As a working farm in the early 1900s, the agricultural property needed a blacksmith shop for practical jobs, such as shoeing horses or forging wagon wheels. As automobiles and tractors outpaced antiquated tools and machinery, the blacksmith shop was converted to a garage and attached to a newly constructed residence. The Blacksmith Lodge has been a boarding house for local ministry workers, the personal home of family members, and now private lodging for rent to travelers or wedding clients of The Morris Estate in Niles, Michigan just 25 minutes from Notre Dame, St. Joseph, or the Lake Michigan beachfront.