8/10 Good
Brian b., S E Michigan
19 Aug 2023
Liked: Cleanliness
Nice Benzie County Retreat
Great location. Nice lake. Home has many good features. Great selection of kayaks, canoe, paddleboards and life jackets. Floor plan is good w decent furniture. Well stocked kitchen. Window AC in two bedrooms. The firepit is great with excellent seating. The view is fantastic.
The house has lots of little issues that could easily be fixed and a couple bigger issues.
Little issues: No walk or stepping stones between drive and front door (so if damp you track in sand and grass), door wall very difficult to slide, bedroom and bathroom door knobs that don't work, one sink faucet very difficult to operate, huge gaps under bedroom and bath doors, terrible trim work or trim missing completely, filthy under couches, beds and top of refridge, fridge and freezer doors do not seal and the master bed is so high that at 6'3" I still had to hop up to sit on it!
Bigger issues: the pictures show property lined by pines which you hope provide some privacy. Unfortunately, the pines are old and most lower branches are dead and provide little screening. The biggest problem is the seawall and lake frontage. I measured lake bottom to top of seawall at 57" - yeah almost five feet tall! So if you stand in the water, good luck getting a kayak or canoe up the seawall. The lake drops off very slowly. Depth at end of the long dock is maybe 4'. No diving and a mucky/sand lake bottom makes for poor swimming from shore.
All in all, a good lake home at a fair price and we'd consider a return visit.
Brian b.
Stayed 6 nights in Aug 2023