A private island in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, complete with a year-round home, nearly a half-mile of shoreline and a small chapel for visitors, is on the market for $1,495,000.
Known as Angel Island, the 9.38-acre property is on Sixteen Mile Lake in Au Train Township in Alger County, in the heart of the Hiawatha National Forest.
Dennis Gramm, 78, and his wife, Regina 77, bought the island in 2000 after spending years looking at it from a home they owned across the lake.
"Everybody on the lake goes around the island and wondered what they would do with it," Gramm said. "And we did something. We put a home on it."
The couple named it Angel Island because they felt blessed to own the property, Gramm said. About 15 years ago, Regina gave him an approximately
8-foot-tall wooden angel as a birthday gift that now stands on the island.
The couple began building the more than 3,400-square-foot, log-sided home in 2005 and completed it in July 2006. It has four bedrooms and three bathrooms and was built for year-round living.
Building a house on an island required some ingenuity.
Gramm said he and his wife collected fuel-oil tanks and had a friend weld them together to create a barge. They used a pontoon to pull the barge across the lake, carrying everything from construction materials to a backhoe.
Even sand and other materials needed for the basement were loaded into a pickup truck, driven onto the barge and transported across the water.
Today, getting back and forth is much simpler. The island is about 400 feet from the mainland at its closest point, Gramm said.
Listing agent Linda Keohane of Great Lakes & Land Real Estate Co. in Marquette described it as "just a short little passage across from the mainland to the island."
The island can be reached by boat during warmer months and by snowmobile or ATV in the winter.
It also has full electrical service, with power carried through an underwater line from the mainland.
Gramm said everyday island living isn't as complicated as some people might imagine. A trip to the mainland by pontoon takes about five minutes.
He and Regina enjoy having coffee and breakfast outside, and their grandchildren frequently visit. One grandson has spent nearly the entire summer with them on the island.
Sixteen Mile Lake is a 443-acre, spring-fed lake surrounded largely by undeveloped land. Northern pike, yellow perch and bass are among the fish found in the lake.
A home designed for island living
The main floor at 3974 N. Hayward has an open-concept living area with a vaulted ceiling, a wall of glass overlooking the lake and a large stone-faced electric fireplace.
The kitchen features custom hickory cabinetry and a raised snack bar. An adjoining dining area opens onto a deck that wraps around the home, offering views of the lake and surrounding woods.
Two bedrooms, a full bathroom and laundry room are also on the main floor.
Upstairs, a loft overlooks the great room. The primary bedroom has a full bathroom with a jetted tub and electric sauna, along with a large walk-in closet.
The lower level has an entertainment room, custom bar, a full bathroom and an office that can serve as a fourth, nonconforming bedroom.
Outside, trails wind through the wooded island. The property also includes a swimming beach, fire pit, perennial gardens and a dock for boats.
An island chapel draws visitors
One of Angel Island’s more unusual features is a small chapel along its northeastern shore.
The chapel was built in memory of his wife’s mother, Gramm said.
The small structure has two pews, is illuminated at night and has its own dock so boaters can stop and visit.
Gramm estimates 150 to 250 people a year sign the chapel's guest book.
Over the years, it has drawn visitors beyond the family. Boaters stop at the island to visit the chapel and leave their names in a guest book. Couples have even arrived by boat to have their wedding blessed, Gramm said.
Ready to pass it on
The Gramms also prepared Angel Island for the possibility of future development.
The island has been surveyed and approved for division into four parcels ranging from about 2.1 to 2.5 acres, according to the listing.
Gramm said the electrical line was installed about 15 feet below the lake bed and runs to a transformer near the center of the island. The transformer has enough capacity to serve three additional homes, he said.
The parcel containing the existing home is 2.293 acres with more than 566 feet of shoreline. Each of the other three parcels has more than 600 feet of shoreline.
The sale also includes a surveyed 1.417-acre mainland parcel that could provide space for a pole barn to store boats, trailers, vehicles and other recreational equipment.
Interest beyond Michigan
Private islands occasionally come on the market in the Upper Peninsula, Keohane said, including properties on Lake Michigamme, but they remain an unusual offering.
Angel Island has generated inquiries from prospective buyers in Michigan and elsewhere, she said.
"We're getting to the twilight years," Gramm said. "We've enjoyed it. It's time to move on and have somebody else enjoy it."
After 35 years on Sixteen Mile Lake, Gramm said he'll miss being close to friends and family and hopes the next owners enjoy the island as much as they have.
He'll also miss something much simpler: "the sunshine coming up in the morning and the sunshine going down at night."
Brendel Clark writes about real estate and other topics for the Detroit Free Press. Contact her at bclark@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Private island in Michigan's U.P. lists for $1.5M. What comes with it
