For $1.1 million, an “Up North” property only 30 minutes from Ann Arbor

Courtesy Griffith Realty

By Emily Bingham | ebingham@mlive.com

They say you can’t have it all, but in the case of this Hamburg Township home, maybe you can. For a cool $1.1 million.

The 3,800-square-foot house, described as a “sanctuary” in its listing with Griffith Realty, sits on about 10 acres of glacial-carved hills that adjoin the nearly 5,000-acre Brighton State Recreation Area next door.

To drive up to the home, which is tucked back in the forest and not visible from the road, is to feel like you’ve arrived somewhere Up North: the air smells sweetly fresh and the only audible sounds are the wind through branches and the occasional frog piping up from a pond bursting with water lilies. And yet when you’re here, you’re less than 30 minutes from Ann Arbor and one hour from Detroit proper — an ideal scenario for anyone seeking the respite of nature but still wanting proximity to the comforts of urban life.

That best-of-both-worlds scenario is what hooked current owners Vicki and John Goldwyn, who have roots in Michigan but had been living the big-city life in Chicago prior to finding and falling in love with this home. All those trees and all that quiet were important to them, they said, and so in their 11 years at this address, the Goldwyns went to great lengths to maintain the property’s wild integrity — even as they expanded the home’s footprint to include an exquisite master-suite wing and a fully enclosed salt-water lap pool and hot tub.

“Our goal was the preserve as much of the natural setting as we could,” John Goldwyn said. “We tried to landscape in a way that was very natural.”

That landscaping includes native hardwoods and fruit trees, a small reflecting pond, and more than 1,000 tons of Michigan-quarried boulders set around the home and into hillsides. About an acre of this landscaping surrounds the home before transitioning seamlessly into the surrounding forest, where walking paths allow exploration of the woods, hills and ravines.

All that natural beauty carries over to the home’s interior, too, where views of the outdoors in all directions lends the feeling of being quite literally in the trees. Energy-efficient rigging such as a geothermal HVAC system and rooftop solar panels (installed to heat the pool and offset some of the home’s electrical usage) are in line with the spirit of the residence.

Read on for more about this property and find the full listing here.

Courtesy Griffith Realty

The original home was built in 1986. The Goldwyns said the “core of the house” remains the same, though they did make a small handful of changes, including expanding a sun porch and adding the salt-water pool, an office and a library and a first-floor master-bedroom suite.

Courtesy Griffith Realty

A gravel drive leads up to the house, which is not visible from the dirt road off of which it’s located.

Courtesy Griffith Realty

The foyer is filled with tons of natural light. To the right is the first-floor master-bedroom suite, and to the left is the rest of the home. In total, the house has five bedrooms, three full baths and two partial baths.

Courtesy Griffith Realty

The master suite has high ceilings and, of course, plenty of lovely views of the surrounding woods.

Courtesy Griffith Realty

The master bath has a picture window next to the bath tub for even more views.

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The master suite’s walk-in closet.

Courtesy Griffith Realty

The living room has lofted ceilings and a working woodstove that adds warmth in colder seasons.

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A second, smaller sitting room with a stone fireplace, just off the living room, is a cozy nook that makes for a great spot to watch birds, the Goldwyns said.

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A second-floor sitting space, just off several of the bedrooms, looks down over the living room.

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One of the bedrooms upstairs.

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A room upstairs to be used as a bedroom or office space.

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The dining room, right off the kitchen, opens into the screened-in porch.

Courtesy Griffith Realty

The screened-in porch off the dining room is more than 300 square feet and acts as an outdoor living room.

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A view of the kitchen and dining room.

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Downstairs, find a home office and library with coffered ceilings and custom shelving.

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A view of the pool house, which includes a salt-water pool and hot tub heated by solar panels on the building’s roof.

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Just outside the pool is a deck for lounging.

Courtesy Griffith Realty

An early spring aerial view of the home.

Courtesy Griffith Realty

More than 1,000 tons of boulders from Michigan quarries were used in the landscaping surrounding the home. The Goldwyns say the boulders have changed over time, increasingly blending in with the land.