McCourtie Park | Find concrete-wood works of art and more in Somerset Center

Aiden Lair is the long-ago name of an estate on US-12 in Hillsdale County.

El Trabajo Rustico is the Mexican folk tradition of sculpting concrete to look like wood.

Rathskeller is a German word referring to a basement-level bar or tavern.

W.H.L. McCourtie was a Michigan cement tycoon who, in the 1930s, hired George Cardosa and Ralph Corona, two Mexican “el trabaja rustico” artisans, who spent the next 10 years sculpting 17 bridges over a creek at Aiden Lair, as well as other works scattered around the 42-acre property, including two columns that look like enormous tree trunks and served as chimneys for an underground rathskeller, in which McCourtie hosted famous Great Gatsby-esque parties attended by the likes of Al Capone during his Chicago-to-Detroit travels.  

McCourtie Park is what remains of Aiden Lair, including all 17 bridges, the two enormous trees, and a park unlike anything else you’re likely to stumble across, in Michigan or anywhere else.