DeYoung Natural Area: Restoring the Historic Farmhouse to its Former Glory - The Leelanau Conservancy
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DeYoung Natural Area: Restoring the Historic Farmhouse to its Former Glory

Our journey into historic restoration of the 164-year-old DeYoung farmhouse reached a satisfying place this summer. The 191-acre DeYoung Natural Area contains the only remaining buildings of any of our natural areas, so much thought and deliberation went into the vision for the house’s future. After over a decade since protecting the land, we are now in the midst of restoring the home to its former glory thanks to you. The work on the farmhouse is expected to be completed later this year.   Follow along with Land Steward Chase Heise, who is the project manager for the restoration of the house.


Chase looks at the newly-open upstairs which will become office space. The stairs used to come out in the middle and this space was separated into three rooms. Downstairs, we also have opened up the front room for meeting space and added an ADA-compliant bathroom.
The most visible change to the farmhouse so far is the new paint colors. “It was important to us to keep the original character of the house with tasteful updates,” Chase says. “We chose historic paint colors with a traditional light primary color and dark trim (Ancient Ivory and Lafayette Green). We are also able to restore and keep the original wavy glass windows downstairs.”
“We saved a lot of the furniture original to the house and look forward to rearranging it! The biggest question right now is where we will put the piano,” Chase says.
Still to do: Siding repair, and lots of finishing touches inside. On the list: insulate the walls, replace windows upstairs due to safety concerns, plaster, drywall, trim, floor refinishing, and a new kitchen.
The original wood-fired Home Comfort cook stove will remain in the kitchen.
Volunteers helped add fresh paint to the power house
Staff finished the job, painting the trim and touching up the red paint.
These new stairs to the basement replaced the harrowingly-narrow former ones.
The most interesting thing about the restoration project so far? “The contractors found tons of old newspapers from the early 1900s in the walls that were used as a wind barrier around the windows. They were in surprisingly good condition. You could still read a story about President Theodore Roosevelt,” chuckles Chase. Also found were some interesting old bottles and tins, pictured below.
Picture of progress: all new electrical and plumbing, plus a new furnace and air conditioning have been installed. Many more structural improvements, too: there are new footings in the basement, and two new redesigned staircases.  Above, Chase looks at the new electric & plumbing in the basement. Notice the original cedar beams from 1855, still with bark hanging off, above Chase.