Historic Weekend Retreat Suitable For An Auto Baron

5966 Wellington Pl, Battle Creek, Michigan

Now, for someone who has always been enamored by those rambling turn of the century country houses, and weekend estates built by captains of industry, oil magnates and robber barons, I had never imagined that an affordable (in relative terms of course) opportunity to own one would ever exist.  Now there are always historic Newport, Hamptons or Connecticut mega compounds coming on the market, but they all seem to come with $30, $40, or $80 million price tags and are of such a grandiose size and are perched on such extensive labour-intensive grounds, I could not even begin to fathom the cost of running or maintaining any of these behemoths, (once you come up with the initial funds to cover the mortgage of course).  One of my favourites in this category is Meadowbrook Hall in Rochester, Michigan – the 88,000 square foot country house of Matilda Dodge Wilson, (widow of the Dodge automobile fortune), constructed in 1929.  Now open for tours, I had the pleasure of visiting the mansion a few winters ago and have to tell you from the first moment I laid my eyes on her, long before even crossing the home’s stone threshold, I was in love.  I was (and remain) enamored by the beauty found in the attention to detail, the personal, intimate scale of the rooms and the magnificent setting … actually I fell in love with the whole damn package, if I’m being completely honest.  It is pure perfection.

 

I remember thinking while walking through Meadowbrook Hall: “I could be very comfortable in this Library; I could see myself having a pre-dinner cocktail in this living room; I could entertain well in this dining room or sleep very soundly in this bedroom.  You see, unlike other gilded age mansions constructed at the time, Meadowbrook was not constructed as a means to impress and intimidate the owner’s piers.  Although utilizing English architecture as inspiration, Matilda and her architect did not simply mimic the cathedral like palaces of European royalty as her contemporaries were prone to do. Meadowbrook Hall, although excessively large, was designed as a family retreat.  Of course, the home contains rare, hand-carved wood walls, granite fireplaces, 110 rooms and 25 Bedrooms, but the proportion of the rooms and low ceiling heights were all carefully calculated and arranged to ensure comfortable living and a welcoming scale – a tribute to the successful collaboration between architect (William Kapp of Smith, Hinchman & Grylls) and client (Matilda).

 

Now, as you can imagine, obtaining (and maintaining) a home the likes of Matilda’s is not even a remote possibility for most of us, but every now and then a remarkable little gem pops up (if you’re commute and budget allows of course).  A house that is basically a mini and less ostentatious version of Matilda’s home, clocking in at a mere, 9,000-square-feet (almost exactly 10% of the Meadowbrook Hall’s 88,000 square foot mass).  It contains a total of 22 rooms, nine-bedrooms, 13-bathrooms and is perched on a respectable 2 acres with 250 feet St Mary Lake frontage.

 

Like Matilda Dodge’s house, this dwelling, located at 5966 Wellington Pl, Battle Creek is designed to appear as a series of separate components, accented by tall chimneys, numerous porches, huge windows and varying roof levels.  It is this collection and arrangement of architectural elements which, to me, gives this property its allure.  To truly appreciate how wonderfully complex the homes’ floor plate is, you actually have to see the dwelling from above.  There is the main central block of the home with numerous, protruding, non symmetrical, angled wings, which form inviting courtyards with fireplaces, a 4 bay garage, guest houses connected by covered walkways, extensive terraces bordered by a lakeside columned gazebo and manicured gardens. I can just imagine the experience of wandering around the home’s exterior, unexpected surprises revealed around each corner, exposing yet another angled wing, set of French doors, intimate space or balustraded terrace on which to enjoy an alfresco meal or an evening drink.

 

The 9,000 sq ft manor contains multiple entertaining areas, a wood paneled library, a 20 foot by 40 foot living room, dining room, 2 family rooms (in case one is broken?), a sunroom, and something called a “garden room” complete with plenty of counter top space for the convenience of your planting needs, a sink, and the so important storage for one’s vase collection.  There are 9 bedrooms, including 4 with fireplaces, walk in closets, private bathrooms and balconies.

 

To round off the package, the manor also boasts a four-car attached garage, a total of 10 fireplaces, a separate, self contained, 2-bedroom guest house, and a delicious back of house service area, (noticeably absent in many of today’s home designs I might add).  This “wing” includes two kitchens, a butler’s pantry with floor-to-ceiling built ins, a dumb waiter, and servants living quarters (we must be good to our staff)

 

Now, we need to talk about the elephant in the room – the murals!  Now I know everyone has different tastes and atmospheres they are comfortable with as their surroundings.  Clearly the previous owners liked living in a child’s unrestrained paint by numbers creation.  In my humble (albeit uncultured) opinion, murals of this caliber and design should be relegated to a preschool cloakroom, a hippy commune, or an unlicensed home daycare operation, not spread throughout the walls (and floors) of each of the 22 rooms and corridors in a 9,000 square foot home… but what do I know?  I guess everyone fancies themselves a designer or decorator, but this is a prime example of why there are professionally trained individuals out there to help us avoid making such tragic mistakes!  Perhaps these unique art pieces can be cut out and donated to a local public school theatre arts program for stage sets – assuming of course there is a need for a Chinese Dragon floor painting in a school play.

 

White Gates Manor, was named appropriately for the large white entrance gates which still stand proudly guarding the entrance drive. The impressive home was originally designed and built in 1938 (a mere 9 years after the completion of Meadowbrook Hall) by Wellington and Catherine Burt.  The Burts, as they say, “made their money the old-fashioned way” – they inherited it!

 

The home was completed at a cost of $350k ($7.25 million today), not including the land which had been a gift from Wellington Burt’s parents.  In addition to the homes construction, the Burts spent $11,000 ($250k in today’s dollars) importing and distributing enough topsoil to cover the 20-acre property in a one-foot-thick layer of rich topsoil, all of which is serviced by an underground sprinkler system using water drawn from the lake.  This cost did not include the estate’s extensive landscaping to which there are no recorded costs.

 

After enjoying the home for more than 20 years, Wellington Burt passed away in 1960 at which time Catherine Burt retreated to one of the couple’s other homes – Nantucket Island, rarely returning to Michigan, which prompted the difficult decision to list and sell of her special home.

 

In 1961 a group of nuns from the “Sisters of Mercy of the Providence of Detroit” purchased the home from the Burt family for use as a recreational and religious retreat (I’m picturing nuns in full habits playing volleyball, but I could be wrong). After a decade under the Sister’s stewardship, the property had apparently “outlived its usefulness” and, on February 5, 1973, listed the Battle Creek mansion for $300k (about $2.1 million today).

 

The Battle Creek Enquirer and News article posted a piece on the home during the time of the Nuns sale from Sunday, February 25, 1973 which can be found here.

 

The individual who purchased the estate from the nuns is not identified, nor is the purchase price, nor could I come across any info pertaining to the property’s ownership history for the next almost quarter century, but according to Zillow, the residence sold for $559,000 in 1997, which is where the trail is picked back up.  The purchaser this time, held on to the estate for over 27 years, listing on July 21, 2017, for $2.5Mil.  It would appear that this owner (or a member of the family) is the perpetrator of the unfortunate interior fantasy paint-by-number decorating treatment of the home’s interior. Following the initial listing, the house languished on the market with several price drops over a 5-year period, as follows:

                   

Basing my observations only on the Zillow listing photos (full listing with photos here. ) , the home appears to have all new windows (not a cheap upgrade), however there looks to be numerous rooms with extensive water damage.  However, even with this alleged water damage, some minor repair and updating needs (and of course a an entire top to bottom new interior paint job), the property still seems like a real bargain at $755K.

 

It’s a waterfront property AND its NOT surrounded by big box retail and fast food outlets or located on a major highway (thank you Goole Earth).  In my books, this one’s a winner on all accounts!