John & Margaretha Eitzen Farm

John & Margaretha Eitzen Farm is a historic farmstead on Townline Road near the north edge of Sleeping Bear Dunes, about a quarter mile east of M-22 near St. Paul's Lutheran Church. It is a good short stop if you enjoy old farm buildings and local history: the farm was a small dairy-and-fruit operation, with its house, barn and outbuildings grouped around a central work yard. The visitor material describes walking around the farmstead; interior access and visitor facilities are unconfirmed, so plan on an outdoor visit rather than a tour inside.

The farmhouse, livestock barn, workshop and other buildings face the yard. A circular drive let trucks and field equipment pass through, making the layout itself part of the story. The barn was set up for a small dairy, and its cow stalls and stanchions remain inside; whether visitors can enter to see them is not established.

Johann Eitzen arrived in Leelanau County in 1885 and homesteaded 160 acres along Townline Road. John built the farmhouse around 1890, using fieldstone and clay for its foundation. Its back entrance faced the barn and yard, a practical route between home and farm work. The family raised dairy cattle and chickens, grew row crops, and tended some of the county's first cherry trees. A slatted corn crib also survives, built to let air dry the corn after harvest.

If the view allows, frame the barn with the farmhouse or other outbuildings from the central yard. That shows how the buildings fit together as a working farm, instead of making this look like a single old barn.