Arts & Crafts Cottages and Resorts

Location: Lakeshore Drive, Douglas and Saugatuck Township
Date: 1890s-1930s

The Arts & Crafts movement was a revolution in the way people of the later 19th and first half of the 20th century approached house design and daily life—much of which centered on a “back-to-nature” attitude that included concern for moral/spiritual and physical health. Much of this grew out of Chicago (particularly the suburb of Oak Park) and Midwestern architects, homebuilder, social reformers, and furniture designers.

Many of the early cottage dwellers along the Douglas-Lakeshore Drive area were influenced by these ideals and looked to Frank Lloyd Wright and others (Elbert Hubbard, the Stickley Brothers, Thomas Eddy Tallmadge) for examples of how to build and furnish cottages. One of the most popular plan-book houses was the Craftsman Bungalow—but others were architect-designed or simply owner-made. Another popular building translation of these ideals was the reproduction log cabin, a craze that hit the area in the 1920s and 1930s. Respect for trees and simple design was the key—and of natural materials (usually woods). The whole idea was to respect nature, not interrupt it. The Lakeshore Chapel at Campbell Road and Lakeshore Drive is an excellent example.

The Cottage shown here is the Alvord cottage, Lakeshore Drive, Douglas, built in 1901 for John Alvord, a partner of Daniel Burnham, the Chicago urban planner. The builder was Arthur Weed.