Art Saves the Farm

Eileen Kelly, ~2010, Untitled. Collection of Stephen Kelly

Eileen was born in Queens Hospital in New York City in 1929. She married Jim Kelly in 1948. Jim and his brother Jack had visited Crystal Lake in Beulah, Michigan as kids, and in 1963, Jim, Eileen and their four sons built a summer cottage on the north shore.

In 1969 Jim and Eileen, in partnership with Marge and Jack French, purchased ~400 acres of forest and farmland above Crystal Lake from William (Dayton) and Leora Willard. During the 70s and 80s, the Kellys and the Frenchs developed ~100 acres into several neighborhoods designed to preserve the land's natural beauty, Crystal Highlands.

Originally, the entire ~400 acres were included in Crystal Highland's development plan, but Eileen changed that. The farm's incredible vistas of Lake Michigan and the Sleeping Bear Dunes had inspired her to paint several panoramic landscapes in oil.  In the late 80s she convinced her partners to stop further development.

Eventually Jim and Eileen bought out the French's interest in the remaining ~300 acres, renovated another cottage on the north shore and in 1993 moved to Crystal Lake. Jim named the remaining land White O Morn Farm and ran a herd of Belted Galloway cattle there until 2015. Their son Dan took over operations in 2020, under the name Love Farm.