Saturday we started out with a tram tour of the Mushroom Houses of Charlevoix. David and Kim had already done the walking tour but Looper friends had done the tram tour and highly recommended it so the four of us decided to take the tour after a fun morning at the local art fair. It was well worth the time and money. It is a private tour on an open electric vehicle that seats 5 passengers. She took us to see all the homes and had many interesting stories, history, and facts about all of them. Earl Young was an insurance salesman and realtor who wanted to become an architect and was influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright, but left college after only one year. He designed houses anyway and his wife helped by drawing pictures of what he described. He loved working with stones and collected them from all over and hid them all over town until he could use them. He had a reputation as being quite eccentric, if not down right crazy. His houses show he was definitely not crazy, but perhaps a bit eccentric. Many of his houses have no closets and very small hallway type kitchens! Some of his houses have been remodeled with modern kitchens added. Like Frank Lloyd Wright, he believed houses should reflect the nature surrounding them. Several of his trademarks are following:
The "snow capped" chimney. This was the second home Earl built for his family. He was never happy with it. His favorite house was always "the next one".
The back of his home has the only garage on any of his homes and a courtyard tucked in the back of the home.
"Abide" - Curved lines - arches and diamond shaped windows and cedar shake roofs.
This is Boulder Manor - and the home Earl moved his family to after it was finally completed. He started it before the depression, lost it to the bank, and bought it back before he was finally able to finish it. The fireplace alone has 6 massive boulders.
This is the playhouse he built behind Boulder Manor to keep his kids occupied while he worked on the big house. The playhouse has a working fireplace and electricity. You've got a ways to go son David!
"The Owl House" The fairy-tale look with arched windows and stones jutting out to support the planters and flower boxed. He also adopted Frank Lloyd Wright's idea of the front door not being visible from the front.
This house is built in threes, Earl wanted the owners to see one third sky, one third water, and one third grass. Three is the theme as it was built on one third of the original property and has three chimneys. The stone fence represents the water with waves crashing at the corners. The large planters still have the original lights built in - and they still work!
He loved thatched roofs. This one wasn't thatched originally, but the new owner redesigned it with many upgrades, but tried to keep Earl's original trademark ideas.
"Betide" - He loved small but beautiful. This is one of the few remaining cedar shake roofs that he built on most of his homes. It is actually 3 times bigger than it looks as it is built on a hill. See the next picture for the back side.
This one looks like half a house because the next door property owner wouldn't let him buy the property, so he built the house like it was only half there! It also shows off his tradition wavy roof line.
Earl also built a hotel and a restaurant that are still operating. The restaurant has five fireplaces. The main fireplace has an 18,260 pound boulder that Earl found 26 years earlier.
This is what is looks like outside...
...and this is inside. Earl thought the stone looked like the shape of Michigan with the veins as highways crisscrossing the state. When the stone was first set in place the floor sank beneath the weight!
The fireplace in the hotel portrays the area surrounding Charlevoix using various colored stones. Notice the seagulls flying on the left, also stone.
This is his last house...
...Next door is his architect daughter's first house! She followed in her father's footsteps.
Altogether a wonderful day!
Anchored in Lake Charlevoix- 7/12
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