密歇根新闻广播 沙勒沃伊的蘑菇房和建造它的人们

Some people create with paint and brushes, others with musical notes or a camera.

Earl Young found his muse¹ in nature and channeled his artistic² vision using massive glacial boulders⁴, limestone⁵, and fieldstone.

The result is a collection of fascinating structures that Young built through the mid-20th century in Charlevoix. Many know them as "the mushroom houses."

Earl Young and his stone houses are the subject of the new documentary film The Wizard of Boulder³ Park, produced by three-time Emmy Award-winning brother-sister team of Anne-Marlowe Belanger and Brian Belanger.

Brian Belanger directed the film, wrote the script, did the camera work and composed the score. He tells us that he first discovered the houses by chance as he and his sister were traveling to Charlevoix to give a lecture on their first film.

"After passing house after Victorian house on the way, suddenly (I saw) this cottage made of stone," he says. "I was just awestruck."

David Miles, curator of the museum of the Charlevoix Historical Society, gives tours of the area and describes the houses as "gnome⁶ houses, mushroom houses, hobbit houses, Hansel and Gretel."

"You can put any moniker you want on them and still you cannot really encompass⁷ them because they are all so unique. Each one is different than every other one," Miles says.

Young decided⁸ early on that traditional architecture education wasn't for him, according to Miles.

"He had his own ideas, but they didn't mesh⁹ well with what was being taught at the time. So he dropped out after one year," he says.

Young independently studied architecture and design texts and learned how to cut stone as an apprentice¹⁰ to a stonemason, Miles says, and over the course of 52 years proceeded to build 31 structures.

Miles tells us that Young's attention to detail and focus on preserving the natural feel of the land on which he built really made him stand out in the architecture crowd.

"Earl's philosophy was, you do not alter the land unless you absolutely have to," Miles says. "The laying of the shingles¹¹, the eaves, the trim, the stonework. Everything echoes the ground on which it sits into an integrated work of art."

Belanger says that he had originally planned to make the film almost entirely¹² about the houses, but the more he learned about Earl Young the more the story shifted focus to the man himself.

The Charlevoix Historical Society and the community gave Belanger access to "hundreds and hundreds of photos … from different time periods."

But he tells us the pièce de résistance was the 13 hours of home video taken by Young that documented his family life and house constructions.

"That was quite a wonderful cache of information and history to present to the public for the first time," Belanger says.

Most of the houses have been fairly well taken care of, but Miles tells us that they are currently not protected. He hopes that by the end of the year a historical district will have been established in the area in order to protect the stone houses from potentially damaging alterations¹³.

There will be a screening of The Wizard of Boulder Park at the Charlevoix Cinema Three on September 21, the 100th anniversary of the wedding of Earl and Irene Young.

1 muse   

n.缪斯（希腊神话中的女神），创作灵感

参考例句：

• His muse had deserted him,and he could no longer write.他已无灵感，不能再写作了。
• Many of the papers muse on the fate of the President.很多报纸都在揣测总统的命运。

2 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

3 boulder   

n.巨砾；卵石，圆石

参考例句：

• We all heaved together and removed the boulder.大家一齐用劲，把大石头搬开了。
• He stepped clear of the boulder.他从大石头后面走了出来。

4 boulders   

n.卵石( boulder的名词复数 )；巨砾；（受水或天气侵蚀而成的）巨石；漂砾

参考例句：

• Seals basked on boulders in a flat calm. 海面风平浪静，海豹在巨石上晒太阳。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The river takes a headlong plunge into a maelstrom of rocks and boulders. 河水急流而下，入一个漂砾的漩涡中。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 limestone   

n.石灰石

参考例句：

• Limestone is often used in building construction.石灰岩常用于建筑。
• Cement is made from limestone.水泥是由石灰石制成的。

6 gnome   

n.土地神；侏儒，地精

参考例句：

• The Swedes do not have Santa Claus.What they have is Christmas Gnome.瑞典人的圣诞节里没有圣诞老人，但他们却有一个圣诞守护神。
• Susan bought a garden gnome to decorate her garden.苏珊买了一个土地神像来装饰她的花园。

7 encompass   

vt.围绕，包围；包含，包括；完成

参考例句：

• The course will encompass physics,chemistry and biology.课程将包括物理、化学和生物学。
• The project will encompass rural and underdeveloped areas in China.这项工程将覆盖中国的农村和不发达地区。

8 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

9 mesh   

n.网孔，网丝，陷阱；vt.以网捕捉，啮合，匹配；vi.适合； [计算机]网络

参考例句：

• Their characters just don't mesh.他们的性格就是合不来。
• This is the net having half inch mesh.这是有半英寸网眼的网。

10 apprentice   

n.学徒，徒弟

参考例句：

• My son is an apprentice in a furniture maker's workshop.我的儿子在一家家具厂做学徒。
• The apprentice is not yet out of his time.这徒工还没有出徒。

11 shingles   

n.带状疱疹；（布满海边的）小圆石( shingle的名词复数 )；屋顶板；木瓦（板）；墙面板

参考例句：

• Shingles are often dipped in creosote. 屋顶板常浸涂木焦油。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The roofs had shingles missing. 一些屋顶板不见了。 来自辞典例句

12 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

13 alterations   

n.改动( alteration的名词复数 )；更改；变化；改变

参考例句：

• Any alterations should be written in neatly to the left side. 改动部分应书写清晰，插在正文的左侧。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code. 基因突变是指DNA 密码的改变。 来自《简明英汉词典》