Laurium Lodgings

See also: Lake Linden, Calumet, Eagle River, Hancock, Houghton.

LAURIUM MANOR INN
(906) 337-2549

The Western Upper Peninsula's biggest mansion (13,000 square feet), replete with sophisticated Art Nouveau and Craftsman interior effects, lets guests enjoy the fantasy of living in comfortable, early 20th-century opulence but with modern conveniences. During most seasons a full homemade breakfast buffet is served in the dining room. Room rates vary with the season and room, so that a standard double room is $119 in July and August, $85 in winter. See the web site for photos and for specials.
    In 1989 MTU engineering grads Dave and Julie Sprenger bought the 45-room home of Thomas and Cornelia Hoatson and started turning it into a small hotel with ten guest rooms. (They loved Copper Country and its skiing, on the nearby Swedetown cross-country trails and the challenging Mount Bohemia.) Tackling a project of this size is a gutsy act, and the Sprengers have become sophisticated preservationists in the process, researching the original color scheme of olives, browns, and golds. (Ask Julie why it's cheaper in the long run to restore a building than to try to keep up with fashion.) Several earlier antique dealer/owners had stripped and sold off many of its lighting fixtures and stained glass, which they have worked to replace. Some wonderful original details like fireplaces and scenes on handpainted friezes remain. A warm, rich effect is created by original oak woodwork; Art Nouveau leaded glass in dining room cabinets; velvet portieres between rooms; and authentic period window treatments. Even the specially designed radiators play a decorative role. "We make it feel like 1908 to the best of our ability and budget," says Dave.
    In guest rooms small cable TVs are tucked into cabinets, and functioning phones mimic those from 1910. All rooms have wireless internet. Closets have been reconfigured to allow for private bathrooms, some with tubs or a whirlpool. The Sprengers aren't purists and can't afford to be, but they have acquired lots of furniture and accessories appropriate to the period of the house, arranged with a good eye. In addition to many period antiques, there are 1920s buffets and lamps. Popular reproductions of oil paintings hung one on top of another in the gallery-like downstairs hall. Staying in this small hotel and exploring the house is quite an enjoyable experience, one that includes more privacy and less intimacy than smaller B&Bs.
    Dave Sprenger's excellent, amply illustrated 50-page book on the Hoatson House/Laurium Manor history is sold here for around $5. It's highly recommended to attune visitors to the house's history, architectural details, and inner workings (laundry, kitchen, pantry, etc.).
    Thomas Hoatson was one of 13 children of the man who supervised the Calumet & Hecla mines from 1870 to 1897. (The family lived at 100 Calumet Avenue, which became and remains the private Miskowabik Club after the elder Hoatson died.) Thomas married Cornelia Chynoweth, the daughter of a Rockland, Michigan, businessman. (For decades Ontonagon County held more promise for profits in copper.) In Bisbee, Arizona Thomas Hoatson really struck it rich with copper shortly after 1900. But Michigan's Copper Country was home to Thomas and Cornelia, despite its harsh climate. Thomas built this grand residence for Carrie and their six children as a surprise.
    All common rooms and guest rooms are pictured online. Common areas, all rich in interesting decorative details, include the huge dining room, handsome adjoining library, the ladies' music parlor, and the cozy den where men discussed business after dinner. The den is especially memorable because ot its iridescent tile thistle design on the fireplace (a nod to the Hoatson family's Scottish background) and its murals of the woods and creeks around Thomas and Carrie's summer home at Bete Gris north of Lac La Belle.
    Between 11 and 5 p.m. self-guided mansion tours are held to raise money for the stained glass replacement project. The first antique-dealer/owner sold off the showpiece glass windows on the stair landing through an Atlanta auction house. The Ballroom Gift Shop on the third floor is filled with unusual apparel and home and garden accessories. The gift shop replaces weddings as an extra income stream to support the Sprenger's ventures. Weddings turned out to be "too hard on the house and too hard on us," says Julie. She had wanted to go into fashion in college, but her father talked her into engineering. Now she's able to have fun with fashion.

VICTORIAN HALL
(906) 337-2549

Dave and Julie Sprenger, owners of Laurium Manor across the street, rolled up their sleeves to restore this late Victorian mansion, an attractive mustard brick with red sandstone trim.
    It was built in 1906 by Norman Macdonald, friend and business partner of Thomas Hoatson in the Calumet and Arizona Mining Company in Bisbee, Arizona. The interior with its rich paneling and stained glass feels warm and Victorian, even cozy. The house exterior also has a Victorian look with its projecting gables and roofline and wrap-around porch (both hallmarks of the eclectic Queen Anne style). But if you stop to think about the basic house plan, it's obviously a four-square house of a later era of architecture, with a center hall plan. Each of the eight guest rooms has a private bath, many have wood-burning (now gas) fireplaces, and some have whirlpools and TVs. Four are air-conditioned. Two rooms are actually two-room suites; these are quite outstanding rooms, especially the master bedroom with the nursery.
     Guests share the parlor, library, dining room, and porch. The stunning stained-glass landscape at the landing of the grand stair hall has subtle variations of colors and textures. A full buffet breakfast is served at Laurium Manor across the street. No tours of this inn are offered, which makes it quieter during the day. Room rates vary considerably with season. The large ones range from $139 in summer. Smaller rooms are more like $79 to $99, Details, room photos, and rates are on the website.

WONDERLAND MOTEL & CABINS
(906) 337-4511
This tidy, old-fashioned complex (4 attached motel units and 6 duplex units with kitchenettes) may be just the thing for thrifty vacationers who enjoy retro lodgings. Owner Ted Adiska operates his place for quiet, sedate guests, many of whom eventually buy or build in the area. The motel rooms ($45 for two people) have two or three beds, maple furniture, attractive paneling, and a tailored look. Gradually the cabins, also very clean, are being remodeled and rented for longer stays. But for now they are rented on a weekly basis in summer for about $200 a week for two people. They have double beds in one or two small rear bedrooms, which open on to a separate fully furnished kitchenette with a two-burner gas hotplate, minifridge, cabinets, and coffeemaker. All motel and cabin units have cable TV, showers, and fans. (Air conditioning might be wanted five days a year.) Guests can use phone in office. There's a pleasant little lawn in front with rustic furniture. M-26 here isn't too busy. The immediate neighborhood of ranch houses lets walkers and joggers get off the highway. Laurium's premiere neighborhood is within half a mile. No credit cards. Personal checks OK.

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