Visitors to the college can stay in a renovated historic church in Jonesville just minutes away from Hillsdale.
Grace Church Suite is a bed and breakfast located at 36 E. Chicago St. in Jonesville. Alex and Amanda Stemme have owned it since the fall of 2020 when they purchased it at an auction. Guests can view availability and book the room via their website at gracechurchsuite.com.
“We actually looked at the church a number of years ago and it just wasn’t the right timing,” Stemme said. “But it came up for auction and we were able to purchase it at a reasonable price, which allowed us to have a budget to make some improvements on it.”
The building includes a chapel, which is available for use as a wedding venue, as well as the suite that is used for lodging, Alex Stemme said. The suite sleeps up to eight adults and includes a living space, full kitchen, laundry facilities, and a bathroom.
“It’s going to walk you back in time to the 1950s or ’60s with the retro style,” Stemme said.
Stemme said they rented out the chapel for a wedding in 2021 to Delinda Tobalske.
“Her grandfather was the pastor there. He was kind of the last, long-term serving pastor they had in the 1960s, maybe early ’70s,” Stemme said. “She really wanted to have her wedding there and so that really kind of encouraged us to work on the chapel enough to get it going for her wedding so she was able to have it in there.”
After they completed the renovations, they began taking guests in August 2021. Visitors to the college have stayed at the suite for events like the CCA and parent’s weekend.
Renovations in the chapel are ongoing, and in the future they hope to do more with the indoor and outdoor event spaces.
“Hopefully we’ll be available for people to have weddings even as soon as this summer, certainly next fall,” Stemme said. “We have quite a large lawn space next to the church where we could potentially host outside receptions.”
