- Naniboujou Club Lodge
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Naniboujou Club Lodge
Location: East Cook, Minnesota Nearest city: Grand Marais, Minnesota Coordinates: 47°49′.91″N 90°2′57.16″W / 47.8169194°N 90.0492111°WCoordinates: 47°49′.91″N 90°2′57.16″W / 47.8169194°N 90.0492111°W Built: 1928 Architect: Holstead & Sullivan, Duluth Governing body: Private NRHP Reference#: 82000558[1] Added to NRHP: October 21, 1982 The Naniboujou Club Lodge, now a resort and restaurant open to the public, was built as part of an exclusive private club on the North Shore of Lake Superior in Cook County, Minnesota, about 15 miles (24 km) east of Grand Marais. Named after Nanabozho, a character from the Ojibwa traditional stories, the lodge's décor has both Native American and Art Deco influences. Commenced in the twilight of the Jazz Age, the club's original grandiose plans succumbed to the harsher economic realities of the Great Depression, and only the clubhouse was built.[2] That building, however, still retains its original design and is listed as a historic property.
Contents
History
Wealthy businessmen from Duluth, Minnesota planned a resort on 3,330 acres (1,350 ha) along the newly opened North Shore Highway,[3] and announced the project in 1927. The name selected was that of a Cree spirit of the woods, and the membership sales pitch was rooted in Indian legend.[3] Ground was broken in 1928 and the club opened for business in 1929.[3] Membership was to be limited and exclusive, but free memberships were given to public figures of the day in order to attract other members.[2] Members included contemporary celebrities Babe Ruth, Jack Dempsey, and Ring Lardner.[3][4]
Original plans included a golf course, swimming pool, tennis courts, a marina, a 150–room clubhouse, and an inland hunting lodge.[2][3][5] These plans were scaled down and only a smaller clubhouse was built.[5] Further financial difficulties were caused by the onset of the Great Depression, which led to foreclosure in 1935. The facility was sold in 1939.[6] Much of the land became part of Judge C. R. Magney State Park, but the lakeshore property on which the lodge is located remained in private hands.[5] Thereafter the lodge has had a number of owners, who have operated it both as a hotel chain, and later as a family resort.[6][4]
Ownership Chart[6] Owner Time Spent In Possession of Naniboujou Lodge Naniboujou Holding Company Nov 1927 - Foreclosed in 1935 Arthur Roberts Hotel Chain 1939 - 1953 Mr. and Mrs. Francis C. Hussey 1953 - 1963 Luther and Suzie Wallace 1963 - 1980 Campus Church 1980 - 1988 Tim And Nancy Ramey 1988 - Present Architecture and Décor
The Naniboujou Club Lodge is on the National Register of Historic Places.[7] It was nominated for the Register in 1982, as it had retained "its original design in a good state of preservation".[5]
Those design elements include architectural features such as polygonal towers, cedar shakes, a gambrel roof pierced by dormers, and French doors topped by sashes with pointed crowns. The Cree theme of the lodge is displayed in the common room, which has a 200-short-ton (180 t) native rock fireplace about 12 feet (3.7 m) high. Inset above the hearth is a native welcome symbol in the shape of a sunburst, made of the same water-rounded stone used in the fireplace. The chamber's walls and ceilings were brilliantly painted by the french artist Antoine Gouffee with other native-inspired designs,[3][5] and have been called a "psychedelic marriage of Art Deco and traditional Cree Indian patterns".[2][8]
The Lodge Today
Now known as Naniboujou Lodge and Restaurant, the property is a privately owned hotel and restaurant.[2] The sleeping wings contain the hotel rooms, and the former common area, still bearing its original decoration, is now the dining hall. Later changes to the building have continued the Cree theme.[6]
No longer an exclusive playground for the sporting set, Naniboujou Lodge is now a family-owned and family-oriented establishment open to the public. Modestly priced, its onsite diversions tend to quieter pursuits, and include the restaurant in the former Great Hall club commons, a solarium, and Lake Superior and the Brule River which adjoin the 9-acre (36,000 m2) plot on which the resort is located. Across the highway are the exotic rock formations and natural beauties of Judge C. R. Magney State Park, created from the former club’s lands, including the Devil's Kettle. Nearby are other state parks and the Superior National Forest, which offer canoeing, hiking, camping, and fishing in the North Woods and lakes of Minnesota’s Arrowhead Region.[2]
Naniboujou in Modern Culture
Naniboujou Lodge has been featured in various books on tourism in Minnesota or the North Shore. Monica Ferris' murder mystery novel Unraveled Sleeve is set at Naniboujou Lodge.[9] Naniboujou Club Lodge has also been featured in Minnesota Monthly.[10]
Nanabozho
Main article: NanabozhoIn Anishinaabe mythology, particularly among the Ojibwa, Nanabozho is a spirit, and figures prominently in their storytelling, including the story of the world's creation. Nanabozho is the Ojibwe trickster figure and culture hero (these two archetypes are often combined into a single figure in First Nations mythologies). He plays a similar role as the Saulteaux Wiisagejaak (Cree Wisakedjak).
Gallery
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Northeast façade
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Dining room
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South wing
Notes and references
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2008-04-15. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html.
- ^ a b c d e f Martin, Douglas (2000-08-13). "Rustic Retreat on Gitche Gumee". New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D00E4DD103CF930A2575BC0A9669C8B63&sec=travel&spon=&pagewanted=all.
- ^ a b c d e f Gardner, Denis, Minnesota Treasures, pp. 266–68; 289 (citing headlines of contemporary newspapers). Minnesota Historical Society Press, St. Paul (2004). ISBN 0873514718, ISBN 9780873514712
- ^ a b Welsch, Chris (2008-06-05). "Naniboujou Lodge embraces old-fashioned appeal". Minneapolis StarTribune. http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/travel/19574174.html?location_refer=$sectionName.
- ^ a b c d e Bogue, Margaret Beattie, Around the Shores of Lake Superior, p. 43. University of Wisconsin Press, Madison (1977). ISBN 0299221741, ISBN 9780299221744
- ^ a b c d "History: The Naniboujou Lodge and Restaurant". http://www.naniboujou.com/history.shtml.
- ^ "Minnesota—Cook County". National Register of Historic Places. http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/mn/Cook/state.html.
- ^ This characterization is similar to an earlier one quoted on the lodge's website:
"It's straight from an Agatha Christie mystery novel," wrote Tom Clifford in 1972. "The almost psychedelic Cree Indian designs covering the walls and ceiling are like a North Woods answer to the Sistine Chapel."
- ^ Unraveled Sleeve By Monica Ferris
- ^ Call of the Wild
External links
Categories:- National Register of Historic Places in Minnesota
- Buildings and structures completed in 1929
- Hotels in Minnesota
- Restaurants in Minnesota
- Buildings and structures in Cook County, Minnesota
- Visitor attractions in Cook County, Minnesota
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