The Clown Motel in Tonopah has been sold, owner Bob Perchetti said.
Perchetti confirmed the sale in a telephone interview on Tuesday afternoon.
“I signed the papers today,” he said.
Perchetti declined to say who the new owner is but said the new owner already operates a motel in Las Vegas.
Perchetti has been running the motel for the last 23.5 years. He put the property on the market in July 2017, and the asking price at the time was $900,000. Perchetti declined to say how much money he received for the property but said that the motel also has a co-owner, with whom he will split the profit.
The new owner already has plans to create themed rooms and open a coffee shop on property, Perchetti said. He added that there also will be a Perchetti room, citing the new owner.
“It’s still going to remain a clown motel,” Perchetti said.
The new owner will arrive in Clown Motel by the end of this week, Perchetti said. Although Perchetti no longer owns the property, he said he will help the new owner to move in and learn everything.
“I’m going to help them get started for the first couple of days and will be there for the next few weeks,” Perchetti said.
For years, Clown Motel has been one of the main landmarks in Tonopah. The property which is situated next to the Old Tonopah Cemetery has been dubbed “America’s scariest motel.”
The motel has been featured an episode of the Travel Channel’s Ghost Adventures and gained nationwide attention when it was put on the market in 2017. It has been profiled in major national publications such as Slate Magazine, Huffington Post, Travel and Leisure, Atlas Obscura, and the Los Angeles Times among others.
For the last two years motel has seen an increased number of visitors, Perchetti said. He attributed the establishment’s rising popularity to the Ghost Adventures’ episode and a few movies that have been filmed there.
“The motel has been really busy for the last two years,” he said.