Description: THE HOUSE
We entered the house through the kitchen which was still fitted out as it would have been when the family were living there, same sort of cooker and sink etc and a tiled floor. This area was used by the family cook and the rooms in this part of the house now have offices and are not really part of the tour.

THE KITCHEN
This was a bright room with windows to the back and front and all the walls were tiled. The cabinets have been restored to the original style and some are original. There was a special cupboard with the ironing board next to the sink. A very clever invention was the broom cupboard which had a hole in the floor where you swept the rubbish into a bin suspended from the basement ceiling.

THE HALL AND STAIRWAY
We were taken into the hall or entry and this is where the significance of the number seven was pointed out to us and we were told to read about this and look out for the other places that seven coild be seen. The door in the entrance has seven panels and is one of seven original entrances to the house. The oak ceiling has seven rows of decoration. This area reflects the Tudor style of the house with dark oak ceilings and heavy carvings on the stairway. The stairway is pretty amazing and took two year to complete and was carved by hand in situ. In this area we loved looking at the old photos taken of the family in the house.

SEVEN IS A LUCKY NUMBER
As I have mentioned the number seven as being significant I better explain why, this was W.K. Kellogg’s favourite number. There are seven letters in KELLOGG. W.K. Kellogg’s father was the seventh child in the family and was born in 1807. W.K. Kellogg was also the seventh child and he was born on the seventh day of the week on the seventh day of the month, April7th 1860 in Battle Creek, MI. W.K. had seven grandsons. There were originally seven bedrooms in the house; one now has a lift in the middle of it to allow disabled access.
"If one seven is good, seven sevens ought to be better. Who can fail to make a success in anything with a combination of seven times seven in the family? " – W.K. Kellogg in 1931

LIBRARY
We then walked on onto the library where a young lady on work experience was doing some clerical stuff. We just popped in quickly as we didn’t want to intrude too much while she was working. This room held WK. Kellogg’s book collection and from his favourites he would read aloud to his family in the evenings. The larger doors in this room each have seven diamonds as decoration and there are seven windows at one end of the room.
As we made our way upstairs we found that Mr and Mrs Kellogg had completely separate suits of rooms and both had lovely views of the lake. The two suites of rooms were separated by Mr Kellogg’s office.

MRS KELLOGG’S SUITE OF ROOMS
Mr Kellogg met his wife as she was a doctor at the Sanatorium and they were married for thirty years. The bedroom was dated by still had a charm with an old wooden bed which had a handmade quilt on it. A lovely Turkish style carpet was on the floor which was tiled and at the entrance to the room were seven black tiles. Just off the bedroom was a sleeping porch which Mrs K used as an office.

BATHROOMS
The bathroom was very modern for the day with running hot water. There were a number of bathrooms in the house, two for guests to use and there were four guest bedrooms. The bathrooms were all tiled with original Rockwood tiles. These were painted over by the military when they used the house and two bath tubs were replaced by showers at this time.

MR KELLOGG’S SUITE
This was accessed through the bathroom and the office of Mr K. This office was used daily by Mr K. to run his company until his late 70s. His bedroom like his wife’s had a lovely bay window with a view of the lake. His room was very similar to his wife’s with a large patterned carpet on a tiled floor but it didn’t have touches like hair brushes on a dressing table. Apparently he was a workaholic and ‘cat napped ‘for short times before getting back to work in the office.
The sleeping porch in this suite was used as an exercise room by Mr K. and his guests.

GRANDSON NORM’S ROOM
Norm spent a lot of time in this house in his holidays from college. The furniture was oriental lacquered and the furniture in the room now was a gift from a friend of the Manor House. The grandson’s photo is on the wall by the bed so guests can see what he looked like.

GUEST SUITE
The guest rooms all over look the garden rather than the lake and these rooms are not fully restored and are waiting for sponsors too help restore them.

NURSERY AND SLEEPING PORCH
This had an old crib, high chair and nursing chair and was the sleeping porch for the children. It was sad to read that Mr K. didn’t see a lot of his own children as he went to work before they were up and came back after they were asleep. He did however manage to see more of his grandchildren but strangely would only kiss them goodbye in private as he was so shy.

BILLIARD ROOM
This was a pretty big room with a billiard table, a game table and a radio. There were also a set of high backed chairs which could be arranged theatre style so the families could enjoy home movies.
I was very taken with the fireplace with Rockwood tiles with pictures of knights and a castle in the background. On the ceiling were seven oak beams and the alcove in this room is one of seven gables on the house.

We then came back downstairs to see the rooms we had missed.

THE LIVING ROOM
This was a large light room with a large bay window which had seven sections. The room had a view of the lake when the family lived in the house but now the trees are so big that you can’t see the lake any more. The ceiling is plaster in a rose and thistle design which reflects the family’s Scottish heritage and the lights also have a thistle design. There are some beautiful original Flemish tapestries on the wall that are well over 400years old.

DINING ROOM
This rather elegant room has been host to many famous people including President Hoover in the 1930s. The room is oak panelled and the light fittings once again had thistle decorating them. On the plaster ceiling there were seven designs at each end of the room.

BREAKFAST ROOM
I liked this room as it was set up for breakfast with original Kellogg cereal packets on the side and on the table. The was a lovely bay window with original leaded window panes and original decorated Rockwood floor tiles which I would have loved in my home.

THE STORY OF THE HOUSE’S HISTORY
The house was built by Mr Kellogg in 1925/6 and they lived there until 1942 when Mr K gave the house to the military to be used as a coast guard induction and training centre. After the war the house was used as a rehabilitation centre for wounded servicemen.

After the death of Mr K in 1951 the house was given to Michigan State College now University. The house was restored to its original as much as possible in 2000.

The estate includes a caretaker’s cottage which can be hired as self catering accommodation for four people. The carriage house, cabins and dormitory suites are also available for hire as sleeping accommodation.

THE GARDENS
These were lovely, not formal but really natural and full of colour. The Pagoda Garden is beside the lake and has arbors and a sundial. This is used for weddings and can seat 150.
The smaller Reflection Pool garden seats 80 and is rather more English with a pretty fountain and this too overlooks Gull Lake.

We walked all around the garden and followed the path right down to the lake and boat ramp. It was a lovely walk down and a fairly exhilarating walk back up. The front garden was a little more formal and had a gravelled circular drive just in front of the house.

We really enjoyed the visit to this house. It told a fascinating story of this family. I really admire WK. Kellogg’s philosophy and his extreme generosity; it is a shame that there are not nore wealthy people who follow his philosophy.
Close