HOLLAND, Mich. — The DePree family has officially begun construction on the Wine Trail Inn, restoring and transforming the former Stevens Hotel in Fennville into a new lodging and event destination.
The project, led by Hopwood DePree, his mother, and two sisters, aims to tap into the area's growing tourism industry while maintaining the historic character of the building.
“We used to come down here quite often, you know, once every few months, especially in the summer, and get the hamburger here,” said DePree at the hotel on Monday. "It was always so welcoming the community. Just really wanted everybody to come in and experience the hotel and the restaurant."
The Stevens Hotel, originally built in 1910 after the Fennville House burned down, operated for over a century and was well known in the community.
DePree said the project would provide more accommodation options in Fennville, which currently has only one place to stay.
The historic building, now planned as an 11-room hotel, will include individual bathrooms in each room, a new restaurant, the reopening of the century-old bar, and the transformation of the lower-level bowling alley area into a unique event space and speakeasy.
“We’re really excited about providing more rooms in the city here, and then also reopening the bar that was here for over 100 years, and a restaurant,” DePree said. “In the lower level is an old bowling alley, so we wanted to save the bowling alley, but the wood beneath it couldn’t be saved. So we’re turning that into a big event space and speakeasy, and so it should be a really unique, cool space that really brings back what it was like in the 1910s and 1920s.”
The renovation will preserve and repurpose as much of the original architecture and materials as possible.
“Anything in here that’s historic, we’re trying to save and repurpose and bring back,” said DePree.
The team has removed 1960s modifications, revealed original brick walls and beams, and is reusing bowling alley wood as restaurant tables.
“There was even an area where people said was an old speakeasy or some sort of bathtub gin, was going on there? We don't know if that's just rumor or local lore, but we're bringing that area back as a speakeasy behind a moving bookcase,” DePree said.
The inn, scheduled to open in summer 2026, will create about a dozen jobs for local residents.
“We’re already talking with people who want to work there,” DePree added.
The Wine Trail Inn’s name reflects not only the region’s abundant wineries, but also the convergence of local trails.
“There’s so many tourists coming in and experiencing Fennville and Douglas and Saugatuck, so we really wanted to tap into that,” he said.
DePree emphasized the family’s goal to “reinvent it, but keeping the character and the stories and the history that has been there for so many decades.”
The DePrees received a grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation to support the project and have found strong backing from the city, local vineyards, and the community.
“We just said, how do we rehab this and bring it back into use in the original flair that it was, of course, with modern amenities and new kitchens and bathrooms and elevators and all those things that wouldn’t have existed necessarily back then,” said DePree.
He noted the family remains in touch with descendants of the previous owners and plans to display historic photographs and artwork from the hotel’s past.
The Wine Trail Inn is expected to open for guests in summer 2026.
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