It’s easy to get excited about a shiny new home, but when we come across a well-worn, well-loved lakefront cottage like this one, we can’t help but fall in love. Yeah, it needs a little work here and there, but what lake house doesn’t? The only thing missing from these photos is family, but if you look hard enough you can almost see them, swinging in the hammocks, heating coffee on that gorgeous stove, sitting around a crackling fire on a cool fall evening.
This gem of a home is in Glen Arbor, Michigan, near Traverse City – way up there on Lake Michigan. Like any good lakefront cottage, the inside has exposed studs and rafters, well worn floorboards, and great views of the water.
The old wood fireplace surround probably isn’t original to the house, but it has SO much character! You’d be nuts to repaint it, right?
We’ve always been intrigued by stair balusters like these, cut from 1X boards instead of turned on a lathe. The baby blue of the balusters and the wall boards is lovely!
Here’s a screened porch we could live on! No TV needed.
Love this loft bedroom, tucked up under the roof. The spaces created by the wall studs and blocking make wonderful shelves.
Best room in the house? We think so – imagine the sunset views from this balcony…
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