Belvedere House

Location: 3656 63rd Street, Saugatuck Township

A grand summer home that at one time had a view of Lake Michigan from the west porch—the “Belvedere” is in the Italian Renaissance Revival architecture by the famous Chicago firm of Perkins, Fellows & Hamilton. The owners were Mr. and Mrs. John D. Williamson, an executive of the Chicago People’s Gas and Electric Company. With the estate’s huge acreage, Mr. Williamson became a gentleman farmer, experimenting with reforestation, fruit growing and even water irrigation. The estate’s barn eventually became the home of the Red Barn Summer Stock Theater. Both the mansion and the barn have been recently restored—the mansion as a restaurant and hotel.