Overlooking Lake Huron and set amongst lush gardens, the Island House Hotel was built on one of the most valuable historic sites in the State of Michigan. It resides within the boundaries of the Mackinac Island State Park, where automobile traffic is prohibited. The destination hotel undertook a winter maintenance project that granted a timeless ambiance for decades to come. Green Horizons, a roofing company known for historic and high-end roofing around the Great Lakes, took on this iconic and challenging project, armed with our Storm Grey, Legacy™ architectural roofing shingles.

Their tireless and dedicated work combined with the right roofing products for the demanding job resulted in a Bronze Award by the Asphalt Roofing Manufacturers Association (ARMA) in the 2022 Excellence in Asphalt Roofing Awards Program. This program recognizes low and steep-slope asphalt roofing projects across North America based on four categories: Reasons for Selecting Asphalt, Performance, Beauty, and Distinction. For over 10 years, the awards program has celebrated excellence in the asphalt roofing industry. ARMA received over 80 submissions this year, which were judged by a panel of industry experts and members of the trade media.

Historic jobs require careful roofing procedures and attention to detail. Restoration efforts also entail an understanding of the building components involved with historic structures. The 19th century roof of the Island House Hotel was in desperate need of refurbishment considering its age and the historic nature of construction. In addition, the severe weather conditions of the island impacted the roofing system over the years.

“The roof had innumerable leaks from being installed on historic wood shake gapped slatboard,” said Rose Newton, Owner, Green Horizons. “The rot on the building was extensive, and many areas had to be rebuilt, replaced, and we ended up having to resheet 350 squares of decking! We had to call in backup and we subcontracted an additional crew of 18 workers,” she added. At one point, the total crew on site grew to 28.

“There were operational demands of the crews working with different materials at different times. We had to be ready for material to be delivered by freighter boat, then to a horse, to get to the jobsite,” said Newton of working on this island without trucks. “I had to know what was being used and how much was on site at any time. We had to prepare two days minimum lead time for when we would need the materials again.”

Despite all these challenges, the project took Green Horizons only five weeks to complete from start to finish. This was critical because Newton and her team were under heavy time constraints to finish the work after the summer tourist season and before the ferry system shuts down due to ice buildup in the straits of the Great Lakes.

This project used the Malarkey Legacy™ shingle line due to the all-weather resilience of the shingles. NEX® Polymer Modified Asphalt shingles were the natural answer for the roof as the flexibility of the product gave way to the substantial settling of the 165-year-old wood frame construction. No other roofing product would have been able to uniformly address the different rooflines, angles, and pitches of this structure. The roofline is quite expansive, consisting of 350 squares (roughly 35,000 sq. ft.), 34 dormers, and two conical sections with one towering at a height of six stories and with the average roofline at a height of four stories.

The Malarkey Legacy™ shingles on the roof upcycled 66 tires, 44,000 plastic bags, and ‘planted’ the equivalent of 22 trees.

In addition to the Island House Hotel, Green Horizons has a few more historic roofs in the books for this year and are currently roofing a historic renovation at Stiggs Brewery in Boyne City, Michigan.