Join us for a premier one-day home tour featuring 13 beautiful homes, thoughtfully designed and surrounded by stunning landscapes in Grand Traverse and Leelanau counties. The Traverse City Area Northern Home & Cottage Home Tour is Saturday, September 16 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Below is a sneak peek inside home #11, a coastal makeover on Old Mission Peninsula.

Proceeds raised during the Traverse City Area Home Tour will benefit Northern Michigan non-profit, Child and Family Services of Northwestern Michigan. Save money by purchasing tickets online at MyNorthTickets.com or by calling 800.836.0717. Online ticket sales end Friday, September 15 at noon. Tickets are also available at the door.

Address: 8538 Peninsula Dr, Traverse City (Old Mission Peninsula)
(Note: Northern Home & Cottage magazine had the house number wrong; this is correct.)

Directions: Beginning in Traverse City at the intersection of S Garfield and E Front Street: Travel north onto Garfield, continuing onto Peninsula Drive about 0.6 mile. Turn left at second traffic light to remain on Peninsula Drive. Continue 2.7 miles.

Designer: Kristin Lutz Interiors, 231.632.5612This is a Cinderella tale about a ’70s chalet-style A-frame transformed into a stunning nautical-flavored home that is worthy of its setting on Old Mission Peninsula. Nope, no fairy godmother here. Just the vision and skill of designer Kristin Lutz, architect Jessica Vanhouzen and builder Jack Biedron.

The makeover began on the exterior, where gray shingles replaced a retro-style glass wall. New white-trimmed windows, including one shaped like a porthole near the roof peak, and a set of glass entry doors, let in plenty of light as well as the gorgeous view of West Grand Traverse Bay.

The original floor plan of the home had just two small bedrooms on the first floor and another on the second. To find more room for the homeowner and her three children, the architect merged an attached garage with the house. Conveniently, the property also included a detached garage that the architect cleverly joined with a long breezeway filled with light and tricked out with storage solutions.

After adding the extra space, the fun began. Picture white shiplap on the high-pitched great room ceiling, a fireplace with a shiplap façade, an oak floor stained a silvery tone and new kitchen cabinetry, including a small but functional island with a base that is painted a nautical blue. The homeowner’s baby grand piano tucked into a corner of the great room, and walls painted an understated blue (Stonington Gray by Benjamin Moore) add elegance that is balanced by touches like a sliding barn door on the closet.

The homeowners’ two sons share one wing of the home, which includes a bathroom imbued with masculinity: ceramic tile that looks like old barn siding, a black granite trough sink and a stone floor.

The ground-floor master suite on the other side of the home is a luxurious gem, with a huge soaking tub, ceramic tile that mimics marble, and a sublime touch of convenience: en suite washer and dryer. Upstairs, built-in beds in the loft area (overlooking the great room) make extra space for guests or the perfect place to cuddle up with a book on a rainy day. The homeowners’ daughter’s room is tucked under the eaves and filled with fun wallpaper including polka dots and a Kate Spade pattern.

Tourgoers beware: This is the kind of renovation that makes you want to go home and start swinging a hammer!

Preview all 13 homes on the Traverse Area Home Tour in the August 2017 issue of Northern Home & Cottage.


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Photo(s) by Dave Speckman