You can stay at historic Michigan lighthouse for $50 a night
If you’re planning a spring or summer trip and are looking for an affordable place to stay on the Great Lakes, you’re in luck.
The DeTour Reef Light in northern Lake Huron has expanded its lighthouse keeper program, previously only available on weekends, to include weeknight stays for $50 per person per night, the DeTour Reef Light Preservation Society said.
According to the preservation society’s website, the 83-foot lighthouse, built in 1931, is a “strategic and historic landmark” that marks a dangerous reef to help guide ship traffic to and from Lake Huron and Lake Superior via the St. Marys River.
The DRLPS said it completed a “major restoration” of the structure in 2004 and began the overnight keeper program and public tours in 2005.
The overnight keeper program helps raise funds for the continued maintenance and restoration of the light and offers the opportunity to experience life as a lighthouse keeper.
The DRLPS said a minimum of two keepers is required at all times, with a maximum of six keepers allowed at one time. While the light cannot be rented by one person for $50 a night, it can be rented by two people for $100 a night.
Two people can also choose to pay $200 a night to have guaranteed private use of the lighthouse all to themselves for five nights, Sunday-Thursday, according to the DRLPS website.
Full rates and more information can be found online on DRLPS’ website.
The overnight keeper program helps raise funds for the continued maintenance and restoration of the light.
The DRLPS says guests must be “in good physical condition, capable of making multiple trips up and down the vertical 20-foot pier ladders and to the top of the lighthouse.”
The living quarters are furnished similar to the period of Coast Guard staffing, according to the DRLPS website. The keeper’s room has a double bed, and two sets of bunk beds are provided in the assistant keepers’ room.
An electric refrigerator, coffee maker, toaster and microwave oven are provided in the galley and the office includes a fully restored 1930s roll top desk, a marine radio, and a glass front bookcase. The bathroom has a modern toilet, bathtub and shower, according to the lighthouse’s website.
Brad McGann, who is on the preservation society’s board of directors, told MLive.com organizers hope the new weeknight rate will encourage more people to consider this special opportunity.
“We felt that the more people we could get out there, the more people we could get excited about lighthouses in general and offshore lighthouses in particular,” McGann told MLive. “There’s not that many of them, so it’s a pretty unique experience.”