Traverse, Northern Michigan’s Magazine | JUL ’19 69FAST FORWARD to a summer day in 2004, when Miles
received a mildly panicked call from the Charlevoix Chamber
of Commerce. It seems there was a bus tour in town and
none of the tourists aboard wanted to shop. Could Miles
find something for them to do? He was aboard the bus 25
minutes later, directing the driver to cruise past Young’s
buildings while he narrated. His script came naturally. Young
had been a friend of Miles’s father and Miles had grown up
with the houses as a neighborhood fixture. It wasn’t until,
taking a walk one day soon after Young’s death, that Miles
decided to pause and look, really look, at the buildings. “It
was like being hit on the head with a 2-by-4,” he says. “They
just came alive.”
The bus tour was a huge hit and led to regularly scheduled
tours, plus guided and self-guided walking tours, all sponsored
by the historical society. Last summer, some 3,000 people
took the tours. Add to that another 1,000 pairs of eyes on
Young’s buildings, courtesy of Edith Pair and her delightful
GEM car tours that run morning to night from May through
October. An artist who once had a gallery in Young’s former
office in the Weathervane, Pair decided to launch her tour
business after fielding question after question about him.
“Word has gotten out about Earl and people—including
architects—are coming from all over the country now,” Miles
says. The comparison to Frank Lloyd Wright and his designs
that hugged the landscape and use of organic materials is
as common now as it is inevitable (although Young, who
always insisted his only influence was Mother Nature, would
have bristled at it!).
Recently, the Charlevoix City Council designated a historic
district for the Young homes in the Park Avenue/Clinton
Street block, meaning that the exterior of the homes can’t
be altered, only historically preserved. On the heels of that
came a Michigan Regional Emmy for a documentary about
Young called The Wizard of Boulder Park. This year too, an
Earl Young-designed hotel across from the Weathervane,
long called The Lodge, is being renovated and rechristened
as Hotel Earl.
Finally, due out at the end of this year is a book published
by the Charlevoix Historical Society Press, authored by Miles,
that details, building by building, Young’s evolution as an
artist, builder and designer—from his first Craftsman-esque
home finished in 1921, through the mid-century modern Sucher
home constructed of stacked Onaway ledgestone, and beyond.
At long last, anyone who cares to listen can learn what
the rocks whispered to the boy.Elizabeth Edwards is managing editor at Traverse. [email protected]
// Rachel Haggerty is a student at Northern Michigan University and was a
photography intern with Traverse. She is a South Lyon native whose favorite
Michigan spot is Echo Lake Nature Preserve in the U.P.ALL EYES ON EARL
To set up your walking, bus or private vehicle tour,
contact the Charlevoix Historical Society. The photo
book Mushroom Houses of Charlevoix, also available
from the society, is a great place to start your Earl Young
tour. 231.547.0373, chxhistory.com
To take the Mushroom House Tour aboard a GEM car
with Edith Pair go to mushroomtours.com.
CLOCKWISE TOP LEFT: ROSE COTTAGE
// ONE ONE OF YOUNG’S SIGNATURE
“MELTING” CHIMNEYS ON PARK
AVENUE // FLOWER POT BUILT INTO THE
STONE FENCING AROUND THE SUCHER
HOUSE // STONE FENCE AROUND THE
SUCHER HOUSE; INTERIOR OF ROSE
COTTAGE.
BELOW: GRANT STREET HOUSE—
IN THE PARK AVENUE BLOCK.