Birdseye

This camp is architect/owner designed and built. Its name comes from Birdseye maples on the property, a few of which were used to panel the Birdseye Room, this perfectly sized camp`s elegant version of a "great room". Birdseye Camp comes furnished with all the basic needs, excepting only some personal items and family mementos, which you`ll quickly replace as you make it your own. It`s complete with a guesthouse/garage/shop building, several additional outbuildings, trout and beaver ponds, the best council fire setting you can imagine, flowing streams, big trees and a web of marked hiking trails in the timber leading to the 70 mile viewshed from the high ridge, high panoramic views of Lake Superior and the Huron Mountains. The diversity of terrain and plant species on this property is extraordinary and wonderful.

Looking for a place to bring friends, family, and business associates? As many as 8 to 10 people can comfortably sleep in the main building, with 4-5 more in the guest house. Go there all alone or with family when you need to recharge your spirit and you`ll savor the privacy. Need the perfect place to write that novel? This is a deep-in-the-north-woods-feeling kind of place close to town, a quiet, comfortable camp conveniently near Marquette that is as private as you want it to be. Sitting room

The 160-acre square quarter section of land has dramatic topography that attracted its owner more than 30 years ago -- a deep valley with basalt mountaintops and a few remaining monarch virgin pines to the south, near-vertical (up to 70%) slopes on the rock cliffs to the north, and an interesting series of rolling hills called "kames" in between.

Kames were formed as rivers and lakes, laden with sand, gravel, boulders, and till formed on top of the melting ice as it retreated. Vertical fissures or holes developed in the massive ice sheets. As water flowed down through these fissures it carried these materials to the valley below. The larger the hole, the larger the aggregate size. As the depositions built up large mounds were formed, often graded to the same sized stones and till. These kames can be seen traveling down to and at the camp and the top of each one represents the location of the original fissure or hole. The walls around the camp and entrance roads were all built of boulders salvaged from the kame that the guesthouse is built into.

These stones and boulders were also put to good use in low walls along the entry road designed in a way that makes them seem to grow naturally from the land. They are your first hint that something unusual lies ahead: meandering grassy meadows, cardinal flower, iris, and other native wildflowers, streams, creeks, a pond, brook trout, a playful, wonderful camp in the Huron Mountains. The Little Garlic River`s headwaters spring from the rock just upstream. There`s even a waterfall in spring, a big one you can see in the slide show. Birdseye kitchen

The owner fell in love with this land as a student at Northern Michigan University in Marquette and bought his first "40" back in 1976. Twelve years later, after starting to build the main camp, he acquired the remaining three forties to reunite the quarter section that he had originally been offered in 1976 but was unable to afford. Over the next 15 years the site and various structures evolved into what you see now. Against all advice and common sense, most of the work was done in the middle of the winter, as that was when the time was available.

He`s now a highly successful landscape architect. You can view his web page and get a taste of the design skills used at Birdseye camp at http://www.landscapeartistry.net/.

That will give you some understanding of the creativity, design and craftsmanship you`ll see in the main house. Actually, you probably won`t see the house at first -- it`s nearly invisible in the timber along the Little Garlic. The interior design is unusual and wonderful. The pictures in the slide show will give you the flavor of it. Those hemlock beams were cut in Henry Ford`s original mill, which has now burned and is gone. Most of the house is paneled in northern white cedar with hemlock ceilings and cabinets of red and white pine. The sub-floors are also made of hemlock. Construction on the original cabin began in 1986.

The guesthouse and shop is 24`x 32` below with three garage doors and a shop on the lower level. The second floor is 24` x 24` with two bedrooms, a sitting room with a small kitchen attached, and a bathroom w/shower. It is finished like an Adirondacks Camp and truly needs to be seen to be appreciated.
Bog

The location is a great one off County Road 510, the first half of it blacktop and the last hand a gravel road to the turn onto the property a dozen miles northwest of Marquette. County 510 connects to all the major snowmobile trails in the area. Marquette is an "All American City," one of the 30 "Most Livable Communities" in the country, and one of the "most active small arts communities." It's the Upper Peninsula's largest city and its location just 20 minutes to the southeast is a significant contributor to the value of this land.

Some of the best restaurants in the U.P. are within a 20-minute drive. You can enjoy historic Peter White Library and a variety of museums and galleries Maritime Museum. If the need arises it`s nice to know that Marquette General Hospital, the U.P.'s regional health care facility with 200 physicians, is ten minutes down the road. Before you leave Marquette stop at Thill's Fish Market. I recommend fresh whitefish fillets for dinner!

Here`s the crowning feature: On the east the property adjoins a 12,000-acre block of protected land. 5,000 acres is state land and the rest is protected under a perpetual Nature Conservancy easement with Echo Lake at its center. Echo is 4 miles to the east and Lake Superior is 2 1/2 miles further. If you are a hiker, or cross country skier, this is a huge amount of room to roam in protected country near Marquette. It doesn`t come better than this. Winter veiw of house

The property comes with insurable legal access (too many U.P. properties do not) and apparently (we need to confirm this with a full legal search) something that is even more unusual in the U.P.: full mineral rights. There is a high-tech propane generator and battery storage system that provides ample electric power. There`s also a caretaker familiar with the (fairly minimal) required maintenance and operation of the property.

The owner loves this place and has recorded a conservation easement written to forever preserve the singular beauty of the steep slopes, ponds and ridge lines. It provides that the land may not be divided or the timber harvested in a commercial cut. Any additional construction is limited to the 12 1/2 acres surrounding the existing structures so there is abundant room to add to the building complex if that is your choice. The text of the recorded easement is available on request.

I am excited about this listing. It`s just the kind of place I love with beauty, utility, and depth, where new discoveries wait both in the buildings and on the land. The more you look, the more you`ll find. It`s an enchanting place, a one-of-a-kind property that will speak to you on many levels. You won`t find its equal at this price.

$579,000

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Disclaimer
The information presented in this web site is and by nature will likely always be a "work in progress" subject to errors, omissions and revision. It is intended as a primer for those interested in buying U.P. real estate and contains personal observations and opinions with which others may disagree. It was obtained from sources deemed reliable, but is not warranted by Dick Huey or Huey Real Estate.