The Colvin House
About Colvin House
Colvin House is an extraordinary wedding venue featuring an inviting and glamorous interior, large outdoor reception areas, a furnished coach house, beautiful gardens, and unforgettable views of Lake Michigan. Built in 1909 and designed by visionary Prairie School architect, George Washington Maher, the mansion is a historic landmark and was a private residence until its current owner transformed it into an events venue and coworking space. Previous residents added details reflecting the styles of grand movie theaters and the glamorous neoclassical revival flair of the 1920’s and 1930’s.
From the majestic crystal chandelier escorting you down the grand staircase to the two original marble fireplaces, it is a beautiful backdrop for your dream wedding. We invite you to imagine the house is yours for the day, as you invite your friends and family in to celebrate your union. To complement the elegant interior of the mansion, we have a lushly landscaped outdoor space for ceremonies and receptions, and public access to the beach.
Staying Sustainable
Restoration of the mansion has been a sustainable labor of love that involved a conscious decision to preserve the residential history of the house and as many historic details as possible while also modernizing systems and bringing energy efficient new life to the building. LED and motion-activated lighting, new HVAC, and water improvements have been implemented with minimal changes to the integrity of the home’s character and unique details. We partner with local vintage and thrift shops to furnish the interior in comfortable vintage furnishings that feel stylish and unpretentious
Our in-house services reduce the need for trucking in rentals and make for seamlessly integrated events. We have everything you need to have a magical, unique, and unforgettable wedding. Our gardens provide a beautiful, vibrant backdrop for photographs, fresh flowers and produce for celebrations, daily inspiration, and support our wildlife ecosystem by the lake with native plants and flowers.
Other sustainable elements include:
The house is flooded with natural light, so we only need electrical lighting after dusk. The huge windows bring in unobstructed sunlight from east, west, and southern exposures; only LED bulbs are used in the dimmable and motion-sensitive lighting fixtures.
We promote our fellow Green Wedding Alliance members as preferred vendors and encourage green practices for all vendors on our preferred list.
We have an in-house events team that can arrange your entire event for you to minimize costs, delivery coordination, and the environmental costs of trucking in rentals and materials; or, we allow you to choose from one of our sustainable preferred caterers and then select all of your other vendors on your own.
We use only non-toxic, environmentally safe cleaning supplies and eliminate as much cleaning waste and paper towel use as possible; paper products used are made from recycled or compostable materials.
We installed new energy efficient appliances and engineering smart systems installed during renovations including low-water-use fixtures and toilets.
Low VOC paint is used throughout the building and repairs are made with repurposed materials or vintage hardware whenever possible. We always try to fix or repurpose everything before replacing it, unless replacing it would improve energy efficiency.
We use farm timers, focused watering hoses and sprinklers, and deep mulching to reduce water use in the gardens.
We love beautiful old things and share our collections with our event clients. Our menagerie of vintage furniture and architectural items befitting the mansion can be used for reception decor to reduce rental and transportation of off-site objects while providing a very custom feeling of being at home in the house during your event.
We converted the original historic Carriage/Coach House into a cocktail area lounge and extra covered event space to reduce the need for tenting and trucking in materials for events during summer. The garage doors open into a charming unique reception or seated dining area with a built-in bar.
We are centrally located at the corner of Thorndale and Sheridan Rd for easy public transportation access to train and bus routes, or ride sharing from downtown up Lakeshore Drive.
