Charlevoix, MI

Charlevoix has an architectural character closely associated with Earl Young's stone buildings. Working with limestone, boulders and irregular rooflines, the self-taught designer made houses that appear fitted to the ground around them. His projects, created over several decades, brought local materials and individual invention into the town's residential landscape. The Earl Young Local Historic District protects a group of these buildings and their setting. Often known as mushroom houses, they remain part of a lived-in neighbourhood: many are private homes. Their interest lies in the variety of forms Young drew from stone, landscape and the possibilities of a domestic building.