Castle Farms hosts weddings for up to 300 guests, corporate retreats, conferences, galas, fundraisers and holiday parties in the stone halls and courtyards of a 1918 estate built in the style of a Normandy castle. The property lies on M-66 just south of Charlevoix, in northern Michigan.
Seminars and company events
The corporate offer covers company retreats, meetings and workshops, conferences and seminars, product launches, corporate dinners and networking events, as well as fundraisers, galas and holiday parties. Indoor and outdoor spaces can be set for presentations, dining, breakout sessions or open networking, and used separately or together. Every event includes a designated space, essential furnishings for the layout, help with setup and an on-site coordinator. Guided castle tours run year-round and can complement a program.
Weddings and receptions
Weddings began here in 2002 and remain the core of the calendar. From May to October, each package pairs an indoor room with a courtyard: King's Great Hall with the Queen's Courtyard for larger weddings, the East Garden Room with the Queen's Courtyard, the West Garden Room or the Knight's Castle with the Knight's Courtyard, and the Queen's Tavern with the Queen's Courtyard for micro weddings. From November to April, ceremonies move indoors, with the King's Indoor Chapel and the King's Gallery. Bartending, a venue coordinator, a private outdoor space and a backup ceremony location in case of bad weather are included.
Rooms and capacities
The largest wedding capacity stated is 300 guests. King's Great Hall is the main room for formal dinners and large gatherings. The East Garden Room is a bright room for mid-sized events, the West Garden Room suits smaller to mid-sized groups, and the Knight's Castle and the Queen's Tavern are more private. The open-air Rose Pavilion, lit by chandeliers, suits birthdays and graduations. Capacities for each room are not published and are confirmed with the team.
Catering
Catering, entertainment and other services come from outside vendors, and Castle Farms recommends vendors who know the venue through its list of preferred service providers. Professional bartending is part of every wedding.
History and setting
Albert Loeb, then acting president of Sears, Roebuck and Co., built the estate in 1918 as Loeb Farms, a model dairy farm meant to showcase farming methods and products from the Sears catalog. Its design drew on the stone barns and castles of Normandy. At its peak it employed more than 90 people and kept over 200 Holstein cattle. The property became Castle VanHaver in 1962, opened to the public in 1966 and, from 1969, housed the Castle Farms Summer Music Theater, which hosted national performers into the early 1990s. Linda Mueller bought it in 2001 and restored it from the original blueprints, replacing roofs, rebuilding wings and developing the gardens, which now frame a Reflection Pond.
Getting there
The address is 5052 M-66 N., Charlevoix, Michigan, just south of the town. Tours run Thursday to Saturday from November to April and Tuesday to Sunday from May to October, and hours can change for private events. A castle map on the website shows where to park.
