Belvedere Club

{{Short description|US home association}} {{Multiple issues|{{More citations needed|date=August 2012}} {{original research|date=July 2009}} {{one source|date=December 2019}}}} {{Use American English|date=July 2025}} {{Infobox historic site | name = Belvedere Club | native_name = | native_language = | native_name2 = | native_language2 = | native_name3 = | native_language3 = | other_name = | image = Belvedere Club.jpg | image_size = 275 | alt = | caption = Belvedere Club headquarters | locmapin = Michigan | map_relief = | map_width = 250 | map_caption = Location within the state of Michigan | map_dot_mark = | coordinates = {{coord|45|17|32|N|85|16|08|W|display=title,inline}} | gbgridref = | gbgridref_note = | type = | etymology = | location = 512 Belvedere Club<br>Marion Township, Michigan | nearest_city = Charlevoix, Michigan | area = | elevation = | height = | beginning_label = | beginning_date = | formed = | founded = 1878 ({{Years ago|1878}} years ago) | founder = | built = | built_for = | original_use = | demolished = | rebuilt = | restored = | restored_by = | current_use = | architect = | sculptor = | architecture = | visitors_num = | visitors_year = | visitors_ref = | governing_body = | owner = | website = | designation1 = Michigan State Historic Site | designation1_date = November 14, 1974 }}

The '''Belvedere Club''', located south of Charlevoix, Michigan is a summer home association of 91 cottages between Round Lake and Lake Charlevoix in Northern Michigan founded in 1878.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Miles |first=David |title=Looking Back: Charlevoix's historic Belvedere Hotel |url=https://www.petoskeynews.com/story/news/2022/04/23/looking-back-charlevoixs-historic-belvedere-hotel/7367423001/ |access-date=2023-01-31 |website=Petoskey News-Review |language=en-US}}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=February 2023}}

Members are generally from upper class households and originate from the Midwest and South. Many families have been resorting to the club for generations.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Holding Fast to Tradition at Charlevoix's Belvedere Club |url=https://www.northernexpress.com/news/feature/holding-fast-to-tradition-at-charlevoixs-belvedere-club/ |access-date=2023-02-13 |website=www.northernexpress.com}}</ref> During the summer season, late June through Labor Day, the club's entrance is staffed to limit non-member tourist traffic. Most of the cottages are not winterized, but the summer season has been expanding in recent decades to include cottages opening in the spring with many cottages remaining in use through Michigan's fall leaf color season.{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

The club's grounds include a beach, a tennis club, parks and gardens, and a casino dining club, all of which are private.{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}} The Belvedere Golf Club, home of the Michigan Amateur Golf Championship for many decades in the mid-20th century, is affiliated with the Belvedere Club.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Our History |url=https://www.belvederegolfclub.com/belveder-history/our-history |access-date=2023-02-13 |website=www.belvederegolfclub.com}}</ref> The grounds lie partly in Charlevoix Township and partly in Marion Township, in Charlevoix County, Michigan.

The club was founded in 1878 by Baptists from Kalamazoo as the Charlevoix Resort Association.<ref name="mich">{{cite web |author=Staff |title=Belvedere Club |url=http://www.mcgi.state.mi.us/hso/sites/3749.htm |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140720042920/http://www.mcgi.state.mi.us/hso/sites/3749.htm |archivedate=July 20, 2014 |accessdate=August 13, 2012 |work=State Historic Preservation Office |publisher=Michigan State Housing Development Authority}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> In 1879, a boarding-home style hotel was built on the grounds for guests and loggers.<ref name=":1" /> The land was divided into lots and leased for construction of summer cottages. Cottage-building had accelerated by 1882; by various estimates, most cottages were constructed either before 1900 or before 1940. Most feature ornate, bargeboard cupolas and textured wall surfaces.<ref name=":1" /><ref name="mich" /> In 1923, a casino was built and the name of the association was changed to the Belvedere Club.<ref name=":1" />

In 1887, the 40-room Belvedere Hotel was built on the grounds of the club, replacing the previous hotel that burned down in 1886. The hotel would later be expanded to 85 rooms by 1902, hosting prominent guests such as Eliot Ness, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Bing Crosby, Booth Tarkington, Adlai Stevenson, Barry Goldwater, and Dean Acheson. The hotel was demolished in 1960, following a postwar decline in the 1950s.<ref name=":0" />

The club was designated a Michigan State Historic Site on November 14, 1974.<ref name="mich" />

The casino building was destroyed by arson on October 23, 2025.<ref>[https://upnorthlive.com/news/local/belvedere-clubs-casino-charlevoix-fire-arson-arrest-fire-chief-suspects-arson-in-fire-that-destroyed-building?fbclid=IwVERDUANnVE5leHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHqOMXQZyIKef66OLce40z7lN7eUA5WPj0gWymfvL-v95kzScLT16Dhhba64s_aem_IZUV4Vh9LPjXJZYatkjF9w Fire chief suspects arson in fire that destroyed Belvedere Club's 'Casino' building], UpNorthLive, Trevor Drew, October 23, 2025</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

Category:Golf clubs and courses in Michigan Category:Buildings and structures in Charlevoix County, Michigan Category:Michigan State Historic Sites in Charlevoix County