The name for Gretchen and Britt Diver’s new Suttons Bay cottage is a play on the phrase you-oughta-want-to-be-here, made up by her Grandfather years ago. A little hokey maybe, but oh yeah, the divers want to be here.
It’s hard to believe that Gretchen and Britt Diver’s waterfront cottage near Lee Point in Suttons Bay came from a kit that was built in 1977.
The 1,800-square-foot, four-bedroom, three-bath house with dazzling 180-degree views of Grand Traverse Bay is cozy and modern, with a two-story wall of windows on the back and a walkout lower level with cozy built-ins that can sleep 14 people.
This cottage is a rare find in a tight housing market. In fact, the couple was already under contract for a nearby inland farmhouse when this one came on the market.
“The cottage just popped up out of nowhere. The price was really good,” says Gretchen, an interior designer. She and Britt drove up from downstate the next day, looked at it, looked at each other, and put in their offer that day.
Photo by Dave Weidner
They lost their earnest money for the other house, but Gretchen says that was fair, and besides, her husband was way more excited about this place. “Happy husband, happy life,” she twists the old adage. “The one I wanted, he didn’t want to do anything to, but with this, he wanted to do everything. He even bought a boat.”
They moved here last June after their son Copeland was accepted as a student at Interlochen Center for the Arts. At 17, he’s already a Michigan film actor. His two older brothers are Mac, 22, and Luke, 20.
On day one, the couple started tearing out the walls— which were simply paneling nailed onto the studs—and began reconfiguring the entire orientation of the living space.
“We took it down to the studs, and kept all the original wood floors that we could,” says Gretchen. They painted the center brick fireplace white and laid a herringbone slate floor over the old linoleum. They bought stock cabinetry, which they painted white and enhanced with white painted barn wood. “The only upper cabinet in the kitchen is a primitive cabinet I found years ago, which I decided to hang instead of set on the floor,” Gretchen says.
Photo by Dave Weidner
Luckily, the house kit came from Lindal Cedar Homes, well known in the North country for sturdy bones and longevity. This was no exception, with beautiful ceiling beams, which are now painted black, and the entire main space painted in a clean, crisp black-and-white scheme.
They pushed the original dining area over to make way for an eat-in kitchen and added three chandeliers for ample lighting. Gretchen found a massive sectional, which seats 10 people, perfect for watching movies when the kids’ friends visit.
Every room of the cottage holds interesting pieces, such as the antique side tables in the guest room from France, or the set of six thrift-shop dining chairs Gretchen bought for less than $100 and painted, distressed, waxed and reupholstered herself. “I tend to favor a story behind everything I purchase and display,” Gretchen says.
The walkout lower level is huge, finished with a full bath and bedroom, lots of storage nooks as well as built-in bunk beds. Big doors open to a patio with a pergola and a table with seating for 12. Traffic flows in and out and up and down the brand-new steps (about 100) and dock, which take them down 75 feet to the water. After the high water of the last few years, a new wall of rocks guarantees an erosion-proof beach
Photo by Dave Weidner
Photo by Dave Weidner
One of the things Gretchen loves most about the cottage is the site, which sits directly across the bay from Old Mission Peninsula, where she spent every summer growing up. That cemented her love for the area. Her grandfather, a General Motors executive and private pilot, owned a cottage and 15 acres just above Bowers Harbor, where the whole family made beautiful Michigan memories.
At their new cottage, there’s a driftwood sign over the back doors that reads “Uahtawanta.” It’s just like the one Gretchen’s grandfather made with a magnifying glass and the sun to burn the letters into the wood.
“I replicated it for our cottage,” Gretchen says. “The family cottage was on Neahtawanta Point and he changed it to Uahtawanta because ‘you oughta want to’ be here. It had a lot of meaning to everyone who went to the cottage. So, it holds the same in ours.”
Photo by Dave Weidner
Photo by Dave Weidner
Uahtawanta Cottage Building Resources
Interior Design
Gretchen Diver, Gingham Girl Designs, gdiver01@comcast.net, 248.563.8085
Stairs, Basement & Garage
Popa Construction, joshpopaconstruction.com
Updated Lighting
EA Electric Traverse City, eaelectrician.com
Photo by Dave Weidner