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Dream Big, Buy Smart! Up North Real Estate 2013
Spring Recipes From Martha’s Leelanau Table to You
Spunkonomics
How Traverse City defied the LONG recession
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Was America’s first abstract painter a Ludington farmer?
Score: Spa Deals in April 4 Easy Tips for Wine-Cheese Pairings Frankfort’s FUN Grammy-Winning Homeboy
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SET YOUR SITES
ANGELA BROWN
Caution! Reading on may cause daring life moves that include waking up to extreme surf-and-turf accessibility. Stretching out on acres of quietude. Riding into the sunset every night. Settling within hoofing distance of great restaurants. Forging your own homestead. Yes, pilgrim, you can do this at home. // TEXT BY ELIZABETH EDWARDS
Leelanau Estate
IN THE COUNTRY
Raise ostrich, llamas, horses, grapes— whatever you find growing in the wild recess of your imagination—on 71 acres of the Leelanau Peninsula. This incomenetting topography moves from a babbling brook to Lake Michigan panoramas to rolling pastures (fence-ready for those llamas). Come home to an estate-worthy home, outfitted with seven bedrooms, 10 bathrooms, rare hardwood floors and a myriad of other elegant details. $2,290,000. NICOLE HULET, COLDWELL BANKER, 231.409.0378. MLS# 1740397
Gill’s Pier Vineyard & Winery A well-established vineyard on the Leelanau Peninsula. All the cab franc and riesling you can sip … and make and
sell. Lake Michigan views. Five-bedroom home. Gorgeous tasting room. We’d call this turnkey heaven. $1,900,000. KEN
master bedroom—while gazing at the azure waters of Lake Charlevoix across the road. $299,000. PAT O’BRIEN AND ASSOCIATES REAL
WEAVER, AMY GREEN, TRAVERSE NORTH REALTY,
ESTATE, 231.582.1700. MLS # 433888
231.668.6303. MLS #1742018
Greek Revival If, perchance, you’re looking to disappear into the Northern Michigan countryside, you’d do well to heed the siren call of this beguiling Greek Revival. Once a proud part of the now–ghost town of Undine—named for the mythological water nymph—she lives on to share her bucolic memories across five acres, in an ample and homey farmhouse kitchen and in wellmaintained barns and a postcard-worthy stone well-house. Write your own chapter to her story on the upper porch—off the
Barn Again Rustic meets lux in this historic barn turned elegant home. Built in 1926 by one of Traverse City’s founding families, the renovations have preserved the original fieldstone foundation, barn wood floors, exposed beams and joists and sliding barn doors while refurbishing it with high-end touches such as wine room, sauna and gourmet-caliber kitchen. Another nod to the smarts of the old pioneer who built the barn: its West Bay views, near downtown. $894,500. KEN WEAVER, AMY GREEN, TRAVERSE NORTH REALTY, 231.668.6303. MLS#: 1741909
WILLIAMSBURG HORSE FARM Ride with the horsey set? Want to ride with the horsey set? Whoa! Hold the reins. This exceptional equestrian setting comes with an 18-stall horse barn and indoor riding arena. But why stay inside when you can canter around the 17-acre pond on your 56-acre property? Home, very sweet, home, is a recently remodeled 19th century farmhouse. Also know: Flintfields Horse Park, the venue for the nationally renowned Horse Shows By the Bay Equestrian Festival, is a trot away. $950,000. NANCY ALBRECHT, REAL ESTATE ONE, 231.409.4444. MLS # 1742182
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PHOTOS COURTESY OF THEIR RESPECTIVE REALTORS
Leelanau Estate
THOMAS EDISON WAS HERE
Gills Pier Winery & Vineyard
Satiate your inner Off The Grid on these 94 acres, including 2,000 feet along the Thunder Bay River that come with dam rights—read: your own hydroelectricity. Proof of the hydropower is in the property’s still-standing historic gristmill that once cranked 24/7, thanks to its turbines and electric lights courtesy of the miller’s acquaintance: one Tom Edison. Self-sufficiency doesn’t stop at power; it practically grows on this land’s fields and in its forests. A five-bedroom home comes with. Bed and breakfast? Commune? You and your family in self-reliant isolation? Which way does your OTG lean? $548,000. DOUG HOUSEWORTH, HOUSEWORTH REALTY, 231.838.5743. MLS # 435096 4
Greek Revival
Barn Again
ON THE BIG LAKE
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Top and Below: Pine Hollow
3 PINE HOLLOW Tranquility, durability, and charm describe this waterfront estate constructed of Michigan stone and white oak timbers. From the plantings indigenous to the Great Lakes to the 600 feet of lakefront, all is authentic and beautifully crafted thanks to Roger Hummel's impeccable architecture, the owner's love of Michigan and her vision to create a structure to last a thousand years. While it is for sale, the owner's chief desire is that it will become a nonprofit that would benefit the world. While the owner has searched for a partner, the right one has yet to step forward. $13,900,000. CHRIS ETIENNE, HARBOR SOTHEBY’S REAL ESTATE, 231.838.2031 MLS # 434731
ON AN INLAND LAKE
Torch Lake Affordable Storybook 1940s cottage with maple floors, 99 feet of frontage on sandy-bottomed Torch Lake. Two stories, three bedrooms, two baths. Smack in the middle of the storied 60-mile-long Chain of Lakes. ’Nuff said. $494,000. 45TH PARALLEL REALTY, 231.409.5293. MLS # 1736173
Log Living on Walloon Lake
BAY HARBOR Blue water views from every window. A private Lake Michigan beach. Completely renovated elegance and grandeur at every turn. Significantly priced below appraised value, this fully furnished family heirloom will not last long. $1,849,500
Ya’ kinda’ gotta’ say it: Ernest Hemingway might have partied here. Or at least cast in his line, or paddled his canoe by … this classic Walloon Lake (where the famous writer summered as a child) log-and-chink cabin that was recently renovated with one eye to authenticity and the other to luxury. Find 232 feet of shoreline, Viking appliances and granite countertops in the kitchen, steam shower in the master bath and an outdoor kitchen. $3,250,000. WALLY KIDD, KIDD & LEAVY REAL ESTATE CO., 231.439.2800. MLS # 430622
PHOTOS COURTESY OF THEIR RESPECTIVE REALTORS
PAT LEAVY, KIDD & LEAVY REAL ESTATE, 231.439.2800. MLS # 435744
YOU BUILD AT 9 MILE POINT Big lake frontage smack-dab between Charlevoix and Petoskey. Take a break from the beach and ride your bike into Charlevoix or Petoskey (great shopping and dining!) on the Little Traverse Wheelway that wends past your property. Be back beachside for the sunset. $160,000. MEDORA BOURKE, COLDWELL BANKER GREAT LAKES, 231.350.3783 MLS # 434393
Dwell on Crystal Lake Mid-century modern Scandinavian design set on Norwegian-blue Crystal Lake. Dwell-set meet your dream cottage: clean simple lines, open floor plan, plenty of windows, fireplace and compact bedrooms. Nothing here to complicate your relationship with the beach. $875,000. SUZY VOLTZ, SLEEPING BEAR REALTY, 231.352.7123. MLS # 1737410. 4
Traverse, Northern Michigan’s Magazine | APR’13
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HARBOR TOWN Harbor Springs Quintessential
Elk Rapids Classic
Morning at 125 E. Third Street, Harbor Springs: Yawn and stretch as the sun streams through the periwinkle shutters that make this circa-1924 cottage (remodeled in 2011) feel like a Gatsby-Provence hybrid. Slip into your flops. Coffee at, where? Island Bean? Mary Ellen’s? Take it down to the marina; greet the shopkeepers opening for the day as you schlep along. Sip. Watch the boats. Feel your systolic drop. $236,000. JAMES CASSIDY,
We could yada, yada about all the amenities that would come with living in this darling, updated Tom Sawyer-era home on Elk Rapids’ west side. Sure, it’s near the marina, the village’s cutest-in-the-country library, the boutique shopping district and great restaurants. But here’s why we’d buy it: To be minutes away from shooting the spillway on the Elk Rapids River on a hot summer’s day—priceless old-fashioned fun. $164,900. KATHY
CARRICK MACROSS REAL ESTATE SERVICES, 313.410.4616. MLS # 211073642
WITTBRODT, WATERSIDE PROPERTIES, 231.632.7181. MLS # 1737627
Traverse City Walkabout
Leland In-Town
Bike, or if you are up for it, walk to the beach. Walk to the boutiques and eateries at the Grand Traverse Common. Heck, you could even walk to the hospital. This sweetly priced fourbedroom home, west of Division Street, is a plain and simple great deal in one of Traverse City’s most livable sections. $399,000.
The third tee of the Leland Country Club golf course is all but in your front yard. The restaurants, shops and boats of Fishtown are a downhill bike ride. As a starter home or cottage, this humble but solid, perfectly situated home on a generous corner lot is one square deal. $268,000. ANN MARIE MITCHELL, COLDWELL
JUDY ROBINSON, COLDWELL BANKER SCHMIDT, 231.929.2300. MLS #1741928
BANKER SCHMIDT, 231. 256.9836. MLS: 1738058
We check in with longtime Petoskey-area Realtor Walter Kidd about the Northern Michigan real estate market: A penny for your thoughts on the present Northern Michigan market: It is important to note that there are two segments to the housing market. Primary housing (the homes you and I need to live in day to day) and secondary housing (a second home anywhere). I can speak primarily to the latter. There is a sense from our buyers that we are through the worst of the bad economy. That said, those years have had a conditioning effect on our buyers. No one over-spends anymore. Everyone is looking for value in the dollars, and urgency (except for on the part of some sellers) is a thing of the past. The definition of our buyers today is smart, thorough, tough. Do you see any real estate trends developing in Northern Michigan?
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I hate to even use the word trend today, but if there is one it would be the reduction in the amount of foreclosures on the market. This signals (possibly) the beginning of an uptick in the real estate market. The Detroit area has seen significant reductions in inventory levels and prices are actually starting to rise. We [in Northern Michigan] are usually right behind that curve. What kind of Northern Michigan real estate should we put our money on now? Any property that you like and that is priced below market value. That is to say that there are properties that have been on the market for a lengthy period of time and that the seller, for whatever reason, has to (or wants to) sell immediately. Those properties are becoming less and less prominent, but they are still there.
How would you define the differences between the Traverse City and Petoskey markets? Only by the difference in their sizes. I’ve generally thought of Traverse City as a “big city.” However I think it is fair to say that, generally speaking, buyers buy where they buy because of some prior influences. Maybe they came to that area as a kid, or later in their lives visited friends and fell in love with a certain town or lake. I find that someone looking for property on Lake Charlevoix or Walloon Lake, for example, already has those specific lakes in mind. I hardly ever have clients that, say, look at properties on Torch Lake and then ask to see properties on Walloon. If you want Walloon, you want Walloon, and so on. Elizabeth Edwards is managing editor of Traverse. lissa@traversemagazine.com
PHOTOS COURTESY OF THEIR RESPECTIVE REALTORS
NOTES FROM THE FIELD