What is a cottage life? It seems I’ve been fascinated with cottages since I bought my first design book back in high school – probably in the 60’s. We lived in a cottage, albeit a large one. My young parents had five children while still in their twenties. They needed a lot of room for a little money. The house they purchased was a Cape Cod, built by an architect a hundred years previous to house three generations of his family. It was built as three flats, bermed into a hillside overlooking the Detroit River. My parents turned those three flats into a single family home. Sadly when I look it up now on Zillow it has been turned into many small apartments with most of the original charm removed. What is wrong with people? Never mind…don’t answer that…

When I was looking to move closer to my adult son ten years ago, house hunting on a limited budget with elderly dogs in tow, I ended up in a cottage. This house was built in 1955, by an architect who was a professor at Michigan State University, as a summer getaway. It is a style known as Midcentury Modern.

Now if you were to list every architectural style on planet earth, including igloos and teepees and straw huts, I would list Midcentury Modern as my absolute least favorite style. I don’t dislike it. I abhor it. Believe me, I have studied this genre of architecture since moving here – and I can find little to like amongst the best of it. It is not lost on me that I myself am midcentury modern, born in 1954. And growing up in a highly dysfunctional home might be triggering an adverse reaction. However I like to think it’s much more of an intellectual response as I did study art and architecture in school. I also happened to have gone to school at Kingswood Cranbrook, one of the most artistic architectural communities in the country.

My opinion is considered. I’ve honestly given it a wide berth of time and space. I’ve genuinely tried, okay? It’s just ugly. There is much to like about it’s predecessor, Arts and Crafts style. Think Macintosh, William Morris, Tudor Revival and Craftsman bungalows.

Most of the original style of my house was also removed in earlier renovations, and the one element that I do appreciate about mid-mod remains: the wide roof overhangs. This was quite simply the best house for us, the dogs and I, because of the setting. And remember, I had exhausted the deadline of my government mortgage approval and my exasperated realtor had shown me everything on the market within my area and price range. This was the fourth house I had bid on; the first three sold way over asking price. Most of the houses I could afford were not even livable, let alone move-in ready. Like, they had no heating system or electricity. One house had a toilet in a closet off one side of the kitchen and a shower stall in a closet on the opposite side of the kitchen – and the kitchen sink was where you washed your hands after using the toilet. So…not exaggerating. Almost walking away from this deal twice I had heard in meditation, “you are being placed.” I’m not sure that I will ever know exactly why I was placed here, but it has proven to be a fabulous setting in a desirable location. Tucked behind a sand bluff 400 feet above Lake Michigan, this house will shelter me financially as well as physically.

And so for that reason, as well as my artistic sensibilities, I will do my best to honor the architectural integrity of this house and restore it as I can. I don’t believe in trying to turn a Cape Cod into a Victorian, and likewise will protect the Midcentury Modern elements remaining here. Someone someday will love it for what it is – and isn’t that the best we can all hope for?

In the rural midwest where I live there are a plethora of vacation cottages of all sizes and shapes. But there are few older than the 20th century. And far fewer specific to the Cape Cod or shingle style I covet. I’d have far more choice in the eastern states, even Ohio, western New York or Pennsylvania. I’ve studied. So when I say that I don’t come across many houses I actually like here, I mean it.

I’m looking for original details like wrought iron door hardware and double-hung two over twos. I don’t like ceramic tile; I want old terracotta. IYKYK. I’m looking for a cottage that you could pick up from northern Michigan and set down on Nantucket and it would appear to be right at home. I’m thinking there are may be about 8 of them – if I’m lucky – within a 300 mile radius. But as I said yesterday, I never give up. I’ve had many beautiful homes in my adult life – none I have liked anywhere near as much as the Cape Cod I grew up in, and not one I would buy again as my tastes have developed, or become more defined. Hence this sense that I’d like one last energetic push to find a home that supports my lifestyle as well as my aesthetic.

While I cannot afford to hire a designer, or to do a remodel in anything other than tiny increments, this Midcentury Modern cottage on Lake Michigan has many of the same elements as my current home, including that brick fireplace wall that runs through the middle of the living area and extends outside. Also like the house shown in this video, my house gets battered all winter with gale force winds. In the summer the setting sun hits the large west facing windows and inside it feels like being an ant under a magnifying glass. But I want to explore the possibilities for making my house the best it can be, and then later this week let’s talk about how to support a chosen lifestyle. Because, unlike the owners of this little beach house, I am not on vacation here.