Thursday, July 5, 2012 DAVID HOWARD enjoys the openness of his house which was built in the Adirondack style of the 1800s. See this North Lake Leelanau work of art on Page 5. COUNTY CRIBS Come join us on a Home Tour of Leelanau See where county residents and summer folks hang their shingles NEW LIFE Northport church finds home. RVS Seasonal home that’s hard to beat. STONES Little maintenance in these rock homes. LOW COST Northport offers affordable housing. 7 9 14 3
Transcript
Thursday, July 5, 2012
DAVID HOWARD enjoys the openness of his house which was built in the Adirondack style of the 1800s. See this North Lake Leelanau work of art on Page 5.
COUNTY
CRIBSCome join us on a
Home Tour of LeelanauSee where county residents and summer folks hang their shingles
NEW LIFENorthport
church fi nds
home.
RVSSeasonal
home that’s hard to beat.
STONESLittle
maintenance in these
rock homes.
LOW COSTNorthport
offers affordable
housing.
7 9 143
By Patti BrandtOf The Enterprise staff
A rebuilt 1970s cottage in Omena, a re-purposed church and a four-story post and beam barn home overlooking the peninsula are part of the Northport Home Tour.
In all, fi ve homeowners will open their doors and let people take a look at their unique homes in the annual tour, a Northport Women’s Club event that raises money for local young people, from preschoolers to high school grad-uates.
The tour will take place next Wednesday, July 11 from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tickets are $15 and are avail-able from all Northport Women’s Club members, as well as from The Business Helper in Suttons Bay, Leelanau Books in Leland, Tamarack Gallery in Omena, Dolls and More in Northport and Anchor Cottages in Suttons Bay. Tickets are also available at each home on the day of the tour. Docents will be in all the homes to direct tour-goers and to answer any questions, said Rita Lecy, president of the Northport Women’s Club.
The tour has been going on for about 10 years and has always been popular, Lecy said.
“People like to see the different
styles, the different ways people like to decorate their homes, the different materials people use to build their homes,” Lecy said. “It’s just different ways of doing things that makes each one unique.”
One home is decorated in orange, red and pink, Lecy said. Another has a sink made of maple wood.
“I didn’t even know you could make a sink out of maple,” Lecy said. “This is the kind of thing people like to see. Each one is distinct and unique and fi ts the person that is in there.”
In past years the event has raised up to $12,000, money that is used for scholarships for students in the Northport area, for the Northport Promise Scholarship and for the Leelanau Children’s Center.
Scholarships are given to students who are well-rounded, not just those who get good grades, Lecy said. The decision to give part of the money that is raised to the Children’s Center came about because of a club vote several years ago, Lecy said, because it gives youngsters a good start.
The group is hoping to raise $8,000 or $9,000 this year, she said. For more information on the tour, call Lecy at 386-7076 or Patty Noftz at 386-9936.
Here are the homes that will be fea-
tured on the tour this year:• Mampe Home, 3328 Omena Point
Road, Omena — Built in 1970, this cottage once had dark-paneled walls, shag carpeting and white stone fi re-place — all the rage for the era — but was completely redone by owners Kris and Bob Mampe, who wanted a com-fortable beach house retreat that would be easy to take care of. They took the house down to the studs, keeping the original fl oor plan. Built of cedar and glass in 1970 by Henry and Barbara Schneidewind, the house now has a galley kitchen and a palette of misty grays and sea-glass greens. Interior doors are modeled after those seen in a Sausalito hotel the couple stayed in while on vacation. Slate tiles integrate interior and exterior spaces, which, coupled with the glass wall on the home’s lake side, gives the small house a sense of openness and a spectacular view of Omena Bay.
• Farrell Home, 615 N. Warren St., Northport — When Marjorie and Walt Farrell walked into the former St. Gertrude’s Catholic Church in Northport, they knew they were home. The couple, who moved to the area in 2011, had long wanted to live in a repurposed church, library or school-house. And St. Gertrude’s fi t the bill. The church was purchased by Gertrude Lord in 1978, who remodeled it to live in. Many of the original details, such as the hardwood fl oors and painted tin panels on the ceiling, were kept. A choir loft at the steeple entrance was added, as was a kitchen and loft sleep-ing area. The Farrells have not made any major changes to the house and use the 16-foot tall rooms to display their extensive art, tapestry and photography collection. The choir loft is used to display some unusual musical instru-ments, with windows that soar up into the living space, providing natural lighting for all of the couple’s collec-tions.
• Marjoras Home, 1000 Rudy Dr., Northport — Built in 2001 by Barbara and Themie Marjoras, this barn home
Page 2, Section 5 THE LEELANAU ENTERPRISE Thursday, July 5, 2012
THE HOOGLAND Home has a spectacular view of Lake Michigan.
THE MAMPE Home, built in 1979, has been redone with slate tiles integrating interior and exterior spaces.
Northport tour has fi ve unique homes
(Concluded on Page 4)
THE MAJORAS HOME, built on a 10-acre hillside parcell, has a barn design that fi ts in well with its pastoral surroundings.
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By Patti BrandtOf The Enterprise staff
It was very cold with about three feet of snow on the ground when Marjorie and Walt Farrell fi rst walked into their Northport home, the former St. Gertrude Catholic Church. Even so, sunlight was streaming through the eight-foot-tall windows, lighting the interior of the church-turned-home with a sense of peace and serenity.
The Farrells knew they were home.“When we walked in everything was
like it should be,” Marjorie said. “We love Northport, we love the area and we love the house.”
That was in April 2011. Since then, the couple has done some landscaping and added some bookshelves that act to partition off a foyer, some offi ce space and a small reading area that holds a futon for overnight guests.
The house is also full of their collec-tions of Inuit prints, sculptures, photog-raphy, masks and Gamelan instruments for Walt’s Indonesian music hobby.
Though the Farrells have always wanted to live in a former schoolhouse, library or church, they’ve spent all of their 28 married years in pretty stan-dard housing. The closest they ever came to living in a home with a differ-ent original mission was when they rented a duplex purchased by a police-man in an auction. The decrepit house, held together by a few nails and a shingle or two, had apparently once been a stage coach stop and tavern.
But unlike their present home, it had no visible signs of its past life, said Walt, a retired computer programmer for IBM.
Marjorie is originally from Washington; Walt was born in Traverse City. As a child he lived all over the country, though he attended elementary school in Empire and Glen Arbor. His mother was born in Northport and when his parents retired, they made Northport their home. The Farrells spent a lot of time with them and decided to also move to the area.
Their one bedroom, 1,100-square-foot former church has its challenges. There’s no garage and there are fewer closets, though the closets they do have are fairly good sized, Walt said. The couple had to downsize when they moved in. “There’s a lot more room for books and art, but still not quite enough,” Walt said.
Some of their things are in storage. Some they just decided they didn’t need.
“When choosing between a sculp-ture and an extra couch, we left the extra couch,” said Marjorie, a retired photographer and photo researcher.
It is also impossible for one of them to watch television or talk on the phone if the other one is listening to music.
Thursday, July 5, 2012 THE LEELANAU ENTERPRISE Section 5, Page 3
Couple at peace in old church
WALT AND Marjorie Farrell are fulfi lling their dream of living in an updated church, the former St. Gertrude Catholic Church in Northport.
THE HIGH ceilings and loft make a perfect backdrop for the Farrells’ collection of masks.
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Page 4, Section 3 THE LEELANAU ENTERPRISE Thursday, July 5, 2012
was designed by Traverse City archi-tect George Moutsatson. Built on a 10-acre hill that was once part of an orchard, the four-story home with a three-story skylight and cupola gives a beautiful panoramic view of the Leelanau Peninsula. The barn design of the home fi ts in well with its pastoral surroundings and is based on a drawing by the late Curtis Leece, a Northport resident who had been the photo and graphics editor at the Saginaw News. The barn house features extensive use of cedar, pine, hickory and maple in post and beam construction. The home is decorated with collections of antique furniture, art glass and paintings of noted Detroit artists, as well as with impressionist Leelanau landscapes done by the homeowner.
• Walter Home, 7225 N. Manitou Trail, Northport — Steve and Paciorka Walter moved to Northport in 2009, building their house on Fox Hill, so named for the fox dens that cover the hill and for the view of South Fox Island. Paciorka Walter’s family has had ties to the area for more than 100 years, and she has been a weekend and summer resident since the 1970s, when her parents bought the property adjoin-ing Fox Hill. The Walter couple spent months studying house plans, fi nally settling on a Craftsman-inspired home with an open fl oor plan designed by architect John Robinson. The house has many personal touches, such as the fi eldstone fi replace made from stone gathered from her great-uncle’s farm in Northport, and the fi replace mantle made from a solid piece of black wal-nut that her father had stored in his barn for 20 years, waiting for the right proj-ect.
• Hoogland Home, 11907 N. Foxview Dr., Northport — The home of Beth and Todd Hoogland is perched over Lake Michigan, giving them a spectacular view. The couple fi rst vis-ited the Leelanau area more than 25 years ago. They weren’t yet married, but fell in love with the county and talked about having a home here some-day. About 15 years ago Todd’s parents started the tradition of holding a family reunion for one week each summer in
Glen Arbor. While here, Todd and Beth would drive to different areas of the county, still dreaming of owning a piece of it. In 2008 they began search-ing for that special place and when they walked up the driveway they knew they had found their home. The house was built in 2005 using engineered 2 by 4’s throughout. The landscaping was later updated and a fi re pit installed; the Hooglands can now watch the sun go down on the lake while sitting beside a campfi re.
THE WALTER Home has many personal touches, such as the fi eldstone fi replace made from stone gathered from her great-uncle’s farm in Northport.
THE FARRELL Home is the former St. Gertrude’s Catholic Church in Northport.
Northport tour has fi ve unique homes
But even that has its positive side. “The acoustics are excellent. We can
sit in any part of the house and whisper to each other,” Walt said.
There is also the fact that “every-body in town knows where we live,” Marjorie said. “People stop us all the time at the grocery store and tell us, ‘We got married in your house,’ or ‘Our children were Christened in your house,’ or ‘I was an altar boy in your house.’”
But the 16-foot-high ceilings cov-
ered in tin salvaged from the old Kalkaska County courthouse, the origi-nal wood fl oors which still show marks where the pews used to be and the choir loft with the arched window make up for it.
“It really does have a peaceful feel to it,” Marjorie said. “I’ve never felt that way in a house that was traditionally built.”
Though the Farrells are not particu-larly religious, they are spiritual.
“We defi nitely feel a respect for what this place was,” Marjorie said.
Couple at peace in old churchContinued from Page 3
Continued from Page 2
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Thursday, July 5, 2012 THE LEELANAU ENTERPRISE Section 3, Page 5
By Amy HubbellOf The Enterprise staff
Beth Howard and Clark Southwell sat on the shore of north Lake Leelanau and made plans to build a lakeside cot-tage for Howard and her husband, David.
Four years later, the Howards moved into what they affectionately call the “possum lodge.” It’s unlike any other home in the county.
“It was originally supposed to be our cottage on the lake,” said David Howard, who had been living on Lake Michigan south of Leland. “But it expanded so much that we decided not to have two houses and to move here.”
Why not. The four-bedroom home and adjacent bunkhouse are the culmi-nation of the work of more than a dozen local craftsmen and is truly a work of art.
Southwell, a Suttons Bay building contractor, had previously remodeled a kitchen for the Howards and was approached when the couple began talking about the building project.
“I’ve always been interested in architecture,” the design/build contrac-tor said.
As a youngster, Southwell was fi rst exposed to the construction process when spending summers in Minnesota. At age 11, he helped build a home on
an island.“I had a great time doing that and
later traveled East and saw the architec-ture out there,” Southwell said.
The Suttons Bay contractor said he has been inspired by Lake Ann artist Clifton Monteith and Suttons Bay architect Roger Hummel. However, it’s the infl uence of northern Michigan timber frame builder Robert Foulkes that is most evident to those walking through the handcrafted front door.
Huge exposed wooden beams sup-port the ceiling lends themselves to the open fl oor plan of the home.
Although Beth Howard worked more closely with Southwell on the design, which literally began with scratchings on the back of an envelope, the creators did follow David’s request that the home be constructed of wood.
“It reminds me of some of the archi-tecture I saw in Austria and Bavaria,” he said. “There’s no drywall, it’s all wood.”
The home is built in the architectural style of Adironack camps which were prominent in upstate New York in the 1800s. Construction combined rustic materials from the forest such as log beams, stone fi replaces and elegant imported items.
“That’s where the inspiration for the twig work rails came from,” Southwell said.
It took two men an entire day to produce just one segment of the railing that runs the length of the home’s 50-foot lakeside porch, the upstairs loft and the exterior walkways.
“It’s like a jigsaw puzzle. They had to put it all together and make sure it was still to code,” Howard said.
To avoid having to run the mechani-cals through the fi ve-inch wooden walls, crews installed them in the fl oor under which plastic tubing was also placed to heat the home. Electrical outlets are built into the baseboards.
“It all had to be mapped out,” Southwell said.
The home features handcrafted doors, birch bark ceilings, black walnut counters in the bath. But it’s the open fl oor plan that David Howard enjoys most.
“We’ve had homes with formal din-ing rooms which never got used,” he said. “No one ever went in there.”
A giant circular table — also of wood — sits in front of huge windows that provide great views of North Lake Leelanau. Nearby there’s a bar area
where the grandchildren can eat, all within the same living space.
“That’s the most signifi cant part for me,” Howard said. “Everyone in the same room.”
But when needed, there is a space where family members can get away. Attached by a stone walkway and roof overhead is a guest house with a loft occupied most often by the Howard’s grandchildren, ages 5, 7, and 9.
Outside, large stone pillars, similar to those seen on medieval castles in Europe, support a 50-foot porch on
which a hand-built dining table and chairs of walnut and cherry sit.
Attention to detail was also extended to the masonry. Once selected, the stones used were placed in a truck with a wooden bed to avoid leaving scratch-es and rust marks on the building prod-ucts.
“I was pretty naive about the talent here,” Howard said. “People from all over Leelanau County were part of this process. I’m just in awe of the talent in this county.”
North Lake Leelanau lodge turned into a work of art
DAVID HOWARD stands on part of the 50-foot porch.
DETAILS SUCH as the intricate twig work and stonework set the Howard house apart from others on North Lake Leelanau.
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Page 6, Section 3 THE LEELANAU ENTERPRISE Thursday, July 5, 2012
By Amy HubbellOf The Enterprise staff
The Howard’s “possum lodge” is just one of fi ve homes featured in the Leland Women’s Civic Club 2012 Home Tour, Aug. 8.
The biennial event includes distinc-tive homes in and around Leland; two are in the village of Leland and the Howards are on the eastern shore of North Lake Leelanau.
Featured homes are: • Stanley and Ralph (Bo) Reahard
III, 1027 N. Leland Estates, “The Promised Land” — Several genera-tions of Reahards have known and loved this scenic Lake Michigan bluff property. Before anything was built here, it was a favorite family picnic spot which was always called “The Promised Land”. In the summer of 2004, Bo and Stanley inherited the family house, built in 1978 by Bud and Barbara Reahard. They refur-bished Barbara’s gardens and enjoyed pieces of furniture made by Bud in his woodworking shop. With Suttons Bay architect Susan Walter, they began years of planning for an addition and more.
Started in 2009 and fi nished in the spring of 2010, the new carriage house guest quarters became home while the main house was renovated. Chad Bufka of Northport was general con-tractor and Little Fish Woodworks in Lake Leelanau built the custom cabi-netry. The project was completed in the spring of 2011.
• Sue and K e v i n Burns, 101 S. Grand St., Leland, “A D r e a m Come True” — The Burns have lived in the house for more than 20
years and have had lots of time to compile a wish list for their perfect home. The recently completed addi-tion is 1½ times bigger than the origi-nal house. The Burns’ new kitchen features Craftsman style handmade woodwork by Little Fish Woodworks, which looks as if it is original to the house. There’s a hand-crafted copper hood and sink which were added by local artist, Darin Fetter of North Shore Iron Works. Along with a new master bedroom and bath, the addition includes a media room and a new din-ing room, which opens onto a patio with a pergola.
• Mike and Beth Grosvenor, 78 Oak Street, Leland, “Art, Color, and the Carp River” — A folk art driftwood rooster and two brightly colored, handcarved snakes, made by home-owner Mike Grosvenor, greet visitors as they stroll up the walk to their home. The home features beautiful views of the Leland River and a color-ful art-fi lled interior fashioned by Beth. She selected rich, deep-toned colors for the walls which make a perfect backdrop for their selection and collection of Michigan art.
• Kris and Dr. Peter Sneed, 5325 Sugarbush Lane, “All About Family” — The original home on the Lake Michigan property was razed, leaving
only a guest house which the Sneed’s occupied during construction of their home. The cottage-style house was designed with the family’s needs in mind. It’s spacious enough to host a candlelight prom dinner for 30 and includes a secret craft room where tons of toys await visiting children. There’s even a putting green in the basement.
• Beth and David Howard, 2525 N.
Lake Leelanau Dr. — From the hand-made fence and railings on the approach side, to the beautiful stone work and landscaping on the lake, tour-goers will see why this master-piece was three years in the making. Handcrafted doors, birch bark ceil-ings. Black walnut counters in the bath. The Howards would like to showcase all the local talent that made this house possible and a list with all
their names and mediums will be available from the hostess at the home.
More than 600 people are expected to participate in the tour. Tickets are $15 each and are available at Leelanau
Books in Leland; At Home, Suttons Bay; Gallery 22, south of Suttons Bay; The Pennington Collection, Northport; Stewart Zacks, Traverse City or from Nancy Duck, 386-7673.
Five distinctive homes around Leland part of Aug. 8 tourTickets for biennial event are $15
More than 600 people are expected to participate in the tour.
Women’s Civic Club Home Tour 2012
STANLEY AND RALPH (BO) REAHARD III, 1027 N. Leland Estates
SUE AND KEVIN BURNS, 101 S. Grand St., Leland
MIKE AND BETH GROSVENOR, 78 Oak Street, Leland
KRIS AND DR. PETER SNEED, 5325 Sugarbush Lane
BETH AND DAVID HOWARD, 2525 N. Lake Leelanau Dr.
EVERY WEDNESDAY—10:30 -11:15 a.m.: Story hour
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Janet VanTimmeren’s summer ‘crib’ on Lake Leelanau pales in com-parison to the size of her spacious 4,800-square foot home back in Rockford.
But the 48-year-old woman wouldn’t trade her 35-foot fi fth wheel with a bunkhouse for anything.
“It’s really funny, but when we pulled in this year, I felt as much at home here as I do at home,” said Janet VanTimmeren, who shares the RV with her husband, Tom, and three children. “This is my whole world here. This is God’s country.
“Obviously the space is kind of an issue, but I just don’t care. You are in and out all day long.”
Janet and her kids have spent most of her summer days in the last decade at the Lake Leelanau RV Park off S. Lakeshore Drive.
The VanTimmerens had been visit-ing LL RV Park as “transients” for a few years before deciding there was no place better for their three chil-dren.
“We took our trailer here and to state parks and other campgrounds,” Janet said. “But we kept asking our-selves ‘Why aren’t we just here because this is where we love to be.
“And it’s simpler. You don’t have to hook up and don’t have to pack up.”
The VanTimmerens made the move from transient to seasonal occupants at the park at a pivotal time.
“Our kids were 4, 9 and 13,” Janet said. “This sort of suited our lifestyle very nicely.
“No chaos. Just come in and be done.”
The VanTimmerens’ lot is located on a corner of Interlochen Street in an area dubbed “the hill,” because of the landscaping they have done.
“I love it here,” said Janet, who also has a 2.5-acre home in Rockford. “We’re not land-locked. We have lots of space.
“And we don’t have to put up with the transients coming in and out every week and the loud music and stinky campfi res. My site is very peaceful.”
The RV Park is open May 1 through Oct. 31. The VanTimmerens, who leave their RV at the park year-round, usually arrive once school is out the fi rst of June and stay till mid-August.
The VanTimmeren’s modest RV has two bedrooms and two small bathrooms. The kitchen area also serves as offi ce space for Janet, who works during the summer from her RV. The VanTimmerens have owned and operated Chaser Apparel, a full service screen printing and embroi-
dery shop since 2000.“It has its challenges,” Janet said.
“I have a landline and a cell phone. Internet ... on good days.
“But I get my work done.”The VanTimmerens have made the
most of their seasonal summer home. The two oldest children, Anne, 23, and Lauren, 19, took driver’s educa-tion at Leland. Both of the girls also had summer jobs. Anne is now mar-ried and living in Kansas. Lauren is attending Grand Rapids Community College.
Michael, 15, works odd jobs around the RV park to pick up spending money like mowing lawns.
“Since Michael was little, my hus-band wanted him to love football and baseball ... anything but fi shing,” Janet said. “But he started fi shing at an early age and the sickness got worse every year.”
The VanTimmerens claim the envi-ronment is “family friendly,” from having immediate access to the lake to allowing children to roam freely on streets with six miles per hour speed limits.
“Occasionally we’ll have to say ‘Slow down!’ but there’s usually very little traffi c,” Janet said.
Thursday, July 5, 2012 THE LEELANAU ENTERPRISE Section 3, Page 7
Rockford clan feels at home in fi fth wheel on lake
JANET VANTIMMEREN of Rockford checks out the family’s screen printing and embroidery busi-ness website from her makeshift offi ce inside her fi fth wheel at the Lake Leelanau RV Park.
M I C H A E L VANTIMMEREN and his mother, Janet, enjoy their summer time on Lake Leelanau.
(Concluded on Page 8)
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Page 8, Section 3 THE LEELANAU ENTERPRISE Thursday, July 5, 2012
The VanTimmerens also have two Labrador retrievers, 10-year-old Maysie and 6-year-old chocolate Rose.
“I take them to the water in the park, but it’s less of a hassle to take them to a public access down the road,” Janet said. “They swim there every day usually.
“They have had the very good life.”And so does Janet.“For me, it’s a good balance,” she said. “My
kids are happy, my husband is happy and we’re making memories that we wouldn’t at home in Rockford.”
The VanTimmerens have three water crafts, including one fi shing boat that is for sale, available for recreational enjoyment. They also have a golf cart to help haul necessities to the dock for a day out on the water.
“It is the best environment you can imagine for raising kids,” Janet said. “It’s fun all day long.
“Today, my 15-year-old isn’t pounding on me to do something. He had three friends over for lunch and now he’s fi shing or tubing.”
“It’s a kids’ paradise,” Michael said. “I love fi shing, tubing and just boating around the lake.”
Michael, who once landed a 23-inch small-mouth bass while fi shing the lake, fi shes when-ever it’s possible.
“Whenever I have worms,” he said laugh-ingly. “ ... and a way on the water.”
Living at an RV Park vs. owning a summer cottage has its advantages, Janet is quick to point out. Because of the rules at the park, visitors who can’t squeeze into the RV to sleep, can’t stay the night.
“They don’t want a tent village and there would be additional stress on the resources from people who didn’t have to pay anything,” Janet said. “And I understand that.”
But not all the VanTimmerens’ family and friends would concur.
“I’ve had people say ‘That stinks,’” Janet said. “But the rules are in place to protect us.”
Janet, who said she knows other folks who have cottages and can’t get rid of their summer guests, loves to entertain family at the RV Park.
“I’ve said all along that I’d love to take you out on the boat every day, but you need to stay somewhere else or have your own trailer,” she said.
Janet credits the Wilson family, which owns and operates the RV Park, for keeping the
facilities family-friendly. “This works because of everything they do.
They are constantly creating things for us to do,” she said, noting the pickleball and tennis courts among the improvements in the last decade. “It’s so fun here.”
The RV Park also has ice cream nights, wagon rides and even organizes a Fourth of July kids’ parade.
“That’s the cherry on top of the whipping
cream,” she said. “It makes it easy to be here, too.”
Although the VanTimmerens do not have waterfront property at the park — most of that is set aside for the transients — that really doesn’t matter to them.
“We’re not looking at the water, but we’re in close proximity and the boat is in the dock,” Janet said. “I can slide it out and I’m in the water in fi ve minutes.”
At home in fi fth wheel on lake
JANET VANTIMMEREN gets her Labrador retrievers Maysie and Rose on a leash and ready for a walk and dip in the water at the Lake Leelanua RV Park.
MICHAEL VANTIMMEREN and his mother, Janet, pose in front of their trailer on Interlochen Street at the RV Park they have been summer residents for the past decade.
Continued from Page 7
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Thursday, July 5, 2012 THE LEELANAU ENTERPRISE Section 3, Page 9
By Alan CampbellOf The Enterprise staff
Bertha Skeba doesn’t know how many square feet are in her house.
She can’t tell you exactly how tall the ceilings are in her kitchen, although they look to be a good nine feet from the linoleum fl oor. And as to how much insulation is in the attic — it’s not even worth asking.
But ask the wife of the late Larry Skeba about raising kids in the grand, old stone farmhouse at the corner of Otto and South Lake Leelanau roads, and she’s got plenty to say.
“There were nine children in my husband’s family,” said Skeba, now 79, “and we had three. It’s a good house.”
She’s still raising children, too.“Our grandson wants to come up
over the Fourth, and he wants to bring his tent and camp,” Skeba said.
Her grandson is Joseph Houdek, music minister with Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Grand Rapids, who will be coming with his wife, Kathleen.
The Skeba farm is up to the task of playing host. It comes with a big metal barn, outbuilding, historic split rock foundation barn, and the centerpiece of it all — a stone house built in 1921.
The home’s stonework is irreplace-able. The house emerges from the
ground with four courses of split face granite, which supports an array of round stones that at one time were stacked alongside fi elds cleared for farming. The rocks come in all types, shapes and colors, creating a mozaic of Leelanau County.
It’s how those stones were assem-bled that has allowed the Skeba farm-house to stand up to the ages.
“They didn’t have a footing, they just started wider and worked up,” said Alen Skeba, who is taking over the farm for his father. Larry Skeba died on June 25, 2011. “There are no cracks in it.”
Alen Skeba inspected the stonework for the umpteenth time in his life, and found it still perfect after 91 years of exposure to the elements. He appears entertained, as some new part of the design seems to emerge with each of his visits.
The house remains a perfect fi t for Bertha Skeba, especially with her daughters Jackie Herman and Vicki Houdek and her son Alen all living within a fi ve minute drive. It comes with little maintenance, especially after a metal roof was installed a couple years ago, and is relatively cheap to heat due to a wood-burning stove in the basement.
Did we mention the house comes with a nearly full basement? It’s nearly full with family items, canned fruit and vegetables, and of course a place to stack wood after it’s conveniently handed downstairs through a small window.
Access to the basement can be a problem for the unfamiliar, as lighting is poor heading down the stairs.
“One, two, three, four, fi ve, six,” Bertha said. “I count the stairs so I know when I’m at the bottom.”
Two of the four upstairs bedrooms are used for storage. Another is a favor-ite of one of Skeba’s granddaughters. And one comes complete with bedside typewriter.
The Skeba house feels warm and comfy, lived in and laughed in. Practical and personal.
“It was the greatest place in the world to grow up,” Alen Skeba recalled. “We swam all summer long — and we
never came in.”The home may have never been built
had it not been for a fi re that destroyed the original Skeba home, according to Bertha. The original farmhouse was closer to the road and south of the pres-ent home. Larry Skeba’s sister, Eva Plamondon of Traverse City, recounted the story of what happened to Bertha.
“(Plamondon’s mother) said she was
in her garden and looked up, and the house was on fi re,” Bertha Skeba said. “They lived for awhile in the grainery while they were building this house.”
Larry Skeba served stateside in World War II, then returned home to farm. Bertha was working with one of Larry’s sisters in Traverse City for
Old stone house a rock for the ages
(Concluded on Page 10)
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Page 10, Section 3 THE LEELANAU ENTERPRISE Thursday, July 5, 2012
Bertha Skeba and her son Alen wish they had written down more informa-tion about the Skeba farm. They hope others avoid their mistake.
“Knowing what we know now, we would write it down,” said Bertha, whose husband, Larry, died about one year ago.
Gone with Larry was a deep knowl-edge of the history of the family farm, including the name of the mason responsible for the fi ne stone work-manship on the farmhouse.
Stone buildings were commonly built in Leelanau County in years past, as farmers had access to plenty of building material after clearing fi elds. Such construction is rare today.
A home owned by the Grant family off South Lake Leelanau Drive bears a strong resemblance to the Skeba farm, right down to rows of small stones over and under windows and doors. They are about one-half mile apart. A nearby schoolhouse converted into a home carries the same design.
So was it one mason, or one family of masons, that built the stately struc-tures?
Some more research turned up the
answer.The Skebas believe the Sharnowski
family of Cedar was responsible. A few phone calls later put this reporter in touch with Pauline Walters of Suttons Bay. She is the niece of Peter Sharnowski, the mason who was responsible for many stone homes and buildings in the Cedar and Lake Leelanau areas.
Sharnowski, who served in World
War I, was also responsible for the stone building that once served as the auditorium and gymnasium for St. Mary School.
Actually, there were two Peter Sharnowskis living in Leelanau County at that time, and the two should not be confused, Walters said. The mason Peter was from Cedar; his cousin was a farmer whose land off French Road is now farmed by the LaCross family.
Michigan Bell, and eventually Larry and Bertha hooked up.
“He was a good guy — just super. He was so honest, and he worked hard,” said Bertha of her husband.
She, too, was used to hard work, a big family and farm life. Her parents were Peter and Julia Osga of Almira.
“There were 14 of us in my family. Some times we had three in a bed. You wonder how we all got along. But we still get along. There are 10 of us left,” Skeba said.
While sturdy, the Skeba home was a little drafty after Larry and Bertha were married on Oct. 25, 1955. Luckily, they were newlyweds.
“Then it was kind of cold. But we had the woodstove in the living room. We didn’t have the furnace like today. But we were just married,” Bertha said.
Alen recalls getting special treat-ment in his bedroom selection.
“There were two registers upstairs, one in the hallway and one in my bed-room. I don’t know how I was lucky enough to get the register,” he said.
In 1974, the porch was built. And in 1978, the Skebas recalled a major remodel at the home. New windows
that didn’t leak air were installed, and a bathroom and sitting room were built to “square off” the house. It was common to build farmhouses that were not square, but instead left out corners.
“Then the laundry came upstairs — which was good,” Bertha said.
One thing hasn’t changed at the farm — a need for an outside source of income to keep it running. Larry Skeba worked in construction, and Alen is doing likewise. With the cherry crop all but wiped out by spring frosts, he’ll gain little income from the farm’s 25 acres of orchards.
One thing that can be assured — that the farm will be kept up. The outbuild-ings receive regular paintings, with red paint, of course. Especially the big old barn built over a stone foundation.
“My dad was always proud of that barn. That’s why he kept it up. How did he say it — ‘You never get paid for having a nice barn, but it’s worth it. Every seven or eight years, we’d repaint it,” Alen said.
“We were just walking by it the other day and said, ‘What wonderful work-manship,’” Bertha added.
It never ends.
Old stone house a rock through the ages
Continued from Page 9
A BIG old red barn, built over a stone foundation, is part of the Skeba farm.
ALEN Skeba and his mother Bertha sit at a table reminiscing about the old stone house.
A FORMER school house at the corner of Otto and Maple Valley Rd. bears the same stone design as the Skeba farmhouse less than a mile away.
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From the road it doesn’t look like much.
In fact, it could be mistaken for a 1940’s cottage, but beneath the green clapboard siding lies the oldest home in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.
At least it was once a home.“When we fi rst came into posses-
sion of it, we thought it might be an abandoned cottage,” National Park Service Architectural Historian Kim Mann said. “It wasn’t until further inspection that we realized how old it was.”
South of M-22, the Kraitz Cabin sits about 100 feet off the east side of CR-669. The doors are screwed shut and the roof could use some work, but the structure remains a testament to the fi rst white settlement in Cleveland Township and a history that dates back over 150 years.
“Structures like this are usually hard to date,” Mann said. “But based on design similarities we can narrow it down to a relatively accurate time frame.”
Built around 1856, the cabin is believed to be the fi rst permanent home to occupy the Francis Kraitz homestead in the North Unity settle-ment. Kraitz likely selected the home-stead, originally located across from St. Joseph church about a mile south of the cabin’s present location, because of its level, well-drained and fertile land.
“It’s a hewn log cabin which is one of the fi rst construction types found in this part of Michigan for European settlements,” Mann said. “This tech-nique is done by hand with timber framing tools and something other than nails was used during construc-tion.”
The cabin’s construction is similar to the Shalda cabin, located on M-22 inside the Port Oneida Rural Historic. Logs were fi tted as closely as possible so that each rested on the one below, allowing only the occasional gap. At the corner notches, logs were dove-tailed with a saw to create a tight, sturdy fi t.
“The idea, when the settlers fi rst got to North Unity, was to build a tempo-rary home to get them through win-ter,” Mann said. “Then in the summer they’d focus on building permanent houses.”
The Kraitz cabin measures 16 feet
by 20 feet, measuring 1.5 stories tall with a loft running the length of the cabin. To reach the loft, the cabin fea-tures a steep stairway along one of its walls. Six inch by six inch beams were mortised into the walls to form fl oor joists for the loft. According to the NPS, there’s no evidence of a fi replace within the cabin and was most likely heated with a wood stove.
The roof of the cabin was con-structed of round cedar posts, measur-ing four inches in diameter. The roof-ing itself was created using one-inch thick boards with asphalt shingles,
however there appear to be traces of older shingles constructed of wood.
“As you can see there have been a few additions over the years,” Mann said.
Originally the cabin had two doors measuring 73 inches high, but accord-ing to the NPS two more doors were added over the years by enlarging windows. In fact, the fl oor of the cabin was extended at one point to add more rooms.
“These additions were frame con-struction, which is a later technique when sawmills produced boards,” Mann said. “These structures were put together with nails.”
The cabin remains in fairly good condition. Though weathering has taken its toll, much of the structure remains. According to the NPS, this is due to the cabin being put to continu-ous use since its construction. Francis Kraitz lived in the cabin on the home-stead farm and it remained on the property after Kraitz’s son Wenzel built a wood frame on the homestead. In keeping with Bohemian tradition, it acted as the “grandparent’s house” and was used for members of the extended family.
In 1945, John Kraitz moved the structure beside School Lake before moving it again to its current location only a few years later. According to the NPS, several modifi cations were done to the home during these moves.
“It’s a great piece of history,” Mann said. “We’re lucky to still have it in such great condition.”
Thursday, July 5, 2012 THE LEELANAU ENTERPRISE Section 3, Page 11
Lakeshore’s oldest home still stands
WEATHERING HAS taken its toll on the Kraitz cabin. The NPS has sealed its doors to prevent passers by from entering.
SIMILAR CONSTRUCTION methods are visible inside the Shalda Cabin located on M-22 just past Bohemian Road.
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Page 12, Section 3 THE LEELANAU ENTERPRISE Thursday, July 5, 2012
By Corey L. FrostEnterprise intern
Lori and Michael Lyman are taking great strides to go green with their new home.
As a landscape architect, Lori Lyman had clear direction when she and her husband Michael began build-ing off Burdickville Road. The vision was to take steps in reducing their car-bon footprint while preserving and restoring the integrity of the property they were building on.
“It had to be ‘Up North’ materials, but with a different twist,” the 50-year-old Lori said. “I don’t think you’ll see this anywhere else.”
Lori, who’s has been vacationing in Leelanau County since 1969, bought property on Glen Lake in 2009 before purchasing the property for their cur-rent home in 2010. Lori knew what she was looking for, and handled the design and drawings of the house. She also consulted with other architects through-out the process.
“I’ve worked on a lot of really large custom homes,” she said. “I have a really good background in building construction and design, so I’m not the average bear.”
The fi rst step she took in developing both properties was to remove black locust trees, an invasive species. Nine of the trees were taken from the lake property; she spent another two years removing trees from the property on Burdickville Road.
“We used the locust trees to build the deck on this house and on the garden house by the lake,” Lyman said. “The rest was donated to the National Lakeshore and was used to construct boardwalks and other things.”
This was just the start of her plans for the eco-friendly home.
Lori Lyman has made efforts to incorporate native and adaptive plants in her landscaping. She’s not going to plant a lawn, instead focusing on keep-ing the property natural looking.
The walkway leading to the porch is made of stone recycled from another site, sparing it from being thrown away. The roof was designed with PAC-clad aluminum made of 85 percent recycled material.
The 40x40-foot house is quite the spectacle as well. The clear grade cedar siding and unique design has drawn curious people passing by into the short gravel driveway.
“It’s a custom cut,” Lori said. “Though it is a tongue and groove cedar, it has a custom bevel so you see more of a horizontal shadow line while getting a stronger reveal.
“As far as the style, I wanted to go with something contemporary, clean and simple.”
The uniqueness has drawn compari-sons to some Asian designs, though
Lori Lyman says it has more of a prai-rie infl uence as well as a little Frank Lloyd Wright. An overall contempo-rary feel was important, but she was adamant about creating a woodland look.
Inside the house maintains the same type of vision.
Very simple and clean, you won’t fi nd any shelves or ledges in need of dusting. What you will fi nd is beautiful quilts on the beds and natural looking grass cloth on the walls.
The interior is effi cient as well, tout-ing Energy Star appliances in the kitch-en and low-fl ush toilets in bathrooms. Lyman also used marmoleum linoleum fl ooring in the bathrooms, another very eco-friendly material.
Lori Lyman’s ultimate goal is to build a similar home on the lake prop-erty. This one however, will be built in hopes of earning a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) gold certifi cation.
To accomplish this, Lyman will work closely with other professionals on all levels of the home. From insula-tion to plumbing, each person will provide input to reach the highest lev-els of effi ciency.
“The idea is that if two heads are better than one, than six is better than two,” Lori said laughingly. “The gar-den house and this one are both little prototypes to establish materials and fi gure out what works best for when we build the other house.”
This move to go green is important to both Lori and Michael as they prog-ress toward their LEED certifi cation.
“If you look at the impact on the global economy, it only makes sense to do your fair share to minimize your
carbon footprint,” Michael said.Lori was in agreement.“We all need to take responsibility
and it’ll only happen through educa-tion,” Lori concluded. “That’s what the LEED process is all about.”
Lyman’s ‘Up North’ green home all about recycling and native plants
MICHAEL AND Lori Lyman have vacationed in Leelanau County most of their lives. They bought property on Glen Lake in 2009 and purchased the property for their current home the following year.
THE LYMAN’S home on Burdickville Road is made up of many environmentally friendly materials and features Energy Star appli-ances inside. The home itself was built facing south to harness the maximum amount of sunlight.
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After two years on the market, one county-built home in Northport has sold and another may have a buyer.
The homes are part of Leelanau County’s affordable housing program. Ron Crummel, housing coordinator for the county, said he is waiting to hear if a perspective buyer for the home at 187 West St. qualifi es for a mortgage.
Over the last couple of years the houses have been shown 27 times and 17 prospective homeowners have applied for loans, Crummel said. Some decided against the two-story home because they were elderly and it has too many stairs, they had young children and there was not enough of a yard, or because the garage was built for just one car.
“Their personal preferences and the characteristics of the home didn’t match,” Crummel said. “But the big-gest problem was the people being unable to get a mortgage.”
Sales fell through because hopeful buyers had income that was too low, credit ratings that weren’t high enough or they didn’t have enough time in on their jobs. Most standard lenders require people to have worked at their jobs for at least two years before quali-fying for a mortgage.
Denise Branch, a broker with Northern Leelanau Real Estate, said she has shown the homes several times.
“They are really great houses,” Branch said. “People love them. They’re brand new three bedroom, two bath homes that have never been lived in.”
But people with lower incomes often
do not have the greatest credit rating, she said, something that holds them back from home ownership.
The original sale price of the two homes was set at $115,000; the home at 183 West St. went under contract this month for $99,000, Crummel said. In November of 2011 the home was appraised at $151,000; in June it was appraised at $100,000.
It’s a sign of the times. In 2008, Crummel said, it was diffi cult to fi nd a home for sale for less than $125,000.
“But the market has really created affordable housing, which is a big rea-son why we’re not selling it,” Crummel said.
The county has been in the home-building market since 2002, he said. Four homes were constructed in Empire, three were built north of Cedar and an eight-unit condominium was
built in Lake Leelanau, all of which sold without problems.
Another three homes were built in Suttons Bay at the same time the Northport homes were going up, Crummel said. The Suttons Bay homes were similar in size to those in Northport, though they had a different design because the Northport homes were built into a hillside.
All three sold for $132,000 before they were even fi nished, he said. He attributes that to the fact that Suttons Bay is a little closer to Traverse City and it’s a “walkabout community” with amenities such as restaurants, shops and a theater, he said.
The people who have purchased the homes — about half of whom are sin-gle moms — have been happy with them.
“We’ve had families who have said
they never thought they would be able to afford a house,” he said.
The homes are built in part with a grant from the Michigan State Housing Development Authority. Buyers typi-cally spend much less on purchasing the homes than it costs to build them. To qualify a single person must earn less than $38,800; a two-person house-hold less than $44,400; a three-person less than $49,900 and a family of four must earn less than $55,500.
But they also must earn enough money; banks use a formula in which housing costs should be below 35 per-cent of a family’s monthly gross income.
“There are a lot of people in this county that don’t make that income and they’re not able to purchase a home,” Crummel said.
THIS HOME at 187 West St. in the Village of Northport has been on the market for two years. The home is in Leelanau County’s affordable housing program.
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The Covered Wagon • Jon's Barber Shop • Edward's Home Furnishings • Pleva's Meats • Dick's Pour HouseEast Traverse Catholic Federal Credit Union Lake Leelanau • Bunek's Hardware • Houdek's Pumping • Buntings Market • Dorthy's Beauty Shop
Coldwell Banker Schmidt Suttons Bay • Theresa's Beauty Salon • Two Fish Gallery • Leelanau Family Chiropractic • Leelanau Enterprise • Plantmasters Pedaling Beans • Julius Bunek Plumbing Heating & Electrical • St. Mary Parish Center 256-9676 • Development Office 256-9670
Many Thanks to school parents and the following area businesses where you may purchase a raffle ticket.
Page 14, Section 3 THE LEELANAU ENTERPRISE Thursday, July 5, 2012
Compiled byEnterprise intern Corey L. Frost
What
We’re
Thinking For this week’s “What We’re Thinking” feature, we asked
residents and visitors in Northport:
In Michigan, homes that are not the primary residence of their owners are taxed at a much higher rate than “homesteads” — a two-tier system of taxation that greatly
affects properties in Leelanau County. Do you agree with this concept of property
taxation based on use?
“I think you should get taxed at a higher rate. If you’re not living in the area, you’re not really supporting the local economy all year round by buying groceries and other goods that would help local business.” Dinah Harwood of Cambridge, England
pictured with Trish Dickens
“Yes. You can’t claim full residency in two places at one time, so one of them has to be your primary residence when you pay taxes.”
Guy Gattis, Ann Arbor
“No. It should be taxed at a lower rate in fact because it’s not used as much. You’re not using roads and other things as much, so from that standpoint it’s not fair.”
Janet Bunt, Windsor, Ontario with Janet Douglas
“To some extent. Whether what is being charged now is equitable for people, I’m not sure because I’ve heard different view points. But I think there should be some charge because it does help support schools.”
Colleen Cooper, Leelanau Township pictured with Katie Tajer, London, England
“I don’t think it’s very fair, probably due to the fact that (those with a second home) have little to no voice in the matter, so I’m somewhat against it because of that.” Fred Powell, Brooklyn, Mich.
“I agree they should be taxed at a higher rate than primary residencies because there’s a lot of money put into second homes and there’s no tax base on those homes. It’s as much a money shelter as it is an investment.”
Patrick Burguard, Leelanau Township
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Thursday, July 5, 2012 THE LEELANAU ENTERPRISE Section 3, Page 15
By Amy HubbellOf The Enterprise staff
Paul Richards is known to think “out of the box.”
And that’s just what the Empire Township man did when he built an octagonal home in Suttons Bay in the late 1980s and a round house about 20
years later on MacFarlane Road.“I’ve always been an ‘out of the box’
thinker,” said Richards, who moved into his round home in December 2008. “This (round) house has a kind of Native American bent because of the circle, it signifi es the circle of life to me.”
The home, located just east of Burdickville Hill, replaced a 1940s cot-tage which had seen better days.
“It was on a crawlspace which fi lled with water each spring,” Richards said. “Mold became an issue so we had to take it down.”
Richards, who established the Suttons Baykery in the 1980s, decided on a round house design for its energy effi -ciency and to take advantage of the technological improvements made over the past two decades.
The home, which measures 50 feet in diameter, rests on a block foundation. However, the six-inch thick walls are made of insulated concrete forms (ICF) and have an R-value of 51.
“They are six times stronger than a conventional wall,” Richards said.
The one-story home features a cupola at the circle’s center around which Tibetan prayer fl ags are draped. The remainder of the home has 10-foot ceil-
PAUL AND Janice Richards home on MacFarlane Road in Empire Township is a curiosity for motor-ized and non-motor-ized passersby.
PAUL RICHARDS stands next to the curved countertop in his round house in Empire Township.
Empire’s round house energy-effi cient
(Concluded on Page 16)
CAN YOU RUN FASTER THAN THE BEAR???CAN YOU RUN FASTER THAN THE BEAR???Glen Arbor Women's Club Presents the
6th Annual Running Bear 5K Run/Walk and 1/2 Mile Kid's Run 6th Annual Running Bear 5K Run/Walk and 1/2 Mile Kid's Run Proceeds to Support Glen Lake High School Scholarships & Community Projects
Date:Date: Tuesday, July 24, 2012 -rain or shineTime:Time: Registration begins at 7:30 a.m. 5K Run/Walk, 9:00 a.m, Kid's Run, 9:05 a.m.Age Groups: 12 & under, 13-19, 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, 70-79, 80 & upAge Groups: 12 & under, 13-19, 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, 70-79, 80 & upWhere:Where: Race begins and ends at Cherry RepublicCherry Republic, Glen ArborCost:Cost: 5K: $15 if turned in by July 23, $18 after, Kid's race: $5
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For more info: www.runningbearrun.com or call 231-334-7363Registration Forms available at Glen Arbor Athletic Club, Cherry Republic,
M-22 Store in G.A. and Running Fit in T.C.Our thanks to Cherry Republic, our ad sponsorOur thanks to Cherry Republic, our ad sponsor
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Page 16, Section 3 THE LEELANAU ENTERPRISE Thursday, July 5, 2012
ings, which provide ample room for Richards’ 6’9” frame.
“There are no load-bearing walls so that allows for a lot more fl exibility if you decide to remodel,” he said.
Richards and his wife, Janice, lived in a rental next door during the construc-tion process which, because they did much of the work themselves, took about a year.
Not wanting to have carpet, the Richards selected polished concrete fl oors under which heat tubes were installed.
“It’s polished concrete seeded with stones — all from Michigan,” Richards said. “The concrete fl oor made more sense long term.”
The interior walls of the home are curved, which the Richards said added some time to the installation of the kitchen cabinets, but it wasn’t anything he’d consider a “challenge.”
Adding interest to the cabinets are their hardware which are metal butter-fl ies and dragonfl ies
Countertops are also curved, covered in laminate. Although that too will be converted to concrete as time and money allows, he said.
Energy effi ciency of the home has proven impressive.
“We’ve cut our utility cost by two-thirds,” Richards said.
During the winter, the round house holds heat for days. And in the summer, maintains a constant temperature of
about 78 degrees.“It’s been 104 out here on the patio
and it was 78 in doors,” the home owner said. “In the winter, it’s been close to 20 below outdoors and it stays about 68 in the house.”
The exterior of the house doesn’t lend itself to the application of customary materials such as wood or vinyl. Richards covered the exterior in stucco. The circular house and nearby “guest house,” also a circle but smaller, are a curiosity to passersby, including many cyclists attempting to climb Burdickville Hill.
“We hear everything. Most of the time it’s ‘What is that?’” Richards said.
Another repeated query is how the Richards arrange furniture in a home with round walls?
The response is simple.“Every room has at least one
90-degree corner,” he said, smiling.Like any homeowner, Richards said
there are a couple things he’d like to add to the mix.
“The attic has extreme temperatures and new technology will allow me to warm our water by running it through the attic,” Richards said.
The only thing he’d change?“I’d have the vegetable garden I
didn’t plant this year because the deer keep eating it,” he said. “We may end up putting in fruit trees and the vegetables behind the house. A 10-foot fence to keep the critters out (on the front lawn) wouldn’t look that great.”
Empire’s round houseContinued from Page 15
A CUPOLA in the center of Paul Richards’ house, which m e a s u r e s 50-feet in diam-eter, is adorned with Tibetan prayer fl ags.
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M A G I C H A P P E N S A T T H E O L D A R T B U I L D I N G !
Please Join Us for the 20th Annual Art Leelanau Benefit Exhibition at the Old Art Building! Featuring Over 90 Leelanau ArtistsSponsored in part by Biggs Construction & Northwestern BankThe Opening Night Gala: Friday, July 27 from 5pm until 8pm. Music by the John Lindenau QuartetA donation of $25 ($30 at the door) includes hors d’oeuvres. Cash bar.Tickets are available at Leelanau Books in Leland, The Painted Bird in Suttons Bay, or by calling 231-256-2131. Exhibit continues through August 1
