The Village at Grand Traverse Commons (Former State Hospital)

The former Northern Michigan Asylum, opened in 1885, is one of the most striking pieces of Victorian institutional architecture in the Great Lakes region. The main red-brick building — known as Building 50 — stretches for nearly a quarter mile, a grand Kirkbride-plan structure with a central administration tower flanked by symmetrical wings that step gradually down in height. The campus has been redeveloped into the Village at Grand Traverse Commons, with restaurants, shops, apartments, and art studios in the former patient wards.

You can wander much of the complex on your own, including the landscaped grounds. For the underground tunnels and interior access, join one of the regular history tours run by the Grand Traverse Commons organization. The juxtaposition of the grand Victorian architecture, the dark institutional history, and the current creative reuse makes for a genuinely thought-provoking visit. The cow buried on the grounds — Traverse Colantha Walker, a record-breaking dairy cow who lived at the hospital farm — has her own small marker worth finding.

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The Traverse City State Hospital was designed by Dr. Thomas Kirkbride, who believed that the architecture itself was therapeutic — wide corridors, natural light, pastoral views, and a self-sufficient farm community. At its peak the hospital housed over 3,000 patients and grew most of its own food. The famous tunnels beneath the campus once connected every building and are still partly accessible on guided tours.

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