Fairy Doors of Ann Arbor facts for kids

The Fairy Doors of Ann Arbor are tiny, magical-looking doors found in the city of Ann Arbor, Michigan. They are a type of installation art, which means they are art displays placed in public spaces. The very first fairy door appeared inside the home of Jonathan and Kathleen Wright in 1993. Later, more tiny doors popped up in their house, including in the fireplace and kitchen.

On April 7, 2005, the first fairy door was seen in public on the outside of Sweetwaters Coffee and Tea. Since then, many more have appeared around Ann Arbor. There's even a funny "goblin door" that's a bit of a joke! Seven of the original public doors are still there today.

History of the Fairy Doors

The first public fairy door was placed outside Sweetwaters Coffee and Tea on April 7, 2005. It was put there by Jonathan B. Wright, who teaches graphic design. Soon after, on April 17, 2005, another door appeared outside the Ann Arbor gift store Peaceable Kingdom.

The third door was found on May 11, 2005, outside the Selo-Shevel Gallery art gallery. On June 9, 2005, Jefferson Market got a fairy door, but that store closed a few years later. The Ann Arbor Framing Co. found the next door on August 17, 2005, but it also disappeared when the company closed.

The concert hall The Ark was next to get a door on August 25, 2005. Then, the furniture and gift store Red Shoes got one on November 17, 2005.

On April 11, 2006, a fairy door showed up at the store Voilà. When Voilà closed, that fairy door also vanished. The ninth door was placed in the back of Nicola's Books on September 8, 2006. Another was built into a bookcase at the Ann Arbor District Library on November 4, 2006.

In 2010, a fairy door appeared in Dexter, Michigan, at a preschool and senior care center called Generations Together. It's said to have a secret entrance in Gordon Field, which is in front of Gordon Hall, a historic building.

At one time, some places with fairy doors had guest books. Visitors could sign them, ask questions, or draw pictures. This gave Jonathan Wright the idea to write a children's book called Who's Behind the Fairy Doors?

Where to Find Fairy Doors

Out of the first ten public Ann Arbor fairy doors, seven are still around the downtown area.

• The door at Sweetwaters is inside, near the floor opposite the counter. It's a simple white door that looks like the real cafe.
• The door at Peaceable Kingdom is outside, to the right of the entrance. You can even see a tiny "fairy gift store" inside!
• The Selo-Shevel Gallery door is on the Liberty Street side of the building, right at sidewalk level. It's a simple red door with tiny gray bricks around it.
• The door at The Ark is on the left side of what used to be the ticket booth. It's a simple brown door with a tiny stained-glass window, just like the building itself.
• The door at Red Shoes is both inside and outside, to the right of the entrance. The small red door outside looks almost exactly like the real entrance. Inside the store, there's a small green door that looks like the other doors in the building. The red door outside has a funny message: 'Ours 123-4:5683?', which is a playful version of the store's real hours sign.
• The Ann Arbor District Library door is on the end of the Fairytale and Folklore bookshelf in the Youth Department. It's a small blue double door with a teal frame. Inside, there's a whole tiny room set among "books" like big reference books and Hans Christian Andersen's Eighty Fairy Tales. You can see a small table, decorated walls, and other tiny furniture.
• The door at Nicola's Books in the Westgate Shopping Center is above the fireplace in the back of the store. It's dark brown, and its frame is made from the spines of two books: Andersen's Fairy Tales and Cinderella and Other Italian Fairy Tales.

Other new fairy doors are also appearing around Ann Arbor:

• Two more doors appeared next to the original Sweetwaters door. One is a tiny wooden building with a small coffee table inside. The other is a little laboratory built by fairies to help people playing a local escape room game.
• The door at the Crazy Wisdom bookstore and tea shop on S. Main Street is by the front entrance. You can open two tiny doors to peek inside and see a small fairy home.
• The door at the Google offices in Ann Arbor is in the ceiling of the "Ann Arbor" room. This door has a glass panel with an aluminum frame and the fairies' own "Giggle" logo, which looks like the Google logo.
• Two fairy doors are found in the FordLabs office. One is in the entrance lounge and is always slightly open, inviting visitors to look into the lives of the fairies. Another door deeper in the office is said to be a portal to the Ford office in Dearborn.
• The fairy doors at Generations Together and in Gordon Field are made of rustic wood. Their tiny porches have small bouquets of wheat and are supported by tree branches.
• The door at Washtenaw Dairy, on the corner of South Ashley and West Madison, is outside to the right of the main entrance.
• In November 2015, a fairy door was seen for the first time on the University of Michigan campus. It's on the main floor of the Bob and Betty Beyster Building, which houses the Computer Science and Engineering division. The door is set on a tower computer case. If you press the computer's power button, lights turn on inside the case, showing a dream-like world with winged fairies.
• A tiny ATM exists at the Bank of Ann Arbor location on Washington.
• There's a fairy door in the ATM area of the Hooper Hathaway building on Main Street.
• Arborland Starbucks has a tiny fairyland cafe inside the store.
• The Document Delivery Office at the Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library at the University of Michigan has a fairy door. It even has a doorbell that calls staff for help!
• There is a fairy door inside Silvio's Organic Ristorante e Pizzeria.

Other Fairy Doors in Nearby Towns

Fairy doors have also shown up in towns near Ann Arbor. A woman in Ypsilanti found a fairy door at the base of a tree in her front yard. Saline, to the southwest, held a "Fairy Door Treasure Hunt" event in the spring of 2010. Nearby Dexter also had a fairy door art show and contest around the same time and plans to have it every year.

The goblin door is a "spooky" version of the fairy doors and is a little taller. It's in Ann Arbor between The Ark and Seyfried Jewelers on South Main Street. In 2012, Vogel's locksmith in downtown Ann Arbor arranged many keys to spell out "Fairy Door," hinting that a new fairy door might appear soon. As of May 2014, the Normal Park neighborhood in Ypsilanti had 14 fairy doors in people's yards.

Images for kids

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  Red Shoes fairy door

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  Peaceable Kingdom fairy door.

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  Peaceable Kingdom fairy door closeup.

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  Selo Shevel Gallery fairy door.

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  Selo Shevel Gallery fairy door closeup.

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  Red Shoes fairy door closeup.

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  Washtenaw Dairy fairy door closeup.

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  Bank of Ann Arbor fairy door and ATM.