A famous boutique hotel built in 1820 along Main Street on Mackinac Island has a new owner.
The Harbour View Inn, located at 6860 Main St., near Sainte Anne’s Catholic Church, has been purchased by Jon and Lauren Cotton, of Grosse Pointe, the parties involved announced Wednesday.
The selling price was not disclosed.
This latest acquisition brings to a total of five historic hotels and two waterfront restaurants in northern Michigan purchased by the Cotton family since 2020.
“As longtime residents of Michigan, my family and I have visited the island many times and understand the importance of these historic hotels to the future of Mackinac Island,” Jon Cotton said in a news release. “I am excited to honor the history and tradition of the Harbour View Inn.”
Jon Cotton is former president and chief operating officer of Meridian Health Plan Michigan.
He and his wife “look forward to planning and curating the appropriate building renovations and landscape for this iconic hotel so that it will continue providing the highest level of service and best guest experience possible well into the future,” the release said.
Elected officials on the island, along with year-round residents, support protecting the historic feel as properties with multigenerational owners transition out, according to longtime Mayor Margaret Doud, who has been reelected every election cycle since 1975. She operates the Windermere Hotel on Mackinac Island, which is across the street from the Hotel Iroquois.
The island is known as a haven for hikers, runners and families who enjoy an automobile-free environment that depends on horse-drawn carriages and bicycles exclusively.
Hotel Investment Services of Troy will continue managing Harbour View, as it also manages Hotel Iroquois. “There is tremendous opportunity to build upon the excellent reputation this hotel has established over the years and to continue to honor its historic importance,” CEO Ron Wilson said in the news release.
What is now an 86-room hotel was used as a summer cottage into the 1990s, Sam Barnwell, chief development officer for Hotel Investment Services, told the Detroit Free Press. His family sold the Hotel Iroquois at 7485 Main St. on Mackinac Island to the Cotton family in 2020.
“These are unique historic hotels that offer what northern Michigan is really known for, and why everyone comes here,” Barnwell told the Free Press. “This is lodging with an identity.”
The Harbour View property was owned by Karen Pulte of Naples, Florida, widow of housing developer Bill Pulte, and his daughter and son-in-law, Katie and Timothy Moskalik, of Mullett Lake. The family, including grandson Bill Pulte, has longtime ties to business and philanthropy in Michigan.
Harbour View Inn is a legend on the island, having been built by Magdelaine (Marcot) Laframboise, a successful fur trader and granddaughter of the Odawa chief Kewinaquot. She grew up in the Odawa village along the Grand River at Grand Haven and was baptized in 1786 at Sainte Anne’s Church on the island, according to Mackinac history assembled by Keith R. Widder and cited on the Michigan State Parks website.
Laframboise, a women of Odawa and French-Canadian descent born in 1780, left a legacy of leadership on the island during the first half of the 19th century and caring for the poor, according to historical accounts.
Her former homestead has been the site of weddings and summer vacations for more than a quarter of a century. It is tucked among other grand cottages and mansions and consists of four buildings including Bill’s Grill restaurant.
Late last year, Lauren and Jon Cotton purchased five properties from Stafford Hospitality: The Bay View Inn in Bay View, The Perry Hotel in Petoskey, The Crooked River Lodge in Alanson, The Pier Restaurant in Harbor Springs, The Weathervane in Charlevoix and The Noggin Room Pub in Petoskey.
Bay View, located at the tip of the Mitten that’s known for its Victorian homes, is on the National Register of Historic Places. And, like its neighbor to the north ― Mackinac Island ― prime tourism season in Bay View also runs April/May through October.
Mackinac Island continues to see increased travel since its “absolutely crazy” revenue record set in 2021, as cruise ships now unload passengers with some frequency. Hotel rooms have already sold out for the 100th consecutive 2024 Bayview Mackinac Race from Port Huron to Mackinac Island in July.
The Inn at Stonecliffe reopens this year after spending $30 million on renovations. In recent years, new owners of the iconic Grand Hotel spent $10 million on refurbishing the property, including rooms, a new pool, slide and cabanas. Then they spent another $8 million on a nature center and miniature golf.
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Contact Phoebe Wall Howard:313-618-1034 or phoward@freepress.com.Follow her on Twitter@phoebesaid.