"It's heartbreaking that we still have to be in court even for four years for six inches." Krissy Kutlenios said that in an Oakland County courtroom on July 20, at a hearing she attended with her husband and co-owner, George. She told the judge they had spent more than half their lives tending to the Holly Hotel. The six inches are a strip of wall. The neighboring property owner says the hotel's footprint crosses onto his lot by that much.
At 110 Battle Alley that strip of wall has outlasted four Christmases, and it will outlast a fifth. The Dickens Festival will fill downtown Holly anyway on three weekends between Thanksgiving and mid-December. The festival was never the hotel's event. It started as a way to bring shoppers to Holly's stores, and it still works that way.
How a Fire Turned Into a Court Case
The hotel has been closed since a fire in June 2022. Since then the story has moved slowly, mostly through Oakland County Circuit Court. Here is the order of events, as The Oakland Press has reported them:
- August 2023. The Kutlenioses sued the owner of the former antiques arcade property next door. Talks to let repair crews onto his land after the fire had failed.
- September 2024. The owners announced they would sell the hotel after 46 years of running it. The Oakland Press reported an initial asking price of $899,000.
- February 2025. A bench trial ended with a provisional settlement. That deal was never put into a written agreement.
- January 14, 2026. Krissy Kutlenios unlocked the building for a few hours so the Echoes in the Iron music series could record an acoustic session inside. A teaser clip passed 100,000 views within 48 hours.
- July 20, 2026. Judge Jacob Cunningham set a new trial for Dec. 14 and told both sides the case would start over from the beginning.
- August 19, 2026. Cunningham denied a motion from the neighboring property owner's attorney to remove him from the case.
As of early October, the hotel's own website still lists the building as for sale and temporarily closed. Court dates can move, but Dec. 14 is the date on the record right now.
A dark building on Battle Alley would matter less if the hotel weren't so tied to how people outside Holly picture a Holly Christmas. The hotel's history page describes its own Olde Fashioned Christmas Celebration, with characters from A Christmas Carol, Christmas teas and a Victorian Feast. The page says the Wall Street Journal once called it one of the most "authentic Victorian destinations for dining at Christmas." A Christmas movie, "Christmas at The Holly Hotel," was filmed inside the building, with more scenes shot on Battle Alley.
The Festival Started as a Way to Fill the Stores
The Holly Dickens Festival has been held in Holly since 1973, and this year is its 53rd. In WXYZ's December 2025 coverage, the festival began with three local retailers who wanted to draw shoppers into town. The hotel's Victorian dinners ran alongside the festival as the hotel's own tradition. The street festival itself came from the shops.
The shops still feel it most. Robbin Yelverton owns Holly Antiques and Creative Fashions, and she told WXYZ that festival weekends bring triple to almost quadruple the traffic of a normal weekend. "For us that's very, very vital," she said. That's why the festival has kept running through four Decembers with the hotel closed. It was designed to move people through downtown, and it never depended on any single building.
The festival's partners say the same thing. Its site credits Main Street Holly and Financial Plus Credit Union. The 2026 raffle tickets are sold at three downtown businesses: Battle Alley Coffee, Holly Antiques and Winglemire Furniture. Tickets are $10 each or three for $20, and the drawing is Dec. 14.
The Calendar From Here to Mid-December
The busy part of the season starts later this month. Some details are still being finalized. The festival's full schedule file still says 2026 details are coming soon, so this table sticks to dates that have been published.
Date | Event | Where |
|---|---|---|
Fri., Oct. 23 | Mischief & Magic, free | 104 Battle Alley area |
Sun., Oct. 25 | Last Holly Farmers Market of the season, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. | Crapo Park |
Fri., Nov. 6, 6 p.m. | Gold and Glitz Gala, 21 and older, formal attire | The Holly Vault, 202 S. Saginaw St. |
Fri., Nov. 27, 6 p.m. | Lighted parade and tree lighting | Downtown |
Nov. 28 to 29 | Dickens Festival, first weekend | Downtown |
Sat., Dec. 5 | Victorian Tea & Tidings, 9 to 10:30 a.m. | The Victorian Tea Cup |
Dec. 5 to 6 | Dickens Festival, second weekend | Downtown |
Sat., Dec. 12 | Victorian Tea & Tidings, 9 to 10:30 a.m. | The Victorian Tea Cup |
Dec. 12 to 13 | Dickens Festival, third weekend | Downtown |
There are a few things to know before you go. The Oakland Press and the Main Street Holly calendar list different hours for Mischief & Magic, so check with organizers before you plan an evening around it. The farmers market has run Sundays since May 3, with more than 85 vendors. Festival hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays and noon to 5 p.m. on Sundays. The Victorian Tea Cup is at the corner of Civic Drive and Saginaw Street.
The festival's Things to Do page lists Santa photos in the Children's Tent and Tiny Tim's tent in Crapo Park, with letters to Santa and old-fashioned games. It also lists a Santa train, a 100-foot sledding hill and horse-drawn carriage rides. You can even have an audience with Queen Victoria, who performs knighting and crowning ceremonies and will officiate weddings or vow renewals. The three weekends have their own names: "Home for the Holidays," "Decked Out for Dickens" and "God Bless Us, Every One!"
What's Open on the Block Around 110 Battle Alley
The hotel is closed, but most of the storefronts around it are open. Battle Alley alone has several, and a few more sit within a short walk on Saginaw Street.
On Battle Alley. Battle Alley Coffee is at 101 Battle Alley, a coffee shop that also sells festival raffle tickets. Across the alley at 113 is Sip & Saddle. The North Oakland chamber lists it as a restaurant and bar with an organic café menu, including sushi bowls and wellness smoothies, and its grand-opening ribbon cutting was advertised for Dec. 19, 2025. That makes this its first full Dickens season. Main Street Holly lists BOHO Aesthetics at 104 Battle Alley, which is the address in the Oakland Press listing for Mischief & Magic.
On Saginaw Street. The Holly Cafe at 204 S. Saginaw serves breakfast and lunch and has a full bar, and its website lists hours of 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. Villager's Restaurant at 112 N. Saginaw served breakfast, lunch and dinner when the Oakland County Times reviewed it in May 2025. Farther north at 806 N. Saginaw, Battle Alley Brewing serves its beer with BBQ, burgers and sandwiches. Artichoke Interiors is at 107 S. Saginaw. The gala venue, The Holly Vault at 202 S. Saginaw, is a renovated 1860s bank and rustic warehouse.
Andy's Place is the bar next to the hotel. It received a state grant to rebuild in 2025. We couldn't confirm that it has reopened, so call ahead if it's part of your plans.
The Depot That Moved Closer to Downtown
The newest piece of historic Holly isn't on Battle Alley. On Dec. 9, 2025, the Holly Union Depot was moved from 223 S. Broad St. to 307 S. Broad St., closer to downtown and farther from the active tracks. The Oakland County Times reported the move as about 800 feet, and WHMI reported 1,000 feet.
The Village Council intends public uses for the building, such as a visitor center for Holly and railroad history and a base for visitors and volunteers during festivals. It has ruled out offices, retail and selling the building. Restoration and site work were still ahead after the move, so the depot isn't open as a visitor center yet.
The move still counted for something. At its September symposium, America in Bloom gave Holly its Celebrating Heritage Outstanding Achievement Award. The Oakland County Times reported that the depot relocation was "a point of pride for the community." So Holly won a national heritage award in a year when its most famous historic building was closed.
Monday, Dec. 14
The festival's last day is Sunday, Dec. 13. The next day, Monday, the festival raffle drawing is scheduled and the Holly Hotel case is set to start over in circuit court. Each side has estimated it needs three days to present its case. The Kutlenioses have offered to move the wall back six inches and pay to rebuild the foundation. Their attorney said that would mean removing part of a historic tin ceiling. When the July hearing ended, the two sides still had no settlement. The neighboring property owner's attorney said the owner's side was waiting on an engineering report about moving the wall.
Adam Haffajee at C2C Real Estate has worked in this part of Oakland and Genesee counties for 23 years, and we're keeping an eye on 110 Battle Alley along with the rest of downtown Holly. If you'd like to hear what happens with the hotel after Dec. 14, or what's changing on the blocks around it, get in touch and get access to our private listings.
