Bayfront, Refined Rustic, Hand Crafted Log Interior Cottage

     Briefly: Indian Beach Lodge is an all season, 2,200 square ft, two level timber frame, log interior, cottage using full round debarked logs fit together with mortise and tendon as found in traditional English barns; one lower, master bedroom, thee upper bedrooms, 2 full Baths; large screened in front porch overlooking bay front, 5 skylights, steel roof, heated with Russian style, Envirotech, field stone clad, wood furnace, poured concrete foundation, 3 crawl space. The cottage is heavily insulated for easy, cozy, winter heating. There is a two story 2.5 car insulated (heated) garage with 26X28 upper, open beam artist studio and a stand alone Finish Sauna on the beach.  

History and details: After initiating development of Northport Point, in the last years of the nineteenth century, founder George Winans, in 1924 move to the other side of Northport Bay to start Indian Beach Subdivision. As a center piece for his new resort Indian Beach Lodge was built to attract flapper era, summer resorters, traveling here on Great Lakes Steamers from Detroit and Chicago.  The rustic, old lodge was torn down in 1990. This new Indian Beach Lodge, now a large cottage, was named for the original. It was built by G. Winans grandson Craig Brigham, the owner, and completed in 1997.

Continuing: The high front windows, that look out on Northport Bay, light the open floor plan that includes the kitchen, dinning and living room under a 25 ft pine paneled ceiling.  The cottage is a beautiful, stylish, year around home that has been featured twice in the local slick, Living Style section of Traverse Magazine.

The upper level has three pine-paneled bedrooms with large beams overhead making them intimate and romantically rustic. It has a full bath and workout area that doubles for TV viewing and lounge. This open room looks over the downstairs living room and is cordoned off by a black walnut, structural, timber railing with custom installed black ash sapling spindles into the large Ironwood railing by local, hand-made furniture craftsman John Kinker.

IBL was designed and built for personal use by the artist/designer owner in collaboration with Sam Marts, a Chicago Architect. Upon seeing the completed new construction Sam was heard to remark this is a very special house.  Using large timber from an adjacent pine forest the interior is unique with exposed, heavy, white pine and cedar timbers similar to western mountain ski lodges. There is a large field stone fireplace in the center of the living room that hides an efficient, green, Envirotech Russian style, wood furnace that is also a fireplace. The 26 tons of fieldstone provide the heat sink that amply heats the cottage in winter.  

Out buildings:There is a medium sized Finish sauna bath (electric) with cold water shower, on the beach in front; the garage at the rear, across the driveway is a 26X28 timber frame, insulated, two level garage with open beam upper level 26x28 artists studio with 4 skylights covered with a steel roof. Adjacent to the garage is a one car, carport. There are maple hardwood floors through out.

Off the kitchen/dinning room, through French doors, is a large 21X14 L shaped, screened in porch. Its perfect for breakfast or elegant evening entertaining dining during summer daze. Its also perfect for lounging, board games, jig saw puzzles, reading, watching the ducks, geese and swans out front and listening to music from the large stereo system wired there from the living room location.

 The porch has roll down, clear plastic curtains for dinning in chilly or wet weather. The day bed also doubles as an extra sleeping bed popular with kids. IBL, on the southern end of Northport Bay, is quiet and private.

The lodge is 2 miles south of Northport, 12 miles north of Suttons Bay or Leland and 23 miles from Traverse City near the northern end of the Leelanau Peninsula.  IBL is situated on a beautiful shallow, warm water bay with 91 feet of sandy beach frontage.

The private 8x8 Finish sauna bath is stand-alone building on the beach with cold-water shower. It's perfect for an evening sauna and plunge in the water during the long summer twilight evenings. IBL, on the southern end of Northport Bay, is quiet and private.  

The location of Indian Beach Lodge is surrounded by a rural neighborhood of rolling hills, cherry and apple orchards and grape vineyards that produce some of the worlds greatest wines, especially whites.  

 IBL is designed to be easily closed without heating during winter absence. It has five valves in the crawl space for draining all water supply pipes. This process plus the hot water heater takes fifteen minutes.    

A note on the immediate neighborhood. IBL is priced to sell now at this rather discounted price. A similar bay-front home, but without the charm of IBL, three doors to the west sold at the hight of the current recession for 1.2 million dollars in 2009.

Note: A negotiable, five year financing plan is available to you on a state registered, protected, Michigan Land Contract; Please contact me for additional information, discussion of options and a viewing appointment at (231) 386-7304.

Sincerely, Craig Brigham, owner.