More about This Magnificent Log Home
At any time of year there’s nothing like being at this property early or late in the day. Ansel Adams called it the time for “sweet light.” The setting sun paints the pines and the arc of the bay with a soft red light.
Welcome to Lake Superior and Saux Head Lake.
It’s difficult to choose between an inland lake and the drama of Lake Superior. Inland lakes offer warm-water swimming and water sports, sailing, canoeing, fishing and serenity. Superior is on a different scale: dramatic, grand, and beautiful. This property has both: 500 on a quiet Huron Mountain lake with granite hills and sand beaches, and 500 on mighty Lake Superior. Here, you don’t have to choose . The setting matches your mood: majestic and grand, or peaceful and introspective.
The land between the lakes is high and beautifully forested with large red and white pines, maple and oak. It was originally part of Louis Kaufman’s Granot Loma, a property from the last century that is often called Michigan’s Biltmore Estate. The Saux Head Point Association purchased and divided it into seventeen large parcels with a 640-acre common area of forest, a 100 foot common access site on Saux Head Lake, and a full mile of vacant Lake Superior frontage to the north. This property is Saux Head Point Association parcel #14.
The home was completed in 1998 and was quickly featured on the cover of Log Home Living that July. It was also profiled in the September issue of the magazine, and later the floor plan was featured as one of the best. It was built to last with large, full-scribed red pine logs (including the five dormers, which is difficult), massive fireplaces made of stones picked from the Superior shore, and many handmade fixtures. There are five bedrooms, four and a half baths, four fireplaces, and the dramatic great room. The home has about 5,300 square feet of finished living space on three levels. Ancillary buildings include a two-car garage and a log gazebo with a view. Balconies above and large decks below ring the house and lead to a stone fire pit near the lake and the gazebo.
The unusual and wonderful furnishings and accents are too numerous to describe here. Most are described in detail in an attached document, which also includes information such as room dimensions and taxes. Read it if you’d like to know more by clicking right here.
Just a few examples:
The front door is of triple laminated cherry set on five stainless ball bearing hinges. This door weighs 200 pounds, is 2 1/2 inches thick, and was hand-carved with scenes of deer, loons and oak leaves by Jeff Ayers of Jeff Ayers Custom Woodworking, Cambridge, Massachusetts. A gnarled oak spreads its branches across the glass, where a pair of flying mallards are etched. Accented by bronze hardware, this front door is spectacular.
A giant chandelier called The Buffalo Hunt dominates the great room in front of a massive Lake Superior stone fireplace. The chandelier is 48-inches in diameter and was crafted of hand-hammered steel with a rawhide tepee set atop a hand painted shield. Around the perimeter, mounted horsemen with lances raised pursue running buffalo. This dramatic fixture was designed and crafted by Fighting Bear Antiques of Jackson, Wyoming.
And outside it has a feature you might not notice: a ramp to the beach, something very few people have or can get permitted anymore. It makes getting water toys, chairs, dinner and drinks a snap compared with maintaining stairs.
The Noquemanon Saux Head trail system is close by, a treat for those who love skiing or snowshoeing in winter, and those who jog in the summer.
Out of town, this country feels like a frontier. Bald eagles, pileated woodpeckers, moose, martin, mink, black bear and timber wolves support that impression, yet you are only minutes from the U.P.’s largest city.
Marquette, just 20 minutes to the south, has the regional brand new hospital, regional airport, regional seaport, and a variety of city services, shopping, and cultural activities including Division I sports (hockey) at Northern Michigan University. There is an excellent downhill ski area, and two harbors for big-water boating. Bike Magazine proclaimed Marquette to be one of The 5 Best Places to Live & Ride, and there’s endless room in the area for snowmobiling, cross country skiing, fishing, hunting, exploring and plain wandering with friends. Or, if you choose, room to be very much all by yourself.
Reduced to $785,000 — a truly excellent price for premiere waterfront on Lake Superior and Saux Head Lake so close to Marquette.
