Belvedere Club
The Belvedere Club, located just south of Charlevoix, Michigan (Northern Michigan) is a summer home association of 91 cottages nestled between Round Lake and Lake Charlevoix. Current members are generally wealthy and come from the Midwest and South. Many families have been resorting to the club for generations. During the summer season, late June through Labor Day, the Club's entrance is staffed to limit non-member tourist traffic. Most of the cottages are not winterized, but the summer season has been expanding in recent decades to include cottages opening in the spring with many cottages remaining in use through Michigan's fall leaf color season.
The club's grounds include a beach, a tennis club, parks and gardens, and a casino dining club, all of which are private. The Belvedere Golf Club, home of the Michigan Amateur Golf Championship for many decades in the mid-20th century, is affiliated with the Belvedere Club. The grounds lie partly in Charlevoix Township and partly in Marion Township, in Charlevoix County, Michigan.
The club was founded in 1878 by Baptists from Kalamazoo. It was during the late 19th century that many similar summer cottage resort associations were founded across Michigan. The land was divided into lots and leased for construction of summer cottages. Most were constructed before 1900 and feature ornate, bargeboard cupolas and textured wall surfaces. The club was designated a Michigan State Historic Site on November 14, 1974.[1]
References
- Staff. "Belvedere Club". State Historic Preservation Office. Michigan State Housing Development Authority. Archived from the original on July 20, 2014. Retrieved August 13, 2012.