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Credit: Next Door Photos
Property owners Seamas O’Driscoll and Dr. Todd Bolthouse built two guest houses on the three Saugatuck Township properties they acquired.
After assembling three properties, building two custom homes and spending $1 million on an extensive erosion barrier, a West Michigan couple is picking up stakes to live in Europe and wants to find a buyer for the vacation compound they created on Lake Michigan.
Researcher, narratologist and Boston native Seamas O’Driscoll and his husband, Corewell Health urologist Dr. Todd Bolthouse, who’s originally from Grandville, a suburb of Grand Rapids, listed three parcels totaling about 3 acres along Lakeshore Drive in Saugatuck Township for a combined $8.9 million.
Credit: Next Door Photos
The northern and middle parcels contain two newly built homes of about 2,900 and 3,200 square feet apiece, and the third lot is permitted and ready to build. Each lot has about 100 feet of Lake Michigan frontage.
The properties are being marketed together, although Grant said separate offers would be entertained if the package deal doesn’t sell.
The couple acquired two of the three properties, which were vacant lots at the time, for $700,000 in 2019. When a neighbor whose cottage was at risk of sliding into the lake from erosion decided to sell an adjacent lot three years later, they bought it for $900,000 and knocked down the dwelling to start fresh.
Credit: Next Door Photos
To ensure the houses they planned to build would not be lost to erosion, the couple hired Boston-based Bishop Land Design to build a massive $1 million, 310-foot-wide barrier that’s expected to protect the three lots for generations.
“They just did such a great job. It’s kind of like the unsung hero, because it just seems like infrastructure to people, but we were able to get a road out of it,” O’Driscoll said, referring to a golf cart road that traverses the property down to the beach. “And it’s just such a luxury to be able to know that you are safe for hundreds of years.
“It’s one of the features that I think is just really, really a selling point for this property.”
O’Driscoll and Bolthouse hired draftsman Alberto Gomez to draw up plans for two of three houses they envisioned on the northern and middle lots and tapped builder Neal Kelley, of Georgetown Township-based North Cove Builders, to construct the houses.
Credit: Next Door Photos
The northern cottage was completed in February, except for the basement, which they plan to leave for a buyer to finish. The middle cottage is built and the interior is being finished.
O’Driscoll and Bolthouse also engaged Milan, Italy-based architect Alberto Proserpio to design plans for a third, Italian-style single-level house they hoped to build and live in on the southern lot, although they didn’t end up starting that project.
Their vision for the three lots was to create a family estate for vacations, with one house for the property owners and two for friends and relatives. They also thought about the resale value of a compound located in Saugatuck Township, which allows homes to be used as short-term rentals, O’Driscoll said.
Credit: Next Door Photos
But their plans to finish the project and begin using it didn’t quite play out as expected.
“We actually came to final design (on the southernmost home) and then I got this opportunity in Europe,” O’Driscoll said, referring to a contract his firm, Epitome Consulting, landed for which the couple is now planning to move to Ireland. “We’re in our mid-50s now … and Todd was like, ‘We’ll never get a chance to do this again.’ I said, ‘You’re right.’ So that’s kind of why we’re now in this position of (selling), even though we absolutely adore this property.”
O’Driscoll said he hopes a buyer emerges who appreciates the “flexible” design of the two completed homes and the potential uses of the three lots. But more than that, he hopes they appreciate its beauty.
“The thing about this place that’s so intoxicating are the sunsets,” he said. “They are literally just crazy. You just sit there and go, ‘I can’t believe I’m watching this.’”
Credit: Next Door Photos
The sellers also hope prospective buyers appreciate the craftsmanship of the homes themselves, which are built with luxury finishings, fixtures and appliances. O’Driscoll relied on Gomez’s expertise as a draftsman while tackling the interior design himself. The northern cottage has more of a Venetian style, while the middle draws on art deco influences.
The northern and middle cottages have mirror image floor plans, though the middle one has a finished walkout lower level with a full kitchen that makes it slightly larger.
Credit: Next Door Photos
Features in the northern dwelling include a European-inspired kitchen with Nobilia cabinetry and Thermador appliances. An adjacent open-plan dining room accommodates a table for 10 guests beneath a blue Murano crystal chandelier.
The living areas include a stylish Thelin gas stove and an expansive sunroom sitting area for enjoying the views. A mural graces one wall.
Each of the cottages features suites that have walk-in closets, reading nooks, Japanese-inspired bathrooms with soaking tubs, walk-in PowderRain showers, bidets, towel warmers and sake and tea stations.
Credit: Next Door Photos
“All of the upper suites have massage tables in the closet area with massage supplies,” O’Driscoll said. “It’s just designed to be really comfortable, really relaxing, and have these amenities that you don’t see a lot in this market.”
The main-floor suites feature artisan-tiled showers, private lake-view decks with hot tubs and patio access.
“I think that whether it’s going to be your family and friends there, or if you decided that you wanted to rent, it’s going to have a lot of appeal,” O’Driscoll said.
Credit: Next Door Photos
Grant, the couple’s Realtor, said if they don’t get bids on the three lots together, they’ll likely relist the northern cottage separately and the middle and southern cottages, which share access to the switchback-style revetment, as a packaged deal.
She estimates the northern cottage would be priced at about $3.5 million on its own, while the larger middle cottage and the buildable lot would be worth about $4.5 million and $900,000, respectively.
“Most of the homes (in this area) are just older homes that have been remodeled,” she said. “To have brand new cottages with that (erosion) revetment at this price — you just never see it. We’re hopeful that other people will recognize that.”
Credit: Next Door Photos
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