Old Mission Inn: Then & Now (and Now For Sale)

156 years of history, four dedicated owners, a new book, and a question mark for the future

By Ellen Miller | Aug. 9, 2025

The Old Mission Inn has seen a lot in its years on the peninsula. Established in 1869, the inn has only had four owners over the course of its life and is the oldest continually-operating hotel in Michigan.

Current owners Angie and Bruce Jensen bought the inn in 1998; they had been living downstate but had visited the area to see Angie’s father, who had retired Up North. When they saw an ad for the Old Mission Inn in The Flint Journal, “we thought it would be a fun job,” Angie says. “It was as far from turnkey as you can possibly get, but my husband has six licenses and there’s nothing he can’t do. We are visionaries.”

Against the advice of Angie’s father—he called it “the ultimate money pit”—they bought the place. But when they got there, there wasn’t much to see: the previous owners had held an auction, and the Jensens learned they would be starting from scratch.

“There was nothing but carpeting and paneling,” says Angie. “They sold everything from the light fixtures to the doorbell, so we had to refurnish it.”

The only thing the Jensens received at closing was the original handwritten deed from 1858 from the U.S. government. Angie describes the inn now as a “mini-museum.” “We’ve had fun putting it back together,” she tells us.

Uncovered History

The Jensens got to work and have completely renovated the property over the years. “There’s a fine line between making sure everything is top of the line modern but with the Victorian flair. It’s a delicate balance,” Angie reflects.

For example, when the Jensens bought the property, the rooms had shared baths. All the rooms have private baths now. “We sacrificed bedrooms so now everyone has their own private bath,” she says. “They have deluxe tile and showers, but the vanities are Victorian. We mixed the old and the new, and tried to not make it look too new.”

Originally called Hedden Hall, the Inn had 33 rooms when it was built in the 1800s (without plumbing or electricity). It also was home to the Old Mission Post office, with owner George Hedden serving as postmaster for 20 years. “The post office was in our registration room,” says Angie.

Under the next owners, the Porters, Hedden Hall became The Porter Hotel. The Porters also operated the Old Mission Citizens Telephone Company, and to this day, the Jensens have a 1906 telephone switchboard in the Inn.

“We’ve been trying to put actual period pieces from what we know was there,” Angie explains. “They also had two outhouses out back. There was no trash pickup back then; they put trash in the outhouse. We unearthed them and now we have a cabinet full of old bottles. We’ve been uncovering a lot of the history.”

A Kismet Connection

The Jensens got an infusion of energy and history when they met Susanna, the Porters’ granddaughter. Susanna, 82 at the time they met, used to work at the hotel when she was just 10 years old.

“She had to empty all the inn room chamberpots and deliver hot water!” Angie says. When Susanna’s grandmother rang the breakfast bell, that was her cue to empty the chamber pots. (Angie now has the meal bell in the inn once more, but opted for modern bathrooms rather than the old standby.)

Susanna told Angie and Bruce about how 250-passenger steamships would arrive in Grand Traverse Bay and the inn would send a stagecoach service to the dock to pick them up.

“It was wealthy people from Chicago and Cincinnati who would spend entire summers here. They would kick back and be pampered. It was a high-end place to be,” says Angie. “When she [Susanna] was living at the hotel, there were only two ways to get there: steamship or horse and buggy. They kept a separate horse register for those people; it cost 25 cents per horse per feed per day.

At one point, Susanna visited the inn and shared the history she remembered with the Jensens.

“She went through like it was yesterday, room to room, and described in minute detail everything that was there,” Angie says. “When she got home, she mailed me all these photos. We have spent the last 27 years recreating what it looked like during her years. She was the turning point in the restoration process; she was living history. A lot of the artifacts from her family have been generously donated. We have guest registers that date back to 1902. And the Inn has had some famous guests, like Babe Ruth, over the years. We have the signatures!”

Those signatures are preserved in the guest registers that Angie has kept.

“Over the years we’ve had a lot of repeat guests,” Angie says. “They come for the same reasons people have come from generations: the view and cool lake breezes. If you look through the guest register, people have been coming from all over; back then they had international people, too. I gave credit to the internet, but in the registers you can see guests were coming from all over the place.”

Enough History to Fill a Book

The restoration of the inn has been a journey—one that Angie is eager to share. “I just finished a book!” she exclaims “It’s about the journey we’ve been on; it took me 27 years to write it. It’s called How Our History Found Us.”

Angie is planning a book launch party at the Old Mission Inn once the book is printed. Guests (and other visitors) will be able to purchase a copy at the inn. “It talks about the whole journey: rolling up our sleeves, meeting Susanna, and all the challenges with the renovations. Plus the ghost stories…it’s the first question people ask.”

What ghosts, you ask? “We do not have ghosts! We have positive energies but no ghosts,” Angie says emphatically.

But she does think good vibes permeate the place. “There are way too many weird, wild, wonderful things that have happened. It’s been an amazing journey. One guest has been coming the entire 27 years we have been here, and they expect to see something new, a new improvement every year they come.”

Angie’s favorite story, though, is about something that happened that could have been coincidence—or fate.

“When Susanna, the granddaughter, stopped in, she told me her grandparents had the phone company and sent a picture of her grandmother running the switchboard. There’s also a picture of the side view of the porch with a telephone sign on it shaped like a shield. Most companies were Bell owned, so they had a bell shaped sign, but this one was different.”

A local gentleman stopped by one day and mentioned that he used to ride his bike by the inn. “The people who owned it last, they didn’t realize what they had,” he told Angie. “I always felt sorry for the building. Ever since you bought it, I’ve been watching the transformation.” Angie took him on a tour, and then the two parted ways.

“Half an hour later,” Angie recalls, “he called me from the lighthouse, saying, ‘I wandered off the beaten path looking for some morel mushrooms—you’re not going to believe what I tripped over. I believe I just found your telephone sign!’ He brought it back and donated it back to me.”

A New Era: Seeking Owners

While Old Mission Inn has been a big part of their lives, Angie and Bruce are hopeful to retire and are looking to sell the inn.

“We want to do some traveling… visit all these awesome places we’ve heard of. It’s on to our next adventure,” Angie says.

The Jensens hope that someone who cares as much about preserving history as they do will be the next caretaker of the property.

The inn is listed for $4,700,000 and includes all furnishings, a separate five-bed/two-bath home, and multiple outbuildings. The inn itself features 11 beds and 11 baths across its 6,233 square feet. The land encompasses 10.85 acres. For more information, refer to MLS numbers 1935650 and 1935651 for the multi-family and commercial listings.

Photo courtesy of Old Mission Inn/REMAX Bayshore