The Timeless cottage

A SEASONED NORTHERN MICHIGAN DESIGN-AND-BUILD TEAM CREATES A NEW HOME THAT FITS PERFECTLY INTO A VENERABLE OLD RESORT COMMUNITY.

- ELIZABETH EDWARDS

The owners of this gracious home had been bringing their family for summer vacations to Harbor Springs for years, eventually purchasing a condominium in town where they were happy. Happy, that is, until friends told them about one of the last undeveloped lots in nearby Roaring Brook, one of Harbor Springs’ oldest resort communities. The opportunity to summer in this enclave of Victorian cottages that line Little Traverse Bay seemed almost unimaginably idyllic. It took a bit, but once the idea took root, “We pulled the trigger—bought the land and then moved quickly,” says the homeowner.

The couple knew from the get-go that they wanted their home to fit into the community. With that in mind, they hired Nick White, of NJ White Associates in Petoskey. Nick is renowned for designs that preserve the local Victorian vernacular on the exterior while ensuring the home is tailored to modern family living on the interior. “When designing a new lakefront home in a community of traditional, Victorian or Shingle Style homes, we are always torn between the exterior look and the interior floor plan,” Nick says. “The old-fashioned floor plan of a separate entryway, parlor, living room and dining room doesn’t fit with today’s resort living style.”