The Village at Grand Traverse Commons — Attraction in Traverse City

I live here and I love it! It's gorgeous, scenic, full of history, friendly, quiet, little traffic except during school pick up and drop off times. There is little to no crime here, it's wheelchair accessible, close to groceries and shopping centers but yet off the main traffic areas to these places. You'll need detailed information to find our building as it blends into all the other buildings that are largely unused, at least yet. It's by a couple private schools and meshes into a wooded background. There are lush lawns and plenty of trees for the birds and little animals but is not over run by them either. The history dates back to the 1880's when it was first built for psychiatric care. Many up and coming nurses and doctors were trained here and lived here. The many buildings were utilized for psychiatric care until the 1980's when they were closed and treatment became mainstream. While it was open it was also utilized for farming to feed and employ the many patients who were treated here. None of the buildings have been demolished, they stand to this day. They're beautiful and attract many photographers and sight seers. The spires that top the buildings can be seen from miles around. Families come here for walks, runners to train, travelers to visit and locals to do the same. Many young people and families like to hike up to the "Hippy Tree." If you're interested in living here there is a lengthy waiting list, a year and longer. There are background checks for credit and criminal history as well as employment history and previous housing and prior landlords. There have been books written about the history including the types of psychiatric care, nurses in training and coffee table photography books. All you have to...

The asylum tour sounded very interesting so my husband and I booked a 2 hour tour dispite our kids teasing that it sounded “very romantic”🙃. While waiting for the tour to begin I was impressed with the very thick walls and the historical timeline on the wall that said that more than 8 million yellow bricks were used in building the asylum . Our guide was Clover, and she was very informative and answered all our questions. She not only knew the history and material very well, but her passion for the place was very evident . We learned a lot of history of the asylum, facts about the buildings and grounds, its founding members and other people who were key in making life better for the mentally ill at that time. She pointed out the ventilation system, cutting edge at the time, that gave them the best cure rates for the TB patients among many other benefits. She took us through the main building, I loved the chapel, through one of the cottages where residents lived, up into the attic and down through the steam tunnels with the concave floors. She warned us if we were claustrophobic we might have issues down in the steam tunnel, but I never felt confined down there. It has one hallway with a low ceiling, but I was able to walk through with no problem. Clover had all kinds of stories of the patients lives at that time. Clover was very eager to share her knowledge and even after the tour was done she tried to help my husband find the book with a perfect quote that she had used. When she wasn’t able to put her hands on it right then she took his contact info to get back with him with the information. Her enthusiasm and attention to the individuals in our tour group was greatly...

It is difficult to write a review on old buildings and the grounds that they stand on. But, I will do my best.

This used to be the Traverse City State Mental Hospital back in the day. Of course this facility is no longer in use. So, instead of letting the buildings and ground turn to hell, they decided to rehab them into retail, dinning, and residential spaces. According to the website they do offer hiking trails as well as a tour of the facility (for a hefty fee of $25 per person). What the site does not tell you is how to access all these different services.

When we arrived we found the main building with signs everywhere for the different shops and restaurants in each of the buildings that have been rehabbed. But that's it. We wondered around the main building but found nothing to provide information about the trails the website boasts nor where you would go if you wanted to do the tour. While we walked around we tried to pull up any information on our phones, but you know how well that probably worked out...not very.

We then decided to drive around and see if we could find more of what we were looking for. But that was unsuccessful.

With that being said...the grounds of which we did see are well kept, green, and a nice place to hang out. The main building has been redone and it was really cool to see and try to picture it being a mental institution back in the day.

I think what would have made this visit more enjoyable is just having access to additional information about the grounds and where the different things mentioned on their website were actually located. And maybe they do, and we just didn't look in the right place...but informational signs would...