Granot Loma

Louis Graveraet Kaufman

Louis Graveraet Kaufman was born on November 13, 1870, in Marquette, Michigan, the son of Samuel and Juliet Kaufman. Louis was educated in Marquette, and worked as a bookkeeper at the Iron Bay Manufacturing Company for two years. When he was 19, he became a messenger for the Marquette County Savings Bank. In 1898, he became the cashier-manager of that bank, and in 1901 became the vice president of Marquette's First National Bank. In 1906, he was named president of First National. By this time, Kaufman was associated with both the First National Bank and the Marquette County Savings Bank, and he was a director or officer for a number of other local mining, railroading, or insurance companies.

In 1910, he became the president of Chatham National Bank of New York, although only after receiving special dispensation allowing him to remain president of First National Bank of Marquette. The bank soon merged with Phenix National to form the Chatham Phenix National Bank and Trust Company. This was the first of many mergers; by the time Kaufman retired in 1932, the bank had increased 50-fold in size.

In addition, Kaufman was elected to General Motors's board of directors in 1910. He had a major role financing William C. Durant and his 1913 reorganization of Chevrolet and General Motors. Kaufmann remained on GM's board for 22 years, and was chairman of their finance committee.

In 1900, Kaufman married Marie Julia Young; the couple had five children.

History

Kaufman began building Granot Loma in 1919, for use as a summer residence. He hired Marshall and Fox of Chicago as architects and employed three hundred local craftsmen, and was believed to have hired local expert log builder Nestor Kallioinen to oversee the construction. He imported pine logs from Oregon for the construction. Construction was complete in 1923 or 1924, with some additional interior work continuing through 1927 or 1928.

The Loma Farms complex, designed to provide income and supply food for the lodge, was constructed in 1927 by the Bartlett Construction Company of Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Bartlett used a number of designs provided by the Louden Machinery Company of Fairfield, Iowa.

Kaufman held an opening bash in 1927 to celebrate the completion of Granot Loma. Guests who stayed at Granot Loma over the years included tennis star Bill Tilden, George Gershwin, Mary Pickford, Fred Astaire, and Cole Porter.

Louis Kaufman died in 1942; his wife Marie died in 1947. With Marie's passing, the farming operation ceased. One of the couple's daughters, Joan, lived there with her last husband, Jack Martin, the former caretaker of Granot Loma for a few years, but by 1950 the lodge was essentially abandoned. They occupied the farm and the lodge was used for special occasions. Granot Loma was finally sold by the Kaufman family to Tom Baldwin in 1987. Baldwin renovated the house, and in 1991 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Description

The estate’s title, Granot Loma, is a random hodgepodge of letters from the names of Kaufman’s first three children and his wife’s name. Kaufman retained 22 architects to design the building. Pine logs were shipped from Oregon by train. The structure is built on a steel frame resting on a two-yard thick concrete foundation.

As completed in 1923, the 26,000 square foot lodge cost $5 million—equivalent to $70 million in 2016.

The estate of Granot Loma sits on 5,180 acres of woodland located along the Lake Superior shore. The lodge is an enormous, L-shaped structure built of logs over a steel frame and with a slate roof. The lodge includes a 60-foot long greatroom and 23 or 26 bedrooms, 13 baths and 26 stone fireplaces. The estate contains unique and irreplaceable accoutrements, e.g., Indian/Western scenes by Orry Kelly, an Academy Award-winning designer.

Loma Farms is a planned farming complex which includes thirteen buildings constructed of vitrified clay tile, situated about one-half mile from the lodge complex.