Legs Inn

Stanislaw "Stanley" Smolak came to the U.S. from his native Poland in 1912. He settled at Cross Village, Michigan in 1921, and a few years later he opened a curio and souvenir shop that sold Native American and folk art. An accomplished folk artist in his own right, Smolak crafted the decorative elements for his building from timber harvested from a five-mile radius of his property. When he added a tavern to his operation, he crafted the main bar from one huge piece of hemlock. Two large doors that separated the bar from a dining room added during the 1940s were handcrafted from knots that Smolak spent years collecting. He used cast-iron stove legs to create a railing over the porch of the building, a feature which lent the building its name, Legs Inn.

Legs Inn has been well-known for decades for its authentic Polish cuisine, and it became a must-stop location for tourists traveling along the stretch of M-119 known as the "Tunnel of Trees." The property was designated a Michigan Historic Site in 1990, and received a Michigan Historical Marker in 2003. The historical marker describes the Inn's history, in part, as follows:

"During the 1930s Smolak enlisted the labor of Odawa and other area residents to construct the inn from locally gathered timber and stones. A self-trained artist, Smolak used tree roots, limbs and driftwood to carve fantastical creatures into the furniture and decorative objects used in the inn. He called the carvings "nature´s oddities." Until his death in 1968 at age 81, Smolak continued his creative work at the inn, which had become a social center for the community."

In 2021, the Legs Inn is still operated by members of the Smolak family.

"Legs Inn Shows Area's Natural Beauty," Emmet County Graphic, June 30, 1949, p.17.

"Cross Village Inn Owner Dies at 81," Grand Rapids Press, November 5, 1968, p.25.

Clark, Perry. "Legs Inn Designated Historic Site," Petoskey News-Review, June 8, 1990, p.1.

Legs Inn website, www.legsinn.com

Eckert, Kathryn Bishop, "Legs Inn," SAH Archipedia, https://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/MI-01-EM19