Grand Marais House of Light

31/01/2020

Before we take a break from posting, we want to thank YOU! We’re so grateful to our followers. Each time you “♥️” what we share, each time you comment or message us — it motivates us even more to offer content that inspires you to take a break from your busy life to experience the gorgeous North Shore of Lake Superior.

Tag a friend who might like this little vacation hideaway — more discounts/giveaways/contests in 2020!

… now we’re off for some extended self-care and we’ll return sometime in February.

30/01/2020

*20% off in February* (use code below)

We wanted to let you in on a secret. Our little family of 🛏 bedrooms is growing.

Sometime this spring, we’ll reveal a new private, detached master bedroom + bath.

Pictured here is our sweet second bedroom, which sleeps one. So we’ll go from sleeping 3 to FIVE! Perfect for couples or larger families.

In the meantime, if House of Light is a fit for you, come stay with us for 20% off in the month of February. Use code: INSTA20

Valid on one night min stay from Feb 1 to Feb 29. Can not be applied to other discounts or holiday rates.

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29/01/2020

Looking up on a blue-bird day!

Seriously gorgeous, right? Sometimes we pinch ourselves.

During our snowshoe, we looked up ... to see the sunshine yellow ☀️ flashing the tree tops at about 4pm and snap 📷

28/01/2020

Lake Superior always presents the spectacular. Victoria Campbell Photography captures the mystical phenomenon of sea smoke: When cold air meets warm water and a light wind … ta-da …. Sea Smoke. 💨

28/01/2020

Are you ready?

The festival in February features fireplace tours, candlelight cross-country skiing and more.

24/01/2020

A sunny day last week after the snowfall and before the Lake winds when everything was truly perfect and beautiful. 🌲❄️☀️

23/01/2020

'tis the season for cozy nooks and the Grand Marais Hygge Fest (Feb 7-16). We have availability the weekend of Feb 7th & 8th so here’s all things happening in ‘Hyggeland’ those days:
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FRIDAY 2/7
-Hygge Market | Voyageur Brewing Company
Hannah Palma Ceramics and The Big Lake will set up shop
-Luminary Candle Holders | Grand Marais Art Colony
Invite the Danish concept of Hygge into your home with your own clay luminary candle holder.
-Mellow Snowshoe Hike | Lake Superior Trading Post
-Hygge Night Ski | Stone Harbor Wilderness Supply
Revel in the magic of cross-country skiing at night.
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SATURDAY 2/8
-Cozy In with Mixed Media | Joy and Company
Local artist Rae Klesser will facilitate guests in the hands-on creative experience.
-Mukluk Ball | Voyageur Brewing Company
Grab your mukluks and get to dancing, featuring musicians Rod Dockan and the Sled Hounds!
-Jazz Music with Briand Morrison | Lutsen Resort Lobby
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Visit the www.VisitCookCounty.com for more info.
📷 Victoria Campbell Photography

22/01/2020

Artist Point delivers year around! Standing on the weathered volcanic rock shoreline will simulate being on the edge of a vast ocean while the lush interior in the summer months offers a taste of the BWCA. It’s a mind-boggling juxtaposition that you can’t miss when you visit Grand Marais.

📷 Victoria Campbell Photography

21/01/2020

If there’s one thing the North Shore has taught us, it’s the importance of play. Why are we prone to stop playing as adults? Play is essential. Yes, you can play anywhere but rejuvenating play happens naturally !!

Play conjures joy, relieving stress and changing our physiology. It releases endorphins, improves brain function, stimulates creativity, and helps us to feel energized.

So “wield lightly and freely” (Oxford English Dictionary definition of joy) and play outside where you get the added benefits of fresh air, grounding, sunshine, negative ions and more. Come play with us!.

📷 Victoria Campbell Photography

20/01/2020

North House Folk School Fiber Week is near on the North Shore: Feb. 11-17. We still have the nights of Feb. 12 & 13 available at the cottage. The fiber arts classes below are on those days so get your craft on and come visit us:

🧶 Surface Design on Fabric with instructor Karen Rognsvoog (join the wait list!)
🧶 Bead Embroidery: Painting with Beads with instructor Jo Wood (artwork by bead artist Jo Wood "up At the Lake - Winter" 3 1/2 x 3 1/2" - 2016)
🧶 Lace Knitting Intro with instructor Stefania Isaacson.

Google these women. They truly are masters in these folk arts and legendary!

16/01/2020

Imagine the outdoor possibilities . . .

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16/01/2020

Save 25% this weekend - Carpe diem North Shore??? Grab your buddy or beloved and SAVE 25% on Grand Marais House of Light. Call 877-415-8974 and mention the 25% Facebook Discount.

Applies only for this weekend with arrival between today (1/16/2020) and Saturday (1/18/2020) and departure between Saturday (1/18/2020) and Wednesday (1/22/2020). 2-night minimum reservation required.

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15/01/2020

Where are your eyes drawn to in this photo from Artist Point? Those feathery soft Sawtooth mountains grab our attention.

The Sawtooths are home to many mountain peaks, rivers, waterfalls, and parks. Wildlife is abundant in the Sawtooths, including eagles, hawks, deer, moose, and many small mammals.

Lutsen Mountains Ski Resort is located in the Sawtooths, just northwest of the town of Lutsen; the area includes Moose Mountain and Eagle Mountain, the higher peaks in the range.

📷 Victoria Campbell Photography

14/01/2020

Last night’s snowfall added a gorgeous layer to the trees. The snow conditions and temps are perfect! An image from today's adventure on snowshoes.

13/01/2020

Nature’s base layers: Pine, snow, blue sky and naked birch … but seriously the North Shore is knee-deep in snow and winter fun right now. ❄️

What’s your favorite North Shore activity?

We escape to the Twin Cities sometimes but we can’t wait to return to the big lake and boreal forest to jump right back in!

09/01/2020

Big weekend coming up on the North Shore!

09/01/2020

It’s been a while since we showed off our kitchen. We joke and call the house, “House of light switches” because when natural light isn’t streaming in, there are many lighting choices in the evening (and yes, with dimmers!). Also check out that backsplash! It’s Lake Superior herself 🌊

📷 Victoria Campbell Photography

08/01/2020

We find wintertime on North Shore to be 100 percent romantic. ✨ It’s snuggly here and time is precious. Phones are in airplane mode and there’s a presence found — an ‘in-the-momentness’ that happens. Maybe it’s the cottages and cabins often warmed by a fires? Thursday date nights at North Shore Winery. Or dinner at Poplar Haus on the Gunflint Trail. For us, it’s that time we cc skied Old Logging Camp Trails and came upon the gigantic eagle’s nest together. 🧡 (ski maps at Stone Harbor Wilderness Supply)

Don’t miss out in your lifetime on a little lovin’ and livin’ on the North Shore. 🧡

📷 Victoria Campbell Photography

07/01/2020

Two years ago today, famous North Shore photographer Bryan Hansel Photography posted this stunner. Views from Artist Point are as epic now as they’ve always been and we don’t know which season is more spectacular?!

Bryan’s Grand Marais photography workshops fill up fast .... 2020 workshops are full. Email him to get on the waitlist or get in line for 2021! 📷

Thank you Bryan for capturing North Shore’s beauty. We know your work is educating people on the importance of preserving these great lands we have in Cook County and beyond from Voyageurs National Park, Boundary Waters Canoe Area, Superior National Forest, and, of course, Lake Superior. 🙏🏽

06/01/2020

Every walk on the North Shore is a walk in the park! 🥾

03/01/2020

This is our comfy dining nook. There were a few dinners around this cozy table during the holidays and certainly morning coffee. It’s the perfect hygge after a day in the snow 😉

📷 Victoria Campbell Photography

01/01/2020

Happy New Year!!!! We’re celebrating in tons of snow on the North Shore. ❄️❄️❄️ Want to join us? I mean, it’s wintertime — so you might as well play in a pristine Boreal Forest.

Here’s a little list of January happenings:

- Norpine Fat Bike Classic 26 & 16 mile distances, Cascade Lodge - 1/11
-Gunflint Mail Run Sled Dog Race, Trail Center, Gunflint Trail, Gunflint Trail Association - 1/10-1/12
-Snowmobile Drag Races, Skyport Lodge, Devil Track Lake, 1/25
- John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon, Duluth to Grand Portage, 1/26-1/28

And there’s always art classes at Grand Marais Art Colony Grand Marais Art Colony and North House Folk School, skiing fun at Lutsen Mountains, tons of trails for cross country skiing and snowshoeing (tip: get your maps at Stone Harbor Wilderness Supply) and live music all along the shore. Check out Visit Cook County MN to find your favorite way to play on Minnesota’s epic North Shore of Lake Superior.

📷 Victoria Campbell Photography

30/12/2019

We fully expect to be skiing into the New Year! Lots of snow up here and the ☀️ is out on the 31st! Happy almost NYE!!!! Photo taken at Devil Track Lake!

📷 Victoria Campbell Photography

26/12/2019

Happy holidays from the shores of Lake Superior and Grand Marais House of Light! Hope everyone who celebrates had a wonderful Christmas surrounded by loved ones. 🕊🌿

📷 Victoria Campbell Photography

23/12/2019

Today it’s warm on the North Shore and we can’t wait to get outside… !! With this Boreal forest winter playground in our backyard, simply being outside is self-care. And if we don’t get in our daytime ski, we jump on the lighted Pinchusion trails at night!

Love the hat? So do we! Local knitter Jamie Rex ( on Instagram) creates the ideal Northwoods hat in an assortment of colors and yarns.

Find yours at Joy and Company and The Crooked Spoon Cafe (reopening Dec. 31st).

Jamie knits to raise money for her family’s future DIY sauna build, how cool is that? During the summer months when she’s not knitting, you can find her at Upstate MN Make sure to stop in and say hi!

21/12/2019

Happy Winter Solstice!! Today the sun is reborn and the return of the longer days is celebrated — along with gift-giving, feasting and merry-making with friends and family! 🌿🟠🌿

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19/12/2019

Together let's keep the Boundary Waters clean so all people and animals can enjoy this sacred land. Profit is not worth the risk of mining near precious and protected lands.

Sulfide-ore copper mining next to America's most visited Wilderness would cause irreversible damage that cannot be mitigated or fixed. This is the wrong place to put a mine. The Boundary Waters is too special to risk.

19/12/2019

Our backyard! (but literally, it’s the North House Folk School backyard)

18/12/2019

The real Nordic trek. To glide over a lake or through the woods, go no further than Stone Harbor Wilderness Supply for your Cook County Recreational Winter Trail System Map, created by Stone Harbor, and for cc ski or snowshoe rental.

Includes maps for Sugarbush Norpine, Pincushion, Upper Gunflint, Banadad, and Central Gunflint Trail systems along with other insets for areas such as George Washington Pines. 🌲 📷 Victoria Campbell Photography

16/12/2019

2-night stay giveaway!! Ok, so our confession is we can’t not stop at Fika Coffee in Lutsen on our way to or from Duluth for an oat milk latte and to say hello to our favorite Baristas, especially this time of year.
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So as a way to give back, we’re partnering with Fika Coffee to give away a 2-night stay. The winner will also experience cross country skiing in Superior National Forest courtesy of Sawtooth Outfitters (including a Fika, of course), followed by dinner at Crooked Spoon Cafe in Grand Marais.

As if you needed more motivation to visit winter wonderland? ❄️

Fika will randomly select one person (from a hat?!) who makes an online purchase at FikaCoffee.com between December 1, 2019 and January 5, 2020. The winner from the drawing, will be mailed a Golden Ticket (just like the W***y Wonka’s Chocolate Factory!) as a surprise. The Ticket will be mailed by January 10, 2020.

This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Instagram or Facebook.
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15/12/2019

Thank you to all the Pincushion Trail sponsors! Zoom in to see the list.

Grateful for this beautiful trail system. It was the perfect ski day!!

A shout out to those who have Instagram channels:

13/12/2019

Good winter vibes are guaranteed at one of Minnesota’s North Shore outdoor winter events, Norpine Fat Bike Classic, Lutsen MN, January 11, 2020 . 200 bikers will roll along a 15- or 26-mile course following the Sawtooth Mountains ridgeline. If you’re cheering the racers or crunching the course, the fun begins at the start and finish line at Cascade Restaurant & Pub, located exactly between Grand Marais and Lutsen. 1:30-5:00 pm Post Race Party and Live Music at Cascade Restaurant & Pub.

We’re booked for the weekend so go to Cascade Vacation Rentals to find your perfect place.

📷 the amazing Risa Hustad. Follow her on Instagram here

12/12/2019

Ashley Bredemus is living her best life - at the end of the Gunflint trail. We're fans of hers and her always inspiring blog (and dog Arlo!). Duluth Pack did a fantastic job at telling her story. Have a read and share with your wilderness warrior friends!

Meet Ashley Bredemus - one of the toughest Minnesotan's we know! Living her life in the deep wilderness at the end of the Gunflint Trail, read all about her adventures and wild life without running water, cell reception, or indoor plumbing.

11/12/2019

What inspired decorating a pine tree in red during the holidays? Maybe a view like this one? After all, Mountain Ash is a European native. There's a record from 1570 of a small tree in Breman, Germany decorated with apples, nuts, dates, pretzels and paper flowers. We think the tradition came from a variety of inspirations!

Happy Holidays! 🌲🔴🌲🔴🌲