The Michigan House

10/10/2026

A special thank-you to the West Volusia Historical Society for featuring The Michigan House in its Sponsor Spotlight.

We have the pleasure of being neighbors with the historic Henry A. DeLand House Museum, just across West Michigan Avenue.

As we continue the restoration and renewal of our historic 1925 property, now home to six unique residences, we’re especially appreciative of the Society’s dedication to preserving and sharing DeLand’s history.

We’re delighted to support their work and to be part of a community that values its architectural and cultural heritage.

Thank you to The Michigan House for sponsoring The Golden Hour. ✨

10/04/2026

Entire 1st Floor of The Michigan House The Michigan House

10/04/2026

Whether you’re visiting DeLand for a few days or settling in for a while, sometimes what matters most is finding a place that feels like home.

Not long after we began welcoming guests to The Michigan House, one of our first guests told me something I’ve remembered ever since.

She had family living in DeLand and had made The Michigan House her home base. Traveling on her own, she spent time in both The Heritage and The Grove during her stay.

One afternoon, while I was working elsewhere on the property, I happened to see her sitting in a chair on the front porch. I asked, “Are you enjoying your stay at The Michigan House?”

“I just love sitting on this front porch and enjoying the breeze,” she told me.

I loved hearing that.

We had always imagined the porch as one of the outdoor living spaces of The Michigan House—a place to sit beneath the trees, read, have a cup of coffee, or simply watch the neighborhood go by. On several occasions afterward, when I happened to pass the house, I saw her there again, sitting on the porch.

There was something especially satisfying about seeing a guest discover and enjoy the house in just the way we had hoped. She had made The Michigan House her home base while visiting family in DeLand—and she had clearly found a favorite place on the porch.

That memory came back to me as I was thinking about The Grand Residence.

The Grove and The Heritage are two distinctive historic residences on the first floor of The Michigan House. Each has its own living spaces, kitchen, bedrooms and character. They are joined by a beautifully designed bathroom that allows them to flow naturally together as The Grand Residence—one expansive home encompassing the entire first floor of this historic 1925 building.

With four bedrooms, four bathrooms, generous living and dining spaces, two fully equipped kitchens, private laundry, dedicated workspaces and plenty of room to gather or retreat, The Grand Residence offers unusual flexibility.

It works equally well for family or friends coming together for a shorter visit or for those who want to settle into DeLand for a while.

Throughout the residence, original heart-pine floors and historic 1925 windows preserve the character of the house. Art, color, natural textures and carefully chosen furnishings give The Grove and The Heritage their own personalities while allowing them to flow together as one larger home.

Just beyond the front foyer is that broad front porch, looking out beneath the trees across West Michigan Avenue toward the historic DeLand House Museum.

For me, that early guest captured something about The Michigan House that I still appreciate today. A home is partly about the rooms we create, but it is also about how people come to live in them—and the places they find for themselves.

Whether you’re traveling for a few days or staying for a while, The Grand Residence offers the entire first floor of this historic house to call home.

The Grand Residence
The Grove + The Heritage
The Michigan House | DeLand, Florida

Learn more:
https://themichiganhouse.com/homes/grand-residence/

09/29/2026

🦋 DeLand: A City for Monarchs

This wonderful butterfly mural in downtown DeLand celebrates the city’s designation as Florida’s first Monarch City USA.

But DeLand’s Monarch story extends far beyond the mural.

Throughout the neighborhoods, residents have planted passionflower vines, milkweed, and nectar gardens to provide habitat for Monarchs and other pollinators. More than 200 local gardens have been certified as Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary Gardens.

I discovered that connection quite by accident while renovating The Michigan House.

One afternoon, while exploring DeLand, I happened upon the Sensory Butterfly Garden at Bill Dreggors Park. I pulled out my phone and started a little video: “I just discovered…”

As I walked in, I came upon a young woman sitting quietly on a bench with a butterfly perched on her finger. At one point, another landed on her head.

She told me she came there every day to be with the butterflies.

I’ve never forgotten that moment.

You notice this relationship with nature all around DeLand - in neighborhood gardens and parks, beneath the old trees and Spanish moss, and in the art around town.

The mural, designed by John Wilton and painted by local artist Courtney Canova, is downtown - an easy walk from The Michigan House.

And perhaps that’s what I’ve discovered about DeLand - what makes a home special isn’t just what’s contained within its walls. It’s also the place you step into when you walk out the front door.

There’s a strong sense of connection here - to nature, to historic homes, to community gatherings, and to one another. People care about their homes and neighborhoods and the natural world around them.

Perhaps that’s what gives DeLand such a strong sense of place - and makes it easy to begin to feel that you belong.

🦋🌿

The Michigan House
Historic dwelling. Six unique homes. In the heart of DeLand.

https://themichiganhouse.com/

09/25/2026

A house comes alive when people fill it.

On April 7, we opened the doors of The Michigan House for An Evening Inside the Michigan House—a celebration of conversation, performance, history, and a first look inside this century-old DeLand landmark.

With actors from the Athens Theatre bringing each residence to life and friends and neighbors exploring the house, the evening became more than an opening. It was a celebration of what this building has been—and what it is becoming.

Here’s a glimpse of the night.

The Michigan House
Historic Dwelling of Six Unique Homes
DeLand, Florida

09/23/2026

DeLand: The City Beneath the Trees 🌳

Look up in DeLand, and you see one of the city’s defining features: a living canopy of oaks, magnolias and broad-limbed trees arching over residential streets, historic downtown and the Stetson campus. Spanish moss adds movement, texture and an unmistakable sense of place.

This beauty is no accident. DeLand has been recognized as a 2025 Tree City of the World, and its relationship with trees reaches back to the city’s beginnings. Henry A. DeLand envisioned Woodland Boulevard lined with oak, magnolia and orange trees. In 1886, the city offered residents a 50-cent tax break for each oak sapling they planted that survived for a year—an early investment in shade and beauty for generations yet to come.

After decades in Key West, I have watched too many mature trees disappear because they were regarded as messy or inconvenient. Each loss changes more than a street or garden; over time, it changes the character of the island itself. That experience makes DeLand’s commitment to its trees feel especially meaningful to me.

Here, the canopy offers shelter from the Florida sun, makes walking inviting and creates places to pause beneath the shade. At The Michigan House, it is part of daily life. The Arbor and The Canopy—our two residences across the second-floor hall—look directly into the surrounding treetops. Their names could hardly be more fitting.

For someone staying in DeLand, the trees are not simply scenery. They are part of the morning walk, the view from the window and the quiet pleasure of living in a city that cherishes what takes generations to grow.

📍 Historic DeLand, Florida

09/19/2026

Congratulations to the Museum of Art – DeLand on 75 years of bringing art, inspiration and imagination to our community.

Institutions like the Museum give a city its cultural heart. As another historic DeLand property beginning a new chapter, The Michigan House is delighted to celebrate this remarkable milestone—and the people whose vision and dedication have sustained the Museum across generations.

Here’s to a vibrant future for the arts in DeLand.

📍 Museum of Art – DeLand
75th Anniversary Celebration | September 24, 2026
Museum of Art – DeLand⁠

Be a part of art’s big night.🥂🖼️🎉This September, celebrate 75 years of art, inspiration, and community with an unforgettable dinner evening featuring a live auction and special surprises.

We’re raising a glass to 75 years of the Museum of Art – DeLand and supporting a vibrant future for the arts in our community.

Thursday, September 24, 2026 | 6:30-9 p.m.
Tickets $100 per person | Sponsorship opportunities available
Cocktail attire suggested

TICKETS AT: https://secure.qgiv.com/for/themuseumofartdelandflorida/event/celebrate75yearsofthemuseumofartdeland/

09/15/2026

The Arbor, in a city of trees.

Step upstairs at The Michigan House and one of DeLand’s most appealing qualities comes into view.

The Arbor overlooks tree-lined West Michigan Avenue. Across the hall, The Canopy shares this leafy perspective, although each home has a character entirely its own.

Their names feel especially fitting in DeLand. The city has been recognized internationally as a 2025 Tree City of the World by the Arbor Day Foundation and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. DeLand maintains more than 7,000 trees along its streets and on city property, as well as another 4,000 trees in its city nursery.

Inside, The Arbor is calm and intimate. Soft tones, restored heart-pine floors and French doors give the rooms a quiet elegance. With two bedrooms, a full kitchen, private laundry and comfortable living and working spaces, it is a complete home for a longer stay.

The Arbor offers something that cannot be created through furnishings alone: the feeling of living above the trees in a city that values them.

Explore The Arbor through the link on our website:

https://themichiganhouse.com/homes/the-arbor/

📍 Historic Downtown DeLand, Florida

09/11/2026

The Athens Theatre and the night The Michigan House came alive.

Henry A. DeLand imagined his new town as the “Athens of Florida,” a place shaped by education, culture and the arts. More than a century later, the historic Athens Theatre still gives that idea a stage.

The first two photographs show the theatre itself, including a performance I attended there. But its connection to The Michigan House became especially meaningful when we began planning our opening night.

Working with Kiley Elaine Saunders and through The Michigan House’s relationship with the Athens Theatre, Sam Klitenick recruited local actors to quietly take up residence in five of the homes.

A doctor reviewed papers in his living room. A visiting professor worked at his desk. Other apparent residents carried on as though they had already settled into life at The Michigan House.

Guests arrived expecting an open house and wandered freely from home to home. Slowly, they began to realize that the “residents” were actors, the House was the stage, and they had become part of the performance.

Part open house, part mystery and part interactive theatre, An Evening Inside The Michigan House brought the restoration to life in a way none of us will forget.

That rainy evening joined theatre, hospitality and the DeLand community beneath one roof.

Read the full opening-night story here:
https://themichiganhouse.com/stories/michigan-house-grand-opening-deland/

📍 Historic Downtown DeLand, Florida

09/08/2026

Before the bronze plaque was mounted, there was this moment: 100 years later, The Michigan House’s next chapter held in my hands.

When we began restoring this 1925 building, I wanted to do more than make it beautiful again. I wanted to respect what it had been, the Ida Erhart Apartments, and allow its history to remain present in what it is becoming.

This solid-bronze plaque felt like the final signature on that promise. Heavy, permanent, and made to last, it now bears the name The Michigan House and the year this remarkable building first became part of DeLand.

Restoration, at its best, is not about erasing age. It is about honoring what has endured while making a place welcoming and useful for the next hundred years.

With thanks to A. Khan and CustomPlaquesIN in Texas, who custom-cast this beautiful plaque for the house.