Celebrity Travel
Harbor Springs Is the Midwest's Quietest Old-Money Summer Colony, and It's Kept It That Way for 150 Years
On Michigan's Little Traverse Bay, the private summer colonies of Wequetonsing and Harbor Point have kept a handful of Midwestern families returning to the same cottages since the 1870s and 1880s, largely away from public notice.
By BigTravel.in Editorial Team · · 2 min read
Harbor Springs sits on Little Traverse Bay in northern Michigan, a small harbour town whose year-round population is a few thousand people and whose summer one swells with families who have been returning for four and five generations. Unlike the coastal old-money enclaves of the American Northeast, Harbor Springs built its reputation inland, on Great Lakes water, and has done so with a lower public profile than Newport or the Hamptons ever managed.
Two colonies, laid out in the 1870s and 1880s
The town's defining institutions are Wequetonsing and Harbor Point, private summer colonies founded in the 1870s and 1880s by Midwestern business families, many originally from Chicago and downstate Illinois. Wequetonsing was laid out from 1877 on land donated by the town, and Harbor Point occupies its own gated peninsula guarding the harbour mouth, historically reached by horse-drawn carriage rather than car, a rule the community has kept in spirit ever since.
Cottages, not car access, define the hierarchy
Harbor Point still restricts motor vehicles on its peninsula; residents and guests get around largely on foot, by bicycle or by horse-drawn cab, a deliberate throwback that keeps the colony feeling closer to 1900 than to the present day. Ownership in both colonies is governed by resident associations that have controlled membership and appearance for well over a century, and cottages, some of them Victorian-era originals, are typically passed down through families rather than sold on the open market.
A profile built on staying out of the press
Town & Country magazine has referred to Harbor Springs' summer set as "top drawer" in past coverage, but the colonies have generally preferred to be left alone rather than photographed. There is no real equivalent of a Hamptons social calendar built for outside coverage; sailing regattas, the Wequetonsing Casino's events and family tennis tournaments are colony occasions first and spectacles a distant second.
What the wider town offers
Beyond the private colonies, Harbor Springs itself has a walkable downtown of galleries, marinas and lake-view restaurants, along with nearby Boyne Highlands and Nub's Nob for skiing in winter. It functions on its own terms for most of the year, with the colonies' quieter presence felt mainly in July and August.
Traveller tips
- Wequetonsing and Harbor Point are private communities; general visitors can walk Harbor Springs' public downtown and waterfront but should expect gated access elsewhere.
- The town is roughly a 4.5 to 5-hour drive from Detroit or Chicago, with the nearest regional airport at Pellston, about 20 minutes away.
- July and August are peak season; late September brings autumn colour with far fewer visitors.
- Winter access to Nub's Nob and Boyne Highlands makes the area a year-round rather than purely summer destination.
Where this is
Harbor Springs, Michigan
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