Shrine of the Pines

Sept. 9, 2016

A Craftsman’s Dream Realized

Mirror and window frames made of twisted branches worthy of an Edward Gorey tale. A wooden rocking chair so carefully crafted it rocks for minutes from a single push. A 300-pound door made of pine logs that pivots on a wooden ball. And a 700-pound handmade table carved from a single tree root.

These are only a few of the woodsy marvels you’ll find at Shrine of the Pines, a northern Michigan hunting lodge that houses a remarkable collection of handmade 20th-century American craft furniture made by Raymond “Bud” Overholzer, who sourced all of the wood from the forests of Baldwin, Mich.

Ellen Kerans serves as president of the Shrine and oversees the tourist attraction and its associated events. “My family was in the lumber business, so I find it so intriguing and interesting that someone would take all of this fallen wood and leftover lumber and make it into this,” Kerans said.

Overholzer was a fishing and hunting guide in Lake County back in the early 1920s. He had arrived in Michigan, along with his wife and mother, from Paulding County, Ohio, where he was born in 1890. Overholzer, whose name actually translates from the German as “upper wood,” found inspiration in the pine stumps and roots scattered about his new northern homeland. During his time spent guiding hunters and anglers through the woods, he kept seeing pieces that would lend themselves to his creations, said Kerans.

“He would find leftover pine in the forest from the old lumberjack days, and trees that had fallen over,” she said.

In the late ’30s, Overholzer purchased the property that the stands on today: 28 acres in all, with 1,800 feet of frontage on the Pere Marquette River.

In the spring of 1941, Overholzer, with assistance, built the white pine lodge that would house his works — several hundred

handcrafted items, including furnishings and home accessories. He and his wife lived in a different home; the lodge was Overholzer’s singular dream. He envisioned it as a place that would house 12 guests — perhaps gentlemen hunters up for a weekend — so everything he made was done by the dozens: seating for 12, beds for 12, dinner for 12, game tables that would accommodate 12 hunters.

Accenting the interior were more fantastical pieces: a chandelier precariously incorporating a glass globe, a table with a hidden compartment, quirky candlestick holders, a stairway carved from the trunk of one white pine tree. Everything was made using only hand tools, with wooden dowel joinery, and glue of Overholzer’s own secret formula that was said to include pine pitch (the sap that oozes out of the cut or wound in a pine tree).

“The 700-pound table was carved out of a single root,” Kerans said. “I have no idea how he transported some of the very large pieces of wood out of the forest, but he did. He just loved northern Michigan so much and kept developing more and more interest in bettering his own work.”

His work impressed those around him, in particular one man of note. “In 1941, Henry Ford came here and saw what Raymond was making,” Kerans said. “Ford offered Raymond $50,000 for the 700-pound table and its 12 chairs, which was a real fortune at that time. Ray looked right at Henry and said, ‘No, I want to keep it. I’m going to make this into a museum.’”

Overholzer’s reverence for his creations is how the Shrine of the Pines got its name. “It’s not a shrine in a religious sense,” Kerans said. “Lake County and Baldwin are the home of the white pine and the lumbering industry. So this place showcases what one man could do with white pine.”

Shrine of the Pines is located at 8962 M-37 in Baldwin, Mich., 231-745-7892. Admission is $5 per person, which includes a tour and access to the river trails. Light snacks are available. Call ahead for large groups.