This is the vacant building site you never expected to find: The entire south-facing tip of Paradesia Point, 3 miles north of Northport, in Leelanau County, on Grand Traverse Bay.

Large for a waterfront building parcel with 2.25 +/- acres & 766’+/- frontage, this property, part of the Paradesia Addition to Northport Point, is in the bay but just around the point lie the vast open waters of Lake Michigan. You’ll like that if you are (or yearn to be) a sail or power boater.

This very private building site is protected from the prevailing winds by Northport Point, which lies just to the north and east of the property. It is also protected from traffic noise by its location, nearly a third of a mile from the highway.

To the best of my knowledge it’s the last of its kind: the whole tip of a point facing south towards Old Mission Peninsula. The day when a diligent search would turn up something so unique and fine was 40 years ago… when the current owner bought it. Property like this is vanishingly rare now. For 20 years “one of a kind waterfront” has been my logo, and my obsession. Paradesia Point is a perfect example of a one-of-a-kind property.

Here’s a quick overview of what you’ll see if you come, and a taste of why you might like to linger, vacation, or live here.

Visitors to Northport, usually arrive from Traverse City over M22, the scenic highway that follows the entire waterfront perimeter of Leelanau County through a succession of small villages with galleries, restaurants, and unique and interesting shops. Your senses will come alive:

A few come by sailboat or power boats, and Northport has a fine harbor and boatyard. Others arrive by private plane on the two grass strips of Woolsey “International” Airport, (its local name.) Woolsey, just a mile or so north of the property, has the most unique “terminal” structure of local fieldstone that you will ever see.

This is naturally air conditioned country. In summer the waters of Lake Michigan cool hot summer days and warm the winter cold, and that is particularly true in Northport where Lake Michigan and Grand Traverse Bay practically surround you.

It’s a visual paradise. Good Morning America called the Sleeping Bear Dune country “the most beautiful place in America.” This is lake country with cobalt and aquamarine blues and crystal clear lakes. Vineyards and orchards line the roads and cover the hills. Most fruit trees grow well here – cherries, sweet and tart, plums, apricots, pears and apples. The cherry industry began in 1853 in Northport and Leelanau County’s cherry harvest remains one of the the largest in the world. It’s an experience to be here at blossom time, or at harvest. Berries thrive too, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries.

Just west of Paradesia Point the Finton Natural Area provides a critical wildlife corridor between Northport Bay and Cathead Bay. There’s an easy wailing trail through maple, beech, cedar and hemlock, and in spring the forest floor is covered with wildflowers including trailing arbutus, my favorite and the earliest to bloom. Nothing has a more wonderful aroma.

Northport Point across the bay was developed more than 100 years ago as a recreational and vacation destination, and soon became a summer destination for families from the major metro areas of the Midwest and the East Coast. Then and now it has been a place where the rich and famous can live quietly and anonymously. Its nine-hole golf course has been played by several U.S. presidents and senators.

Northport is an example of what is great in small-town America. In summer it’s ice cream, Barb’s Bakery, the galleries, Mary Kay’s unique and wonderful Boutique, and a snack or a meal at the Trubune or the Garage. There’s a good grocery, and a small town post office. On an August Saturday families turn out for the Dog Parade where everyone is welcome to show off their pets. The 2018 theme was “Dogs to the Rescue! Furrr-st Responders.”

At the tip of the Leelanau Peninsula you can tour a lighthouse that has guided ships for nearly 150 years at the Grand Traverse Lighthouse Museum. It features a lighthouse keeper’s home of the 1920’s and 1930’s and exhibits depict a broad spectrum of maritime and local history.

But for a tongue in cheek overview of what you’ll find here, one that’s a bit dated but still spot, on read Nobel winning screenwriter Kurt Luedtke’s classic “Don’t come to Leelanau — you wouldn’t like it here.” (The pdf will open in new window) You get the drift, and maybe you’ve had enough, but read on if you like.

Leelanau County is a place where you ski cross country without lights under a full moon to a campfire with friends. It’s water skiing behind a vintage Chris Craft or Century mahogany boat on Lake Leelanau or Glen Lake, or catching King salmon on a charter with Captain Duffy in Lake Michigan. It’s walking the beaches for Petoskey stones or blue “Lelandite” gems, or hiking the dunes, or painting, writing, making something artistic and great — or just enjoying the abundant work of those who do.

It’s outdoor events at the Interlochen National Music Camp, or a rainy day at the Dennos Museum, or an event at the City Opera House in the National Writer’s Series, or old time movies at the Bay Theater in Suttons Bay or the State and Bijou in Traverse City. It’s tennis on the Jolli Lodge court, a day on the sailboat, or beach fires and brats, with fire balloons at dusk. It’s farm fresh eggs and sweet corn picked up at your favorite farm, or whitefish filets from Carlson’s fishery — fish that slept in the lake last night. It’s starting the day with a “Chubby Mary” at Fishermans Cove above the dam, dinner at the Leland Lodge or the Blue Bird, or breakfast early at the Early Bird. We’re just scratching the surface here!

Change as it does, this place just keeps getting better. There’s an abundance now of truly great restaurants, art galleries, and vineyards with fine local wines. There are even orchards that feature a hundred varieties of old time apples that may not ship so well or be perfectly shaped, but have mouth watering flavor. Happily some things will never change — views over the bay, the northern lights, and the sparkle of the moon on the lakes. This is just a quick overview.

The prevailing westerly winds pass over the deep waters of Lake Michigan, and that naturally cools the air in summer and warms the cold of winter. Pleasant days and evenings beside the lakes with a good local wine after a day hiking dunes and beaches will beguile you to come again… and stay.

And that’s something to consider.

PRICE: $2.6 million

TEXTHERE