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THE BUILDING OF KEMAH COTTAGE, SAUGATUCK
Perched on the
Allegan hill high above the Kalamazoo River, the cottage name is derived
from an Indian word that means “in the teeth of the wind.” Like many
house-stories, that of Kemah is both complicated and interesting. It is a
mirror of sophisticated “cottage” building the early half of the 20th
century, and most recently an example of first-rate historic
restoration/preservation. The famous Chicago architect Thomas Eddy Tallmadge
designed the original cottage for a Chicago family in 1906. It was radically
reconstructed twenty years later by Saugatuck’s premier architect/painter of
the time—Carl Hoerman—for William and Alys Springer, also of Chicago. As the
story goes, Mrs. Springer had plenty of money to spend. This reconstruction
was spread out over 6 years.
The end result was one of Michigan’s best designed and finely crafted houses
of the period. Although Mrs. Springer’s correspondence suggests that they
were good friends (even traveling companions), photographs from the period
suggest a bit of artistic tension between Hoerman who was an Arts & Crafts
guy and the very young Mrs. Springer who leaned more toward 1920s-30s
Hollywood style (take a look at the photos in the current Saugatuck-Douglas
Historical Museum exhibition). Hoerman drew upon Arts & Crafts, Prairie and
Art Nouveau forms—with some references to the English Cotswold’s and his own
Bavarian roots. The house features a grand porte-cochere, a colonnaded
porch, a “false-thatched” roof, several very interesting fireplaces, fine
Prairie-style stained glass windows, hand-carved doors, tile floors, and a
German rathskeller. To top it off, a cavern (“rockery”) was carved into the
hillside and made into a sitting room of stalactites, mushroom rock shaped
tables, rock formations to show erosive action, a waterfall—and copies of
Indian pictographs drawn on the walls, patterned after Indian dance rituals!
The current owners have restored the exterior and interior (including
furnishings) in the exquisite Arts & Crafts manner Hoerman would certainly
approve of. Kemah remains an important part of the visual attraction of
Saugatuck and Douglas area and a testimony to the value of historic
preservation.
For more on Kemah, come along to a talk by one of Kemah’s owners, Danny
Esterline, as part of the “Tuesday Talks” series at the Saugatuck-Douglas
Museum (the “Pump House”) at 11 on August 1. Or simply hit the museum
exhibit “Raising the Roof” and check out the “Kemah Story” and photographs.
by Jim Schmiechen
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