Joanna and Brian Linton pose in front of The Rex, the formerly rundown motel in Pennsylvania that they purchased in 2020.
Joanna and Brian Linton
Joanna and Brian Linton live in Philadelphia and wanted a break from city life during the pandemic.
They sought out a cabin in the mountains for quick getaways, but decided to buy a motel on a whim.
It cost five times more than they expected to renovate it, even though they did most of the work.
Joanna, 37, and Brian Linton, 36, live in Philadelphia with their three kids. The couple like to hike and camp, and have always made a big effort to spend time in nature.
So when pandemic lockdowns hit in 2020, the Lintons started feeling the constraints of city life.
"All public spaces were closed — even those outdoors. Our playground, which was like our second home, was closed," Joanna told Insider. "I was really struggling as a mom, who was somewhat recently postpartum."
The married couple wanted to buy a cabin in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania, where they could stretch their legs and breathe in fresh air.
In August 2020, the couple and their kids piled into the car and made the roughly two-and-a-half hour drive upstate to scout properties.
Part of the motel before the renovation.
Joanna and Brian Linton
The Lintons rented an Airbnb in the Poconos just outside of Promised Land State Park for a month and spent their days looking for the perfect vacation home.
What Brian found one day was far from it — a cluster of cabins that formerly made up the Tauschman Motel. It was a lightbulb moment.
"I came back and said, 'Hey, babe, you want to do a motel instead of a cabin?'" Brian told Insider.
Joanna was surprised, but quickly accepted the challenge. "I guess that entrepreneurial spirit in him took a detour and he just started looking for other opportunities," she said.
The motel's outdoor area amid renovations, as the Linton kids run on the grass.
Joanna and Brian Linton
Brian grew up mostly in Singapore and Japan, but remembers the annual trip he would take with his father and brothers to the Adirondacks in Upstate New York.
That love for the outdoors partly fueled his desire to return to that lifestyle.
"That experience every summer of camping on Lake George was the most precious memory that I have of my childhood," Brian said, noting that the Adirondacks have a very similar climate and feel to the Poconos.
When he saw the motel he realized he wanted to give the same experience to his kids and others who want to engage with the outdoors.
The motel's outdoor area before the renovation.
Joanna and Brian Linton
The couple spent $242,000 on the property, which included a 10-room shuttered motel that backs up onto Promised Land State Park.
It felt like a steal to these city dwellers. "You wouldn't buy much of a house for that in Philadelphia," Brian said. "And we bought a hotel."
A motel bedroom before the renovation.
Joanna and Brian Linton
But it needed work, to be sure. The Lintons thought they could pull it off.
In addition to being business owners — Brian cofounded a sustainable outdoor brand that he sold in 2020 and Joanna founded wellness tea brand Rae's Roots — the couple have some experience with renovations.
Over the years, they renovated three Philadelphia properties they lived in. Because of that know-how, and to keep costs down, they decided to do most of the renovation work themselves.
A living room in the motel before the renovation.
Joanna and Brian Linton
That work kicked off in October 2021, when Joanna, Brian, and their children moved into the motel's "divey" owners unit a day after closing.
Brian said the experience was "very Schitt's Creek-esque in terms of moving into a motel that's not nice, and immersing ourselves in the local population."
The motel before the renovation.
Joanna and Brian Linton
"We were confidently unqualified in some ways," Joanna said. "We certainly made mistakes in construction, landscaping, and layout."
For instance, the couple faced issues finding labor to take on some of the more daunting renovations the Lintons were unqualified for during the pandemic.
"We would pay a deposit to somebody to do the work, and then they would just disappear," Brian said. "We had two or three instances where we lost money because we would pay them up front for something."
A motel room kitchen before the renovation.
Joanna and Brian Linton
The Lintons' budget kept expanding as unforeseen improvements popped up, like jacking up one of the buildings and pouring a new foundation.
"All of them turned into full guts," Brian said of the motel blocks. "Our budget for this renovation versus what we ended up spending was probably five times what we expected."
The motel amid the renovation.
Joanna and Brian Linton
The two put $750,000, pulled from their savings accounts, into the renovations and also used profits from early stays to keep the project moving forward.
"We had to open up in phases because we kept running out of money and we took on debt," Joanna said.
They opened the first rooms of the newly minted Rex Hotel in July 2021 while they finished work on the other units. The rest of the units were completed by April 2022.
Part of the motel after the renovation.
Joanna and Brian Linton
Although it was stressful, Brian said the renovation gave him the opportunity to learn new skills, like landscaping.
"The first summer, I learned how to drive a John Deere tractor and I was just ripping around moving dirt, making rock walls, planting things," Brian said. "I found a lot of joy in that part."
The kitchen area of a newly renovated motel unit.
Joanna and Brian Linton
Throughout the renovation process, the Lintons learned that their passion isn't in renovating per se, but in creating an experience for their guests.
"I think brand building is our true love," Brian said. "We love the idea of creating brands that people can interact with. And the idea that we could create a brand around this small hotel was definitely exciting for us."
Joanna pegs the motel's success to perfecting the little details that set them apart. "We focused more on making sure that the rooms themselves were something that our target customer would appreciate and acknowledge," she said.
By seeking out sustainable brands like Birch for the mattresses and by including firewood and a firestarter in each unit, the Lintons are able to attract customers with an eye for the minimalist-cool aesthetics the motel now offers and a keen interest in the surrounding nature.
On top of that, the rooms come equipped with name-brand products like Brooklinen sheets and a Smeg coffee maker. They also feature goods from local vendors to connect travelers with the Poconos community.
The newly renovated living space of a motel unit.
Joanna and Brian Linton
Rooms at The Rex start at around $200 a night and go upwards of $500 depending on the size.
The Rex welcomes visitors year round, but the summer and fall are where it captures the most traffic, Brian said. Being backed up to a state park makes for easy trips to hiking trails and even winter sports like skiing and snowboarding.
The outdoor area of the newly renovated motel.
Joanna and Brian Linton
The Lintons lived at The Rex for a year while renovating, but kept their home in Philadelphia.
They now make the drive back and forth to check in on the property every once in a while. They thought about a full-time move, but with three young children it's not feasible, especially with Joanna's mom pitching in as a caretaker in Philadelphia.
But their work in Promised Land, Pennsylvania, isn't done yet — the Lintons' next act is a private campground, Ferncrest, that offers canvas tents and geodesic domes. It opens on June 30.
"In a town like this, it can become over commercialized and you lose a sense of authenticity which Promised Land still has and I very deeply want to continue to preserve," Joanna said. "It's a different kind of town to come and visit and spend time in and truly be able to embrace the peace and the quiet that Promised Land still has."
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