The Casa Blanca Hotel in Idlewild, Michigan during its heyday. Renovations are underway. Photo courtesy of 1st Neighbor.
By Kevin Howell
Casa Blanca Hotel ⸺ once the grandest accommodation in the Lake County, Michigan town of Idlewild ⸺ is slowly finding new life, thanks to the renovation efforts of 1st Neighbor, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
Idlewild was established by white developers in 1915 on 2,700 acres encompassing several lakes. This area, east of Baldwin, grew into a vacation destination for African Americans (a.k.a. “Black Eden”) during the days of Jim Crow.
By 1950, when the Casa Blanca Hotel opened, the resort town was in its prime. Hotels, night clubs, entertainment and vacation activities flourished around Idlewild’s lakes.
Casa Blanca became the biggest, most elaborate hotel in the area, housing famous entertainers such as The Four Tops, Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Aretha Franklin, as well as writers and political thinkers.
Before it faded in the late ’60s and ’70s, the hotel was the place to stay, according to Dr. Charlene Austin, one of three founders of 1st Neighbor.
“You have to realize that the Casa Blanca, when it opened in 1950, the summer guests there would pay, like, seven dollars a day (the equivalent of $82 today) to stay at the hotel,” Austin said. “It was 35 rooms, and, during that time, it was so advantageous to be here and such a great place to be … and to stay at that prestigious hotel.”
She said the hotel served liquor and in 1956 opened a small dining room in the lower level, where dining salons were held. Salons were gatherings of “notable” people. No matter who you were, however, room reservations were a necessity at the popular hotel.
“They would turn people away because … (so many) people wanted to stay there,” Austin said.
As civil rights gained momentum in the mid- to late ’60s, and doors opened for Black Americans to visit other venues that had been closed to them, places like Idlewild saw less traffic.
“We experienced a predictable social and economic decline as the unintended casualties of social progress made by the civil rights movement,” she explained, “and this ended the legalized self-segregation. African Americans had more options and were not relegated to the recreational outlet that the resort offered. So, people started going to other places.”
Restoring more than an Idlewild building
A few years ago, 1st Neighbor ⸺ formed by Austin and fellow educators Dr. Ida Short and Betti Wiggins (1st Neighbor’s president) ⸺ took up the task of renovating the hotel for guest use. In addition to offering a place for guests to stay, Casa Blanca Hotel will offer other benefits to the small community of Idlewild.
“Our idea of trying to renovate it is not only because of what we wanted to do, personally, to make Idlewild better, but to bring the cultural legacy back,” Austin said.
Initial work includes restoring the integrity of the hotel’s infrastructure, after lying idle for some 40 years. From there, new configurations of the interior can proceed.
“We have been working at it for a while, but the major part of the renovation started this last year, going into this year,” Austin explained. “Right now, we are funding it ourselves, with our own monies, but some people have reached out and they are helping us in other areas, by donating their expertise. We’re not turning anyone down who wants to help restore it.”
1st Neighbor hopes to find grant monies to help the project along.
Once completed, the old hotel will include an educational and training center for tutoring and mentoring youth and will offer employment training assistance for the community at large. Plans also include veteran housing, B&B suites for visitors and, eventually, a museum area depicting the history of Idlewild, which used to be a Green Book site. The Green Book was a directory of “safe” places for African Americans to stay when traveling during the Jim Crow era.
“We’re just trying to get everyone we need on board to make this a success,” Austin said.
The name 1st Neighbor certainly suits the purpose of the project, according to Austin.
“Dr. Short came up with that a long time ago and liked the name,” she remarked. “It’s something that encompasses a community. Someplace that’s friendly, someplace you can stop in.”
Find 1st Neighbor’s website at: http://www.1stneighbor.org .
Casa Blanca Hotel is located at 1396 E. Hall Road in Idlewild. For information about Idlewild and its rich history, check out these sites:
https://www.facebook.com/lakecountyhistoricalsociety
https://purehistory.org/idlewild-black-resort-michigan/
https://lakecountymichigan.com/idlewild/
Kevin Howell is a Mason County freelance writer. He loves the Michigan woods, lakes, and especially Michigan craft beers ⸺ not necessarily in that order!
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2 Comments
Great article, which has prompted me to volunteer to work on this project.
That’s great to hear, Richard.