618 Detroit Ave, Lake Orion, MI
For sale: $419,000
The lakeside community of Lake Orion was a popular weekend getaway for wealthy Detroit residents in 1900, when this Victorian was built. In its heyday Bellevue Island, where this home is located, had an amusement park with an old wooden roller coaster.
Now the quiet community about an hour outside Detroit is known more for its great school district. The sellers raised two daughters in the three-bedroom, two-bath home while restoring its unique features.
"They brought it back to life over the last 20 years," said Leslie Mihalak, the RE/MAX listing agent.
Most notable are the home's two copper-topped towers: A five-story working lighthouse on the lakefront side serves as a hidden fort, accessible via ladder from one of the bedrooms. On the land side of the house, a second tower looks like a windmill.
The owners painted the original cedar-shake siding a raspberry color, and the bottom of the house is constructed of fieldstone. Inside, the home is modernized with an updated kitchen, granite countertops and wood floors. There are beautiful views of the lake, two docks and a patio.
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