Laurium Manor Inn History

Thomas Hoatson Jr. built this mansion for his wife in 1908. It was  the largest Mansion in the Western Upper Peninsula. The cost to build such a magnificent home was $50,000.00. They also spent an additional 35,000.00 in furnishings ,fixtures and stained glass. Mr. Hoatson died in 1929 and Mrs. Hoatson in 1948. The home then was sold to Maynard and Jane Hurlbert in 1949 and remained in their ownership until 1979. For nine years the mansion stood vacant, was bought and sold by antique dealers and other parties but it was not inhabitable due to burst pipes and broken furnace, missing light fixtures and missing windows.

In 1989 Dave and Julie Sprenger purchased the mansion. Both are 1983 graduates of Michigan Technological University in. They started their engineering careers in San Jose California. While working in California Julie and Dave started purchasing and renovating properties in addition to their day jobs…and fell in love with renovation/restoration. They decide to purchase the boarded up and abandoned mansion in Laurium that they had seen while students. 

In 1993 they purchased the Macdonald mansion across the street from Laurium Manor and opened it as Victorian Hall B&B. Now 30 years later they have acquired six more properties in Laurium including three vacation rental homes and continue their passion for rescuing old houses and sharing them with their guests.