Unique and special. A bohemian haven for art. Drinks, shops, hospitality…and a place to call home. Just a downright funky place…that's Wildflower Village. Even its founder doesn't know quite what to call it. But she did try: "I just can't....eh...it just doesn't...an artist’s haven I guess?"
Before Pat Campbell Cozzi got to West 4th Street by McCarran, it was one of the last preserved streets of old Reno, with 3 1940's motels: the Silver Spur, the Westerner and the Dutch Wife, all on old U.S. 40. Cozzi told us, "I thought, 'It’s such a great location, it's such a beautiful spot. Somebody should do something special with it.'"
West 4th Street was the highway into Reno before I-80. It was our tourist turnpike…our motel main drag. All 3 of the motels were barely operating when Pat first got here and began thinking…what could I do here? As she put it, "It had such a stigma that people would drive by and not look at it. But I could see it."
Pat started with an art gallery. From there, she added a wedding chapel, gift shop, rooms for rent and the only hostel in Reno. Bicycle and truck rentals, workshops and dance classes…and a sometimes-open bar, theatre and coffeehouse. It certainly wasn’t all part of a master plan. Pat told us, "If one thing didn't work out really well, we'd try another idea. If neither one worked really well, we'd try another one."
Pat, now 73, is the barista… rental agent…wedding officiant…and even bartender in the pub, which is inside what was one of the Silver Spur's motel rooms. Wildflower Village is a work of art all on its own. Outside, the over sized and impossible to ignore mascot named Nana has been its biggest attraction. Cozzi says, "She's supposed to be the embodiment of womanhood going down the river, the Truckee River in her inner tube." But soon Nana will leave her spot. Pat's eclectic, wildly creative experiment here is coming to an end. After 22 years, the colorful doors of Wildflower Village will close for good later this month. Pat says it’s because, “I don't have enough money to market it, and I don't have enough money to keep going...and it just doesn't make sense."
Wildflower Village was never a wild success, yet why it wasn't is a mystery. But if Pat had a chance to do it over again, she'd jump right in. As for what happens in that historic spot now, Pat says a developer owns it all. The buildings will be torn down, with new apartments on old Highway 40. Such is the fate for too many icons of old Reno.
Closing day for Wildflower Village is November 29th. Art, furniture, linens and even building supplies and fixtures are on sale. You can find out more at Wildflower Village’s Facebook page.
