Sunday, January 15, 2012

The Mill and Brewhouse, Almont, Michigan

In the village of Almont, Michigan is a building set back from the road inviting a visit. It was built in t 1843 as a mill of some sort and the building is not possessed of a single solitary straight edge or even surface so, of course, it is easy to fall in love with it even if it were standing empty. Which it is not. The Mill & Brewhouse is a study in reclamation:


One walks into a room with a gas fire before a pair of small, paisley-clad benches that face what at first looks like a store front with glass windows above wooden wainscoting on the right and left with two pair of massive doors mostly covered in flaking ivory and gold paint; between the pairs of doors are another pair of windows side by side. On closer inspection one notices the doors are not matched and what looked like store windows are actually curved window sashes rescued from some building that no longer exists and suspended from the ceiling of exposed lumber is a long axel strung with wheels of the remaining mill workings.

Walking through this front one is greeted by long tables keeping company with rows of mismatched chairs, chests of drawers and trunks and boxes and bits of linen, lamps pictures, the pipes of an organ that has tired of tootling, rusted pieces of metal that have aged beyond their intended uses and into the vague-but-kinder world of sculpture. Every surface is laid out in careful vignettes of objects that are related but not crowded; the space is rather more like the home of an eccentric great-aunt expecting a lot of company rather than a typical antique store.

Grab a sturdy, hot Americano and begin your ramble; this is a place worth visiting and keeping in mind as a place in which to hold your special events should you find yourself in this part of the world. Keep an eye on www.circa1843.com for updates on the transition from antique shop to coffee bar and event space.
SPM

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