The best part of this Bellaire home? Five decks that spread out across and above the beautiful landscape. See it on the Petoskey Area Home Tour September 15.
Location
5977 Founders Ridge, Bellaire
Real Estate Opportunities
Debbie Alexander Coldwell Banker Schmidt/Shanty Creek Resorts, 231.533.7077
Home Tour Tip
If you stay at Shanty Creek Resort’s Lakeview Hotel, you can pick up your tickets and a complimentary copy of Northern Home & Cottage at the front desk when you check in on Friday, September 14.
The homeowners, both from metro Detroit, vacationed in Bellaire for years, loving the charming small town with its easy proximity to the skiing and golf at Shanty Creek as well as to Traverse City, Charlevoix and Petoskey. Eventually, they tried purchasing their own place but their first attempt ended when a deal they thought was done went sour. The episode put a damper on their dreams and they gave up their property search.
Then two years later the husband was in his office and he recalls the thought popping into his head that he really wanted to be in Bellaire. He put the town into a real estate search and up came a handsome home at Shanty Creek Resorts for sale. Built in 1993, it needed some work—but the husband could also tell it had great bones. He called a Realtor and asked to see it the next weekend.
When they got there, he remembers that his wife walked in and said, ‘We’ll take it.’ “It was so cool. There was just something about the feel of this home,” he says.
The three-story home is a treasure—as well as a sweet feat of engineering. Set on a steep hill and adjacent to both Shanty Creek’s Summit ski slope and The Legend golf course, the main story of the home cantilevers out over the valley below, while an upper level offers a view of Lake Bellaire spilled across the horizon. A lower level is built into the hill. The best part? Five decks that reach out into the stunning landscape from all parts of the home.
Over the course of six years, the homeowners have carefully updated the home—preserving its original layout, its pine kitchen cabinetry, pine-clad ceilings, stone fireplace and stone, cherry and maple floors. They did, however, update appliances, redo all five bathrooms with striking tiles choices and fixtures, add a dry sauna and transform a man-cave into a bedroom fit for a princess.
Their most striking changes are on the exterior where they stained the cedar a rich auburn and trimmed the windows and pillars in black. The overall effect, complemented by new wire deck railings and the original stacked stone detail at the entrance, accentuate the home’s modern lines. Working with Barker Creek Nursery, they tamed the verdant landscape, creating intimate relaxing areas. The homeowners were careful to preserve a goldfish pond that the former owner had constructed for his wife before she passed away from breast cancer.
Just as the homeowner’s wife did when she walked in for the first time, tourgoers will feel something very special about this absolutely lovely home.
Tickets to the Petoskey Area Home Tour are available on MyNorthTickets.com.
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