caption death_date death_place birth_place nationality birth_date alt spouse image article_title name occupation
`` by young in charlevoix . half house '' , a stone house built 24 may 1975 east jordan , michigan mancelona , michigan united states 31 march 1889 irregular stone house in charlevoix , michigan irene harsha charlevoix - mushroom house -lrb- 1332872112 -rrb- . jpg earl young -lrb- architect -rrb-
 earl a. young architect
earl young -lrb- architect -rrb-

earl a. young -lrb- march 31 , 1889 -- may 24 , 1975 -rrb- was an american architect , realtor and insurance agent .
over a span of 52 years , he designed and built 31 structures in charlevoix , michigan but was never a registered architect .
he worked mostly in stone , using limestone , fieldstone , and boulders he found throughout northern michigan .
the homes are commonly referred to as gnome homes , mushroom houses , or hobbit houses .
his door , window , roof and fireplace designs were very distinct because of his use of curved lines .
young 's goal was to show that a small stone house could be as impressive as a castle .
young also helped make charlevoix the busy , summer resort town that it is today .
