The Magnificent Mansion

The Perry Hannah House, located on 6th Street in downtown Traverse City.

About Perry Hannah

About Perry Hannah

Visionary, Pioneer, Businessman, Philanthropist, Founder. . . few can claim more then two of these qualities and even fewer can claim all five. Perry Hannah was one of them. Known to history as the father of Traverse City. 

Perry Hannah was born September 22, 1824. One of Traverse City's earliest settlers and most noted citizens, he was a lumber baron that developed the town into what it has become today.

In 1851, along with A. Tracy Lay and James Morgan, he organized Hannah Lay and Company, and began logging operations in the Grand Traverse region. The company became one of the largest of its kind in the midwest.

The Hannah House

The Hannah House

From Mansion to Funeral Home, structure remains stately. Perry Hannah was 70 years old when he built his retirement home on Sixth Street. Designed by W.G. Robinson from Grand Rapids, the house is a combination of Queen Anne and French Chateaux in style with other elements as well. 

Started in 1891 and completed in 1893, the house was built by 30-60 carpenters, two master carpenters, masons and laborers. All created by hand with man made tools. There was no electricity then.

There are 40 rooms on four full floors with 3500 square feet on each floor. Ten fireplaces (six on the main floor, and 4 on the second floor) all hand carved in Belgium and reassembled in Traverse City. Eight have handmade Venetian tiles. The home was heated with coal originally and features steam radiators throughout the home. Today the home is heated with gas. Perry being a lumber baron used many different types of wood in the home including cherry, birch, beech, birdseye, curly maple, oak, dark oak, and walnut. The only non-native wood is Brazilian mahogany with is in the former dining roomed today called the mahogany room.

The list goes on and on while all covered in Perry's new book. 

About the Book:  Perry Hannah's Gifts - Then and Now

About the Book:  Perry Hannah's Gifts - Then and Now

More then a story of what was . . . but what is.

Perry Hannah's new 200 page book includes stories and photos, Then and Now, about such "gifts" as the Park Place Hotel, Northern Michigan Asylum (now The Village at Grand Traverse Commons), the Mercantile, City Opera House, the bank (now Fifth Third Bank), Carnegie Library (now the History Center of Traverse City), Oakwood Cemetery and his retirement home (now the Reynolds-Jonkhoff Funeral Home) that celebrates its 120th anniversary this year. 

Purchase the Book:  Perry Hannah's Gifts - Then and Now

The book is available for purchase online at:  www.perryhannah.com

There is also a list on the website of the current locations of where you can buy the book locally if your in the area.

Visit Perry's Facebook Page

Visit Perry's Facebook Page 

Please visit Perry's Facebook Page 

There you will get to see images that didn't make the book, discussions about the fantastic images that did make the book, and be apart of fun contests that we run through out the year.