Information & history on rear of plaque:
Designed and built by Richard Rickman of Peoria,  Illinois,  the "Windermere Hotel" was originally known as the Anthony cottage.   Constructed in the village on Biddle Point in 1887,  part of the original structure (no longer existing) was a lighthouse style tower,  a particularly appropriate design for lake or seaside cottages.   Being one of Mackinac Island's earliest examples of Queen Anne architacture,  this hotel was designed to make the Victorian traveler feel at home.