Lake View Hotel

Originally known as the Lake View House, this is one of the oldest continuously operated hotels on Mackinac Island. Reuben Chapman built the structure in 1858. After his death in 1860, the hotel was operated by his wife, Maria. In 1880 the Chapmans’ daughter Jeannie and son-in-law Claude C. Cable purchased the structure. They later changed the name to the Lake View Hotel. In the 1890s, as Mackinac Island became a midwestern tourist mecca, the hotel was enlarged and the two large towers were added. The restaurant and bar were built in 1969 and expanded in 1975. The original portion of the hotel is a well-preserved example of vernacular resort architecture. The handsome building is accented by an open, wood-columned porch with a modified hipped roof and a raised basement.