Tucked away in a Somerset Center, Michigan, you’ll find an amazing park that is so hidden away that few people (even within the state) have ever heard of it.
Some think McCourtie Park is one of the most haunted sites in the state. Others write it off as a bizarre estate, dreamed up by an eccentric rich man with ties to the mob, a penchant for birds, concrete bridges, lavish parties and all-night poker games.
Many think the park is haunted.
However, for someone like me who is passionate about all things faux bois (false wood in French), I consider it to be one of the largest and most exciting collections of historical concrete faux bois bridges in the country, if not the entire world.
The Most Delightful Road Trip Ever!
Thanks to the internet and social media, I was able to find out about the mysterious McCourtie Park a week before I was to set to drive from my home in Virginia to my family’s home in Northern Michigan, where I grew up. Taking a detour to McCourtie Park with my husband Emile, I felt like I was fulfilling a lifelong dream, even though I had only known about the place for a week. (I’m not even going to try to analyze that.)
Visiting the park was the highlight of my trip!
A Secret Garden
McCourtie Park is Michigan’s best-kept secret.
The park is a challenge to find, and the sign is small. It’s open from dawn until dusk. There’s no paid admission, flashing lights, brochures, warnings or websites. Marketing has been mostly by word-of-mouth for the past 90 years.
The 42-acre park has 17 concrete bridges.
17 Exquisite Faux Bois Bridges!
The park encompasses 42 pastoral acres. You pass through the small entry gate and walk along a narrow pathway, that emerges at the top of a hill, where you get your first glimpse of the main attraction: 17 unique and beautiful concrete bridges sculpted to look like they are made from sticks, logs and planks. They were designed and constructed in the early 1930s by artisans Ralph Corona and George Cardoso, who practiced the Mexican style of faux bois called “trabajo rustico” (rustic work in Spanish).
Each bridge has its own unique statement.
Each bridge appears to be made from logs or planks.
Corona and Cardoso learned this style of sculpture from the best: Dionicio Rodriguez, a Mexican who immigrated to Texas in the 1920s and is regarded as of the most talented and prolific concrete faux bois artisans who ever lived. These bridges are considered to be Cardoso and Corona’s greatest artistic achievement.
These bridges are considered the artisans’ greatest faux bois achievement.
Even the steps have exquisite detailing.
The wonderfully eccentric thing about this park is that it has so many bridges crossing such a small stream. Each bridge has a different size, style and vibe. Some are regal, with exquisite details as though designed for Kublai Khan himself. Others are whimsical. Some are very organic, as though made by strategically fallen trees.
One of the more elaborate bridges is covered, and at one time had wiring for lights.
One of my favorites is this bridge that appears to be made from fallen trees.
I love the organic nature of this log bridge!
The artists had a sense of humor. Next to one complex “trellis style” bridge was the simplest of all the 17 structures. It was made up from three minimalist narrow faux bois planks. This little bridge has no ornamentation, and no railing–nothing to keep you from slipping and plunging into the creek.
The simplest bridge of all appears to be a hazard to cross.
The two artisans probably felt lucky to have a patron who paid them decent wages and gave them a broad latitude of creativity and a long-term job doing what they loved during the Great Depression. As it turns out, their client was not just another businessman.
The artisans likely felt fortunate to have a patron who paid them to do what they loved to do.
This bridge has a pergola and is lined with “plank” benches.
Some bridges have “faux rope” railings.
Who Exactly Was Herb McCourtie?
WHL “Herb” McCourtie
In his home town of Somerset Center, William H. L. (Herb) McCourtie is fondly remembered as a successful businessman and philanthropist. He was born on a farm in Michigan, but had his sights set on making a fortune in the oil industry in Texas. He also founded his own cement company. It seems like everything he touched turned to gold.
While living and working in Texas, he saw and fell in love with the whimsical trabajo rustico structures being built in Dallas and San Antonio on the properties owned by wealthy Texas industrialists.
In 1924 McCourtie bought his family’s farm in Somerset Center, Michigan and began transforming it into a summer home which he called it “Aiden’s Lair”. This is now the site of McCourtie Park.
McCourtie bought his family farm to turn into a summer home.
Aiden Lair was going to be filled with lots of faux bois bridges.
The summer home with its upstairs ballroom and lavish parties was not enough for this cement magnate. He decided that turning Aiden’s Lair into his own personal Xanadu would involve faux bois. And lots of it.
McCourtie commissioned the faux bois bridges to make the farm conform to his vision.
Why Have One Bridge When You Can Have 17?
No one knows exactly why McCourtie felt the need to have 17 faux bois bridges on his property. But as Liberace once said, “too much of a good thing is wonderful.” (In my opinion, that’s especially true when it comes to concrete faux bois!)
Each bridge is unique.
Each bridge crosses the same creek.
This is an elaborate “log” seat and planters inside the covered bridge.
The exquisite outside of the covered bridge.
Even The Birds Got Their Own Palaces
To give you some idea of his excesses and eccentricities, in the late 1920’s he spent $2,200 (the equivalent of $30,700 today) on an elaborate birdhouse where numerous birds could have apartments with their own private hallways and rooms, hidden from human eyes. Now that’s my kind of crazy! But even birds should have options. There’s also a smaller birdhouse for feathered creatures seeking a more modest “cottage” lifestyle.
Whether they lived in the “palace” or the cute cottage, McCourtie’s birds benefitted from his largesse during the Great Depression.
The Dark Side of Herb McCourtie
McCourtie led a double life. While Cardoza and Corona were happily making bridges to nowhere, other workers on the property excavated an underground English-style pub and card room. It was a comfortable hideway where gangsters and business tycoons could drink illegal alcohol during the Prohibition and take part in all night poker games. I guess what happened on the McCourtie Estate stayed on the McCourtie Estate.
While artisans built bridges to nowhere, others worked on more nefarious projects.
The underground “lodge” also had a 10 ft. heavy duty steel vault with a 300lb. combination lock door and underground parking spaces hid high-profile patrons’ cars from sight of US-12. Tall faux bois trees were built to serve as a clever disguise for the complex’s ventilation chimneys.
Faux bois trees were a clever disguise for the underground rathskeller’s ventilation system.
Another chimney tree.
The detail on these chimney trees is amazing!
Did this Speakeasy Lead to Faux Bois in Detroit?
It’s even possible that McCourtie’s concrete bridges influenced the art scene down the road in Detroit. Henry Ford was rumored to have played poker in McCourtie’s underground “club” and the faux bois bridges on the grounds may have made enough of an impression for him to tell his friends. A few years later, Cardoso, Corona and their mentor Rodriguez worked on many public and private commissions in the Detroit area.
The unique faux bois on McCourtie’s property may have led the artisans getting other projects in the Detroit area.
A rope handrail detail.
The same year the faux bois bridges were completed, 1933, McCourtie died and the property was subsequently sold several times to owners who were unable to maintain the large estate. One owner even allowed buffalo to roam the property for a while. Over the years, it fell into obscurity and was forgotten. The bridges fell into disrepair.
After McCourtie’s death, the property was not maintained.
As years passed, the bridges were forgotten.
The Rebirth of McCourtie Park
In 1987 Somerset Township bought the property and recruited volunteers to clear the brush and debris to return the grounds to its former glory. The house was too far gone to be saved and had to be razed. McCourtie Park is now listed in the Michigan Register of Historic Places as well as the National Register of Historic Places.
Volunteers cleared the underbrush from the property.
One of the Most Haunted Places in Michigan
The park is considered to be haunted. How haunted? I asked park caretaker Bob Conn, who said most ghostly sightings usually occur at dusk. People have reported seeing a woman dressed in a blue dress floating over the faux bois bridges. (I guess the appreciation for good faux bois is not just for the living). He told me he sometimes “hears” things, like children laughing and playing. When he looks in the direction of the noises, nobody is there.
According to the park’s caretaker, the ghost is most often floating above this bridge.
McCourtie Park Today
The citizens of Somerset Center may not understand that this odd former estate is home to one of the crown jewels of the American faux bois movement. However, they’ve done a great job of embracing its care and maintenance. Nearly 20 years ago county residents voted to pay an annual tax to pay for the park’s upkeep. Melinda LoPresto was contracted to make necessary repairs to the historic faux bois. Picnic tables have even been placed in various locations for public use, encouraging people to spend some time there.
Picnic tables are found throughout the park, welcoming you to say awhile to enjoy the park’s beauty.
The amazing workmanship of thee bridges gives them an important place in American faux bois history.
Thankfully, the uniqueness of this hidden gem of a park has not been commercialized, so it remains fairly innocent and unspoiled. If you visit it on warm summer day when the wild flowers are blooming, the silence will be a blessing. It’s just you, the tranquility of nature, a wealthy man’s vision and lots and lots of inspiring faux bois bridges, the stuff of fantasies for any artistic soul.
A visit during summer is tranquil and inspiring.
The beauty of the area will make you want to return and tell all your friends.
Photos are by Diane and Emile Husson
For information on how to find McCourtie Park, visit https://www.michigan.org/property/mccourtie-park
