![]() Owner Django Kroner was inspired to start building the lofty lodging when he was 19, living in the gorge as a full-time rock climber and part-time cabin builder. The Cincinnati-based company has eight treehouses in the gorge, with more (including a handicap-accessible one) in the works. But there are other ways to get into the treetops-no fancy equipment or climbing experience necessary-thanks to The Canopy Crew. ![]() Rock climbers from around the world have long flocked to Kentucky’s Red River Gorge for its spectacular sandstone formations. $250/night on average (though varies), in and around Stanton, Kentucky, Drive from Columbus: 3.5 hours, “I feel like I’m tending it.” -Ellen Creager The Canopy Crew: Sleep in a Cutting-Edge Treehouse “I really don’t feel like the owner,” Thom says. ![]() Other vacation rental owners may describe their properties as Earl Young-inspired, but this is the real deal. There, visitors can shop, take a boat ride, dine or buy some local cherry pie. Half House, which has two bedrooms and sleeps four, is directly across the street from Lake Michigan and a walkable distance from downtown Charlevoix, one of Michigan’s most beautiful summer towns. “I also have a bedroom upstairs in the house I refer to as the secret bedroom.” “There are a lot of quirky hinges, and the back door is about 5 feet all,” Thom says. ![]() The cottage has modern conveniences, but those who rent it expect (and even demand) the house’s original oddities. It gets its name because it appears to have been cut in half. Some Earl Young houses have been remodeled, but Half House is in its near-original condition. “The houses were built like nothing else on the planet,” Thom says.Ĭonstructed of granite boulders and topped with a cedar shake roof that curves to a peak, Half House is so striking that people come from afar just to see it. It was built in 1947 by Earl Young, a local who created 26 totally original homes in the early part of the 20th century. “You often feel like you are in a fairy tale home,” says Bill Thom, owner of Half House in Charlevoix. The architecture has been described as “early Mother Goose” and “mushroom.” Others see it as a work of art. … We want people to find that solace in their environment, to think differently about the walls that are holding you and keeping you safe.” -Emma Frankart Henterly Half House: Architectural Whimsy on Lake Michigan “We don’t have Wi-Fi or television in any of the homes. “It is a destination unto itself,” Papinchak says. (Rentals and tours are available seasonally from March to December.) On-site walking trails and the Treetops restaurant round out the experience. Tours of the homes are organized around check-in and -out times, allowing day-trippers and overnight guests alike to see all that Polymath Park has to offer. “The houses are both orientated the same way they were in the original setting,” Papinchak says, adding that they planted plenty of pine trees around the newest, Mäntylä House, to honor its name, which means “of the pines.” In 2006, the couple acquired an original Wright home, which was relocated to the park from Lisle, Illinois a second Wright home was relocated from Cloquet, Minnesota, in 2019.īoth Wright houses were moved under the guidance of the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy, says Heather Papinchak. In the early 2000s, Tom and Heather Papinchak purchased the properties and the 130 acres that surround them, and Polymath Park was founded. The property got its start in the 1960s, when two Pittsburgh families hired Wright apprentice Peter Berndtson to design summer homes. ![]() There, they can stay overnight in a home designed by Wright himself or by one of his protégés. Superfans who want to experience Wright’s work in a new way, however, need only drive 20 miles north of Fallingwater to find Polymath Park. $299–$475/night, Acme, Pennsylvania, Drive from Columbus: 3.5 hours, įans of Frank Lloyd Wright-the famed midcentury designer who pioneered the “organic architecture” movement that emphasizes harmony between man and nature-know well that Fallingwater, one of his most acclaimed creations, is just a short, four-hour drive from Columbus. ![]()
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