rooms, right above the beds.

Word of the quirky inn spread, and it soon became a famous roadside attraction. Those afraid of clowns dubbed it the scariest motel in the U.S. Some guests have even reportedly claimed to have spotted clown-shaped figures passing by their windows at night, or hovering over their beds.

But after two decades of spooking road-trippers, Perchetti has decided to retire from the workforce for good. He plans to sell the motel for around $900,000, and hopes to find a buyer who will keep its clown heritage intact.

Perchetti says he'll miss the inn, and his many red-nosed companions. "Oh, I'm going to miss the clowns," Perchetti told KLAS-TV. "I'm going to come back. I'm going to come back and visit my clowns."

Check out some pictures of the Clown Motel below:

Andrew Huff, Flickr/CC BY-NC 2.0
The Clown Motel in Tonopah, Nevada
The Clown Motel in Tonopah, Nevada | Dru!, Flickr/CC BY-NC 2.0
Bethany, Flickr/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Will Keightley, Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0
Bethany, Flickr/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Bethany, Flickr/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0