05/02/2026
The Small town of Lovells sits along the North Branch of the AuSable River between Grayling and Lewiston. A stones throw away, or more like a fishing cast away, from the river is a brown lodge with yellow trim. The historic building was originally built by Thomas E. Douglas and named the Douglas House. He constructed a sawmill and general store in the logging community of Lovells around 1898. He erected a new store in 1903 after fire destroyed the first one, and in 1916 he built a hotel addition named the Douglas House. Electricity generated in his mill illuminated the twenty guest rooms and lavish common spaces. From the beginning, the hotel headquartered the North Branch Outing Club, a popular sportsmen’s club, which drew members like Henry and Edsel Ford, John and Horace Dodge, and Charles Nash. Douglas’s daughter, Margaret, ran the hotel until 1971. She continued to live in the Douglas House until 1991.
In 1996 the property reopened as a bed and breakfast, continuing to provide lodging to hunting and fishing enthusiasts. In 2001 the Douglas House was designated a state historic site by the state of Michigan, and In 2002 it was listed is on the national register of Historic Places. The North Branch Outing Club still offers world class fly fishing guides.
