Ogle The Felt Mansion Decked To The Nines On This Holiday Estate Tour In Michigan
By Emily Tieman|Published December 05, 2022
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Emily Tieman
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Emily Tieman is a lifelong Michigander and has a love for locally owned small businesses. She is a freelance writer for Only In Your State and has her own vintage content creator business.
The Great Lake State offers a lovely wintery backdrop for the holiday season. Get ready to fall in love with Christmas again when you experience classic Christmas decorations on this holiday tour in Saugatuck, Michigan. You’ll take a step back in time and be filled with nostalgia when you explore this 1920s mansion.
The Felt Mansion is located on the edge of the Saugatuck Dunes State Park and is a gorgeous three-story brick mansion. The mansion was built for the self-made millionaire Dorr Felt and his family. Mr. Felt's fortune came from his invention of the Comptometer, a mechanical calculator that helped improve bookkeeping for businesses.
Though it was built for the Felt family in 1927, Agnes Felt died just six weeks after the construction finished and Dorr followed her in death a year later. The mansion remained in the family until it was sold in 1949.
The mansion has worn many hats over the years, including a Catholic prep school, a police post, and a prison, which has given it a haunted past. Since then, it has been lovingly restored to its former glory.
Visitors are welcome at the estate to visit the vast grounds and the glorious mansion. You can book a private group tour in advance that lasts around an hour and a half. The mansion also offers self-guided tours that can be booked for the same day and take an hour to complete. The self-guided tours are offered in the spring and summer, along with haunted tours in October where you learn about the mansion’s spooky past.
The most popular time of year to experience a tour is during the holiday season. The Felt Mansion is decked out with 25 Christmas trees that are decorated with the estate’s rich history in mind.
If you choose a guided holiday tour, your guide will share about the renovation process, and you might even hear a ghost story! The tour winds through the home’s multiple levels and visitors must be able to climb stairs to visit the top floors. The main level is accessible, and there is accessible parking available by the front door.
There are many cheerful holiday events held at the estate that is fun for the whole family. Bring the kids along to Winterfest where they can have their photo taken with Santa and Mrs. Claus. For the adults, check out the Taste and Tours event which has live music, local beer and wine, and hors d’oeuvres.
Even the exterior of the mansion looks like a storybook dream with all the merry Christmas lights. Make sure you bundle up for a cold Michigan day and walk the expansive grounds of the estate.
There is no better way to celebrate the holidays than with a magical tour of the Felt Mansion. To see a current event calendar you can view the Felt Mansion website. While you’re visiting, be sure to check out why Saugatuck is one of Michigan’s coziest towns for a winter getaway. Have you visited the Felt Mansion before? Let us know your experience!
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