The destruction of the Tahiti was one of the worst losses that occurred in The Wildwoods during the demolition years of the 2000′s.  It was a standout design that in its surrounding area, was possibly only overshadowed by the spectacular design of the Casa Bahama.  The Tahiti was not only a great example of Tiki style Mid-Century architecture, but also a fantastic model for how creative one could be in making a small L-shaped building very distinctive, even among many other Motels with similar “bones”.

The Tahiti stood at the Northeast corner of Stanton Road & Atlantic Avenue, which located it about 1/2 way down the Crest, towards the end of the neighboring Ocean Avenue ‘strip’.  It was a two-story L-shaped structure, opening in 1963.  Most of its rooms faced south to Stanton, with the rest facing west to Atlantic.  The basic structure was originally painted creamy yellow, with mango orange doors/trim.  The doorways had an outer louvered/vented door, with a square plate of lacy, metal finish trim around its doorknob.  Globe shaped drop pendant lights illuminated each unit in white, with amber lighting coming from hidden hi-hats. Black WELCOME mats greeted you at your door.  Floor to ceiling glass provide excellent outdoor views from inside 19 of the units.  A few additional breezeway units sat in corner of the “L”.  Short orange canvas/blonde wood “director” style chairs were originally provided to help you relax outside your room.  First floor units had in-ground small rectangular planters fairly close in front, each with various colored small plants.  These were not only decorative, but also acted as a natural divider between the rooms and the pool area.  Simple, rather open railings about 3 feet high were used to shield in the second floor, the centralized staircase, and also parts of the pool area.  Where these were used around the pool, their lower horizontal portions had a bamboo stalk appearance.  The stairs to the second level were in the center of the “L”, traveling to and from the balcony, with its steps having an appearance of floating.  A sundeck was on the 2nd floor, and was formed as an extension of the balcony in front of the westernmost rooms.  Above this was a large peak to the roof, with curved edges, and was covered in bamboo trim on its face.  Support posts for it were ‘carved’ to give a hand whittled look. A similar peak was used behind this, and also two matching ones at the other end of the motel.  Decorative/stylized trim pieces extended from the roofline, and also the tip of each peak, giving the impression of exposed beams.  More bamboo surrounded the 2nd level floor below the deck, with a thatched awning over the lobby entrance located there.  This all helped to lend a handmade, hut appearance and feel.  Much of the lobby had floor to ceiling glass, with good views of the pool area.  Towards its west side was a wall covered in lava styled rock.  Another lava wall at the other end of the motel, and faced south.  You could pull your car right up to each to park there, and have the upper floor of the motel partially shield it, or park around the rest of the perimeter in-between.  At night, these lava walls were illuminated with blue light.  Within the “L” footprint of the building was a large, rectangular pool.  You could walk, dive, or side into the main pool, with a shallow section divided off with metal railing for small children. The concrete immediately around the pool was colored aqua.  Around the pool were wooden lounge chairs, with thickly padded blue/green/beige floral patterned cushions.  More of these were available on the sundeck.  Twin palms of varying height stood at poolside near the center of the “L”, and were highlighted with green lighting at night.  Another pair of palm trees sat at the southwest corner of the property, near the Tahiti’s roadside sign.  As with many of the island’s motels, this was an important feature as, besides its use to attract customers, the sign helped to set (and reflect) the theme of the motel.  The Tahiti’s sign was made from a combination of varied elements – at the top was a gold neon lit tiki-face mask, with two tiki torches – one east and the other west.   The torches had three rings trimmed in neon that lit up at night instead of an actual flame.  Below this was a large backlit portion noting the motel’s name TAHITI with an exotic font in white, with a blue background of four connected vertical ovals that had flared trim around their edges.  Further down the poll were two smaller horizontal ovals – one slightly below the other – that merged and noted some of the amenities the motel had to offer in light blue neon (with a white background): air conditioning, heated pool, efficiencies, TV.  The sign’s base was made to resemble a small hill/dune, with various sized rocks, and a small pond with flowing water falling down one of the large rocks.

Over the years, many of the Tahiti’s initial architectural/design details and features got lost to time.  While it was still attractive to the end, a good deal of its character and charm diminished as these changes added up.  The original design was executed so well that any alterations that were done to it – however well intentioned – which were not sensitive to the original concept or were preservation minded, simply couldn’t match (let alone surpass) the original choices made in 1963.  If one wanted to, most all of the “lost” items could have either been restored to fairly closely match what once was, or sensitive modern replacements whose designs evolved from the Mid-Century period the Tahiti was originally built in could have also been used as a possibly interesting alternative.  Likely only the original railings, or anything resembling them, couldn’t have returned once removed – it’s doubtful such new railings would be allowed under modern day safety requirements.  Sadly, no such restoration occurred.  Instead, the Tahiti was sold, and then demolished to make way for non-descript condo development after the 2004 season.  Its demolition has resulted in a major loss of Doo Wop architecture on the island.

Written by: Martin Melucci