Dean and I decided we wanted to spend more time with the Michigan kids, so we started looking for a vacation home there. We had some big decisions. Do we keep or sell the cabin? How far from Amanda's should we be looking? Lake front? How much are we willing to spend? So many decisions! We started making decisions....and life changed, a lot!
We found this tiny little cottage on a lake, 37 minutes from Amanda's house (36 miles). The lot is amazing, the homes next to it are big and much newer. Ours was build in 1940. Sounded like a fun project. We decided to sell the cabin, so when we are in Utah, our time isn't divided between our home and the cabin. When we are in Michigan, we are not overstaying our welcome at Amanda's.
We called this the "saggy roof house".
Amanda and Nora went and checked it out for us before we made the drive out.
We drove out from Utah to close on the Michigan house, and get started. (We now refer to this house as the "Lake House".)We stayed at Mason and Allison's house in Lincoln, Nebraska. They are exactly half way between Utah and Michigan. It was so fun to meet their kids and catch up with Mason and Allison.
We closed on our house on May 7. Now the fun begins!
Our plan is to take off the roof, add a second story, remove the bay window, and add garage that over laps the house where the bay window is.
This wall heater stopped working the first night we spent at the house.
There is no furnace in this cottage. I have sense learned that a cottage means a structure that only gets used on the weekends, not someone's home. Similar to what we would call a cabin...I think.
The total square footage is just over 850. About 600 on the main floor, and a attic room or about 250. Our plan is to make the upstairs the same size as the downstairs, which means it will be over 1200 sq ft. The main floor has 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom, Kitchen, living room (9x9) and some random space that is about 5 ft x 8ft. Not even big enough for a couch or a bed.
Time to start drawing!
Dean drew up our plans, and submitted them to the township. We had to do a separate application for the garage, because it was going to need a zoning variance, and we didn't want that process to slow down working on the house.
Mike, Amanda, and kids (and Phoebe and Simon) came to check out the place!
Nobody is allowed to have fences back by the lake, so it's one big field of grass. Super friendly neighbors.
We are learning about lake life. Never had to repair a dock before!
We made the decision to sell that cabin while we were in Michigan. So after spending 2 weeks at our new Lake house, we headed back to Utah to try to get the cabin sold. We weren't issued our building permit yet, so we were pretty limited on what we could do to the house before we left for Utah on May 18.
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