1 week Ago
GLEN HAVEN, MI - Just steps from Sleeping Bear Bay, the sign outside of the big white house promises tourist rooms and excellent meals. Even after a deep slumber, the new owners of this freshly renovated spot have vowed to keep the light on and the griddle hot at the historic Sleeping Bear Inn. Built in the 19th century and operational through the 1970s, the inn has been a permanent fixture in Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore, before it was even a park.
The bed and breakfast reopened this summer for the first time in decades. The creaky front porch door, the radio playing oldies and a candy dish sitting out on a woven tablecloth – it feels like visiting a family cottage that’s just dusted off the sand for the season. It’s hard to believe this building was sealed shut and whipped by the wind coming off Lake Michigan for the last 50 years.
The inn underwent two years of restoration, right down to making an exact replica of an original sign. The white wooden sign sat inside gathering cobwebs on the mantle as the ceiling split open overhead. Even as the paint peeled away, it promised hospitality and warm comforts at the Sleeping Bear Inn.
Maggie and Jeff Kato happened upon the shuttered inn while visiting Glen Haven, the historic village within Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. They decided they were all in. They sold their house and their belongings on the east side of the state and negotiated back and forth with the National Parks Service to gain ownership of the dormant inn.
Innkeeping is technically a retirement gig for the Katos who both worked for Genesee County Habitat for Humanity. The Katos entered a 40-year lease with the NPS. It’s less of a work contract, more of a marriage license.
It’s a serious commitment to invest in the oldest inn in a national park – that’s right, it predates Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone Park. The Sleeping Bear Inn is both home and office to the Katos, who live in the garage apartment next door. It’s also their great getaway.
“We wake up in the morning, walk down our stairs and it’s just beautiful,” Maggie Kato said. “The sun is coming up. You can hear the waves, and we still look at each other and say, ‘We’re on vacation.
’ To us, it’s paradise.” The Sleeping Bear Inn has become a vacation destination for hundreds of visitors this summer and fall, many of them already rebooking for next year. Next August is nearly 70% booked, Maggie Kato said.
Peeping out your window to see Sleeping Bear Bay stretched out behind the big, red Cannery Boathouse feels like an exclusive view reserved for park rangers. The same goes for those dark skies lit up with clear views of the Milky Way and Northern Lights. The Katos set up Adirondack chairs on the top of a hill, ideal seating for Mother Nature’s free entertainment.
The exterior of Sleeping Bear Inn in Glen Haven, Mich. on Friday, Oct. 4, 2024.
The lodge in Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore recently reopened after it was shuttered in the 1970s. The getaway is the oldest inn in a national park, predating Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone Park and was built sometime around 1866. Joel Bissell | MLive.
com The main event – those excellent meals – are breakfasts on the patio. Previous visitors told the Katos some of their fondest memories of the inn were eating blueberry pancakes on the porch. And so, the pancake legacy lives on.
Once a week Maggie serves pancakes with hand-whipped cream. She hasn’t found the original recipe, but she’s hoping someone has a copy. She uses local blueberries when they’re in season.
As fall progresses, she switched to an oatmeal pancake recipe from a guest, topped with sauteed apples. With Maggie back in the kitchen, you’ll find Jeff serving each table a hot plate and explaining each element. The breakfast plate is Pure Michigan from the maple syrup to the sausage links.
Everything is sourced within driving distance. This is where the hospitality elevates above your usual hotel. Maggie and Jeff greet everyone by name, ask them how they slept, inquire about what they’ll be seeing that day.
They offer a local’s guiding hand and familial comfort. “Innkeeping is where our heart’s passion is, and we really feel like we’re living our best lives,” Maggie said. “We are excited every day to get up and do breakfast, and to meet the people who are staying here and to see the guests who are part of the history of this.
We couldn’t be in a more beautiful place. We pinch ourselves every day.” Innkeeper Jeff and Maggie Kato talk with guests as they serve them a fresh hot breakfast at Sleeping Bear Inn in Glen Haven, Mich.
on Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. Joel Bissell | MLive.
com The Katos and the nonprofit Balancing Environment and Rehabilitation, or BEAR, put tender loving care into the building for two years. They removed, restored and replaced every window on the outdoor wraparound porch. They gathered 19th century furniture and fine china to bring the inn’s original history to life.
They matched paint and wallpaper to keep the authenticity of 1928 style – the last time the inn was renovated. In the process they found stories, and storytellers. Post cards and portraits have been gifted from descendants of original innkeepers.
Dunesmobile drivers and waitresses have returned with stories of serving tourists. You’ll find black and white and sepia-toned photos on the fireplace mantel, on the bathroom walls and in the bedrooms. And if you care to hear a ghost story, they have one of those, too.
There’s a wooden beam in the kitchen left exposed to showcase the initials of innkeepers and servers. Above the doorframe is original wooden lath board that is believed to be hand-cut in the early 1830s, before premade boards became popular. Even the kitchen, which is serving daily meals to more than a dozen guests at a time, doesn’t feel industrial.
It has a window over the sink facing Lake Michigan and stained glass in the doorways. These are new fixtures, but they fit just right. “The inn was never fussy,” Maggie said.
“It was always a frontier inn. It was utilitarian. We added some of those touches, and we wanted the kitchen to look more homelike than commercial.
” This October, the Katos welcomed descendants from the original innkeepers and served them a private meal for their family reunion. The experience was humbling, Maggie said. She calls them Sleeping Bear Inn celebrities.
“So many people from the past who have been connected to the inn are so grateful that the inn is back,” she said. “It’s been vacant for 50 years, and I think to breathe new life into it is exciting for people who have connections to it.” More Sleeping Bear Dunes Stories: Hike past century-old farms and bluffs formed by glaciers in Sleeping Bear’s historic district Sleeping Bear on a mission to save rare 19th century apples from extinction Wheelchair bikes, all-terrain Track Chairs extend accessibility at Sleeping Bear Dunes.
