One of my favorite authors growing up was John Bellairs, who wrote creepy gothic mystery books for children. The stories almost always involved the supernatural: evil wizards, magic spells, terrible curses, and long-forgotten tombs, crypts, and ancient magical artifacts. And also houses. There were often big, old houses in his books. Strange mansions with secret passageways, unusual weather vanes, creaky floors, and large fireplaces.
It turns out that some of those houses were inspired by his hometown. He grew up in Marshall, Michigan which has a large historic district of homes all built in the 1800s. Here's what he had to say:
In fact, one of his most popular books, The House with a Clock in its Walls, is based on an actual house in Marshall, known as the Cronin house, which was built in 1872 for Jeremiah Cronin. Fans of John Bellairs have often made the trip to Marshall to see the house."In my imagination, I repeatedly walk up and down the streets of the beautiful old Michigan town where I grew up. It is full of Victorian mansions and history, and it would work on the creative mind of any kid."
Last week, to celebrate my birthday, Wendy and I traveled to Marshall to see that house, along with all the other historic homes.
The Cronin House
It was fantastic, and did not disappoint. It is showing signs of deterioration, since no one currently lives there. But it is still a remarkable house. I went back to it each day of our trip to take more pictures. Here are just a few:
The Octagon House
This is another house featured in one of the books, this time in The Treasure of Alpheus Winterborn. It's currently being renovated.
Honolulu House
After John Bellairs died in 1991, his estate asked writer and long-time friend Brad Strickland to complete several of John's works in progress, and even to write his own books featuring Bellairs' characters. One of those books was The House Where Nobody Lived, which was based on the Honolulu house. This was the only house on our trip that we got to view from the inside. The house was built in 1860 by a man who spent several years in Hawaii, and wanted to build something to remind him of the islands. The interior of the house is filled with unbelievably intricate painting. It was quite a sight to see.
The Fountain
This isn't a house, but it's a unique feature of Marshall mentioned several times in Bellairs' books. There's a large roundabout on the main street with a fountain in the middle, surrounded by a circle of trees. At night, the fountain is lit up by colored lights. Each night of our trip we sat for a while at the fountain as darkness fell. On the first night, we could see the stars of the Summer Triangle (Vega, Deneb, and Altair) overhead, and a bit later, the full moon rose into view, which also happened to be a blue moon. The colored lights from the fountain, along with the stars and moon made for a great view.
The Historic District
The historic district is packed with unique houses and interesting architecture. There were far too many to take pictures of all of them. And I still managed to take a lot of pictures.
The Rest of the Trip
I could easily keep posting photos, but I'll stop here. During our trip, we also:
- Stayed 3 nights at the National House Inn, a bed and breakfast whose building was constructed in 1835. It was part of the Underground Railroad at one point; and it was also a house of ill repute at another point.
- Ate at the famous Schuler's restaurant, which has been in business at least since the 1920's. The food was delicious, and our waiter looked exactly like the actor Chris Pratt.
- Visited the American Museum of Magic, which is on the main street in Marshall. It was a bit of a disappointment; there wasn't much to it besides lots of authentic posters advertising famous magicians of old.
- Walked all over town, until our feet hurt, our legs were exhausted, and my phone was almost out of batteries from taking so many pictures.
- Visited the Binder Park Zoo in nearby Battle Creek. It too was a bit disappointing. There was a lot of walking and not a lot of animals. It didn't help that the zoo's tram broke down while we were there.
- Ate a delicious nut roll at Louie's Bakery, on the main street in Marshall. One of the guests at the bed and breakfast recommended this to us.
- Walked along a very nice riverwalk that overlooked the Kalamazoo River.
- Saw several black squirrels. I saw a few of these in Oklahoma a long time ago, but never any since.
- Enjoyed the breeze. It was hot and dry during our visit, but fortunately there was a strong breeze that helped keep us cool, and keep the mosquitoes at bay.
The trip was a lot of fun. I'm glad we went. And strangely enough, during our trip, there was an announcement online of a recently-discovered, never-before-published short story by John Bellairs. It's called The Gargoyle in the Dump, and it will be published in September as an ebook. It's very short, only 24 pages, and is apparently about 3 brothers having a very boring summer, until they discover a talking gargoyle in the town's dump. It sounds exactly like something John Bellairs would write. I'm looking forward to it!