Björklunden

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Björklunden (in full: Björklunden Vid Sjön, Norwegian for "birch forest by the water") is the northern campus of Lawrence University. The 425-acre estate is on Lake Michigan in Door County, Wisconsin, just south of Baileys Harbor. The landscape covers meadows, woods, and over a mile of Lake Michigan shoreline.

Lawrence faculty and students attend seminars and retreats during the academic term. During the summer, Lawrence holds week-long adult continuing education courses. All of these courses and retreats take advantage of Björklunden's natural situation and landscape. Recitals and concerts also occur and are free and open to the public. Almost 1,400 students and faculty members from 65 groups attended 30 separate programs during the 2004-05 academic year.

Donald and Winifred Boynton of Highland Park, Illinois bequeathed the estate to Lawrence University in 1963. At the time, the buildings on the estate included a main lodge and a stave church the Boyntons handcrafted from 1939 to 1947, including 41 frescoes and carved-wood furnishings. The rustic wooden chapel is a popular site for weddings during the summer.

Fire destroyed the main lodge in 1993. The new lodge opened in 1996, much larger and more modern, but with elements retaining the Norwegian heritage of the estate.