Earl Young (architect)

Earl A. Young was an American architect, realtor and insurance agent. Over a span of 52 years, he designed and builtstructures in Charlevoix, Michigan but was never a registered architect. He worked mostly in stone, using limestone, fieldstone, and boulders he found throughout Northern Michigan. The homes are commonly referred to as gnome homes, mushroom houses, or Hobbit houses. His door, window, roof and fireplace designs were very distinct because of his use of curved lines. Youngs goal was to show that a small stone house could be as impressive as a castle. Young also helped make Charlevoix the busy, summer resort town that it is today.

Earl Young was born in Mancelona, Michigan in 1889 to parents Adolf and Myrtie Young. He moved to Charlevoix atyears old where his father set up an insurance business. As a teenager, Young was interested in photography and taught himself photofinishing. He took many photos in Charlevoix, of both the city and the woods. In high school, he was on the skating team and the track team. During his senior year, Young was coeditor of his schools newspaper with Irene Harsha, who would later become his wife. In 1908, he enrolled in the School of Architecture at the University of Michigan. He was influenced by Frank Lloyd Wrights idea that buildings should respect their surroundings. Young was discouraged by the classic Greek, Roman, and Victorian architecture he was learning about and left school after only one year.

Source: Wikipedia