Sleeping Bear Inn awakens
Sharing quarters with lumbermen and steamship tourists
Photos by Sarah Eichberger
Story by Jacob Wheeler
Sun editor
As we peer out the original windows of the restored Sleeping Bear Inn and into Lake Michigan’s rolling blue waves, we imagine a Michigan Transit Co. steamship arriving at the 650-foot dock in Glen Haven, just as it would have in the 1920s, carrying lumbermen, tourists, and fortune seekers who had departed Chicago the previous evening. The visitors disembark, plant their feet on land and gaze with wonder at the shoreline and the Manitou Islands floating in the distance.
Fast forward to July 2024. All that’s left of the long dock today are submerged pilings. Modern Glen Haven—accessed mostly by automobile—is a popular destination within the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore for its sandy beaches, multiuse Heritage Trail, the cannery and a blacksmith shop. Through the window we see bicyclists in yellow vests, sightseers snapping photographs with their phones, and a few brave swimmers facing a fierce northerly wind. (Just days ago, a kayaker who wasn’t wearing a life vest drowned a quarter mile offshore.)
The Sleeping Bear Inn, the crowned jewel of Glen Haven, reopens to guests later this summer, more than 50 years after it closed when this National Lakeshore was created in 1972. The Inn, which was built in 1866 and served guests through the Michigan lumber boom, the roaring ’20s, and the era of dune buggies, is the oldest hotel in the National Park Service—predating Yellowstone, which was established in 1872. The Inn’s welcome sign reads “erected 1857” but that was the year the dock was built and Glen Haven was established. Local historian Andrew White found a letter about the completion of the Inn that was postmarked in 1866.
The Inn is run by Maggie and Jeff Kato through their nonprofit, Balancing Environment and Rehabilitation (BEAR), which two years ago was granted a 40-year lease by the National Park to run the historic space as a bed and breakfast. Prior to this, Maggie lived in Flushing, Michigan, and ran Genesee County Habitat for Humanity before retiring in 2020.
“Our vision is this belongs to all of us,” Maggie said during a public signing on a blustery day in April 2022. “We could not be more grateful to this community and this park who have welcomed us so graciously into your homes and hearts.” She has met locals who worked as servers and dishwashers at the Inn and have stepped forward to help with the project. “We are grateful for the welcoming support of the community and the many folks with history and ties to the Sleeping Bear Inn, and it is our hope to weave those threads throughout its renovation and operation.”
My wife Sarah and I got a sneak preview of the Sleeping Bear Inn when we stayed there on July 5. We slept in a room called Akers View, whose three large windows offer tantalizing views of the water and the bright red Glen Haven Cannery. The room was named to honor Phil Akers, the chief ranger with whom the Katos corresponded to sign an operating lease with the National Park Service. (Last month Akers became the new superintendent of Dinosaur National Monument on the border between Colorado and Utah.)
We enjoyed the tranquility of Glen Haven as, two miles away, Glen Arbor buzzed with tourists visiting up north for Independence Day weekend. After we arrived the Katos served us glasses of Pinot Grigio, a charcuterie plate, and shortbread cookies on the patio. The hosts could barely contain their joy and anticipation as they prepared to welcome the first public guests in a few weeks and as they shared their journey with this building.
After unpacking in the room, we climbed up to the knoll behind the Inn and watched a freighter seek shelter in Sleeping Bear Bay. Later we biked the Heritage Trail through the woods into Glen Arbor for dinner and ice cream. On the trip home we contemplated what we would do if we encountered a black bear, whose contact with humans has increased in recent years. The sun was setting over Sleeping Bear Point when we arrived in Glen Haven and we watched the final hues of orange reflect off the windows of the cannery.
After a deep sleep we rose at 7:30. I swam in the lake, then we walked the shoreline toward the point. A young Piping Plover danced across the beach in front of us as a hawk circled overhead. When we arrived back at the Inn, we saw curious tourists peeking in the windows. Closed for decades, the landmark building was now lit and alive. Back inside, we joined other guests as the hosts served quiche, coffee and cinnamon rolls for breakfast.
The Katos remembered the first time they saw the Sleeping Bear Inn while on a driving vacation through Leelanau County.
“Like anyone else, we came down the hill on M-109 and saw the Inn,” Jeff recalled. “It was a Tuesday, so we figured it must not be open. We came back a month later, on a Friday, and it still wasn’t open. We wanted to (reopen it as) as a legacy project.”
The National Park chose 1928 as the era in which to set the renovated Inn. “That’s when the building got plumbing and electricity,” said Maggie.
The Katos decorated the space with vintage and antique furniture and artwork that fit the era. Alongside the period dining room tables and doilies, some of the furnishings were donated; the piece they call the “naked lady couch” came from Chimney Corners in Benzie County; Betsy Johnson, who once worked at the Inn, gifted an antique table; the clock and a dresser came from Fred Anderson; the Farrants, the original innkeepers, gave a rocking chair that once belonged to them; and Fred Dickinson’s photographs show Glen Haven before the Park arrived.
Some features date back to when the Inn was built in 1866, including the lath boards, the maple flooring, the original staircase, and the 44-foot beam that came from a Hemlock tree which, Jeff estimated, was alive in the 1700s. Five custom-made windows in the parlor and dining room are the original exterior windows and have seen more than 150 years of storms.
A black-and-white photograph of former innkeeper Clara Barber, who ran operations inside the building from 1910-12 while her husband took care of the farm animals outside, was gifted to the Katos by her grandson, Roger. On the mantel is a postcard Clara wrote in 1910 describing a tragedy that took place on South Manitou Island: “We are both well. How are you folks? We are having fine weather. Our mail carrier from the island got drowned yesterday. It don’t seem possible.”
“We’ve had wonderful things that people have brought in. We tried to bring back the character,” said Maggie. “We want people to be immersed in the feel of 1928.”
In truth, the Inn was never very fancy. It was as much a respite for lumbermen and workers who ran the steamship line as it was for wealthy tourists. Maggie recalled that at an open house for donors on May 16, a relative of Louis Warnes, who owned the Inn together with D.H. Day’s daughter Marian, quipped, “I don’t think the Inn ever looked this good.”
The Katos have delighted in hearing stories of the Sleeping Bear Inn and what the place has meant to generations of locals, just as they’ve enjoyed watching storms arrive, freighters passing through the bay, and kayakers and swimmers navigating the waters. They’re eager to share those experiences with the public.
Aspiring guests can make reservations by visiting SleepingBearInn.org. The eight rooms available have the following playful name: Akers View; Day Dreaming; Miss B. Haven; Farr, Phar and Away; Sleeping Bare; Dune Good; Bear Necessities, and Lake Effect. They range in price from $200-$340 per night. Most spots this summer are taken, but the Inn will remain open through the fall, winter and most of the spring. Savvy planners can book dates now for 2025.