18/09: Mushroom Houses and Castles
Category: General
Posted by: The Agnew Family
Charlevoix Michigan is home to the "Mushroom Houses". The houses are not a place where you grow mushrooms but rather houses that look like mushrooms. Earl Young designed and built many homes in Charlevoix. He believed that homes should fit the landscape, respect the contour of the land and be built from local materials. With each new home he built his style became more whimsical.
In 1918, Earl Young built a house for his family to live in. The home was built of stone but was not whimsical in design. Today the house is under construction with the roof line taking on a more mushroom shape with a thatched roof.
On the right is the orginal house with the new roof line and on the left is the "half house" which was built in 1947. It is the smallest of Earl Young's houses and is affectionately known as the gnome house.
A view of Lake Michigan from the Charlevoix beach.
Carrying on with the elf and fairy theme is the Enchanted Forest at Castle Farms on the outskirts of Charlevoix. Castle Farms was built in 1918 by Albert Loeb, the acting president of Sears, Roebuck and Co. as a model dairy farm. It was modeled after the stone barns and castles found in Normandy, France. Since then the farm has been an art gallery, a music theater and summer concert area and now it is a wedding venue and home to a large model railway.
Carol checked out the engine. The castle is surrounded by many beautiful gardens and sculptures.
The model railway is the largest in Michigan.
We stopped at Boyne City for dinner at the Red Mesa Grill which features Latin American Food. The "happy hour" specials include half price appetizers. I think we ordered at least one of every appetizer on the menu. What a fun way to enjoy an assortment of food.
)
For desert we ordered one Habanero Fried Ice Cream with 6 spoons. This resulted in just the right amount of desert for me. By the way it was very, very good.
The boys had fun with the Draco Viewer one of several statues on display in Boyne City.
In 1918, Earl Young built a house for his family to live in. The home was built of stone but was not whimsical in design. Today the house is under construction with the roof line taking on a more mushroom shape with a thatched roof.
On the right is the orginal house with the new roof line and on the left is the "half house" which was built in 1947. It is the smallest of Earl Young's houses and is affectionately known as the gnome house.
A view of Lake Michigan from the Charlevoix beach.
Carrying on with the elf and fairy theme is the Enchanted Forest at Castle Farms on the outskirts of Charlevoix. Castle Farms was built in 1918 by Albert Loeb, the acting president of Sears, Roebuck and Co. as a model dairy farm. It was modeled after the stone barns and castles found in Normandy, France. Since then the farm has been an art gallery, a music theater and summer concert area and now it is a wedding venue and home to a large model railway.
Carol checked out the engine. The castle is surrounded by many beautiful gardens and sculptures.
The model railway is the largest in Michigan.
We stopped at Boyne City for dinner at the Red Mesa Grill which features Latin American Food. The "happy hour" specials include half price appetizers. I think we ordered at least one of every appetizer on the menu. What a fun way to enjoy an assortment of food.
)For desert we ordered one Habanero Fried Ice Cream with 6 spoons. This resulted in just the right amount of desert for me. By the way it was very, very good.
The boys had fun with the Draco Viewer one of several statues on display in Boyne City.