Recently, we’ve successfully hunted down affordable proximity to the lake. Then we captured a view or two for a reasonable ransom. Now, today, on this glorious 77 degree day in what is not yet even the middle of March, we must find a boat slip. Anyone can buy a slip in the Abbey Harbor. They run anywhere from $60k to $120k, and they’re slips. If I owned one, I’d put an tarp over the water inside of my slip, just to keep the spring meat fisherman from cleaning out the fish under my slip. That’s something else that bothers me about this early spring- the early presence of fishermen who do a fine job raping fish populations just as those fish are attempting to spawn and create, you know, more fish.
But I got sidetracked. The slip is what we’re after today, and if we’re after if, we’ll find it. The most economical home ($350k) listed with lake access to Geneva and a transferable slip is on Geneva Lane in Glenwood Springs. You’ve likely seen this home before, because it has been on the market for over 1000 days. Not a typo, one thousand long days. That’s a serious amount of time, and the house suffers not from its size- it’s diminutive- and not from its style- it’s cottage like- but from its location. Glenwood Springs is an association with homes on the lake side of South Lakeshore Drive, and homes on the non-lakeside of that same road. Guess which side of the road this home is on.
Next up on our search we’ll end up at the very old door step of my recently re-listed (yesterday) cottage in the Harvard Club. This cottage is impressive, it’s inspiring, and it has a slip. It also has nothing but a brick path and grass from that old front door to the white pier where your slip is, and it’s also only $519k. It’s a deal, and I will sell it this season, dogs allowed or not. Moving East, there are two homes priced at $599k with slips- one in the Lake Geneva Club and another in Trinke’s Estates. The Lake Geneva Club cottage is a bit dated, and it too has been on the market for a considerable amount of time, but the street is solid gold from a value standpoint and the lakefront quite pleasing.
The Trinke’s home is big and long and it isn’t particularly tall, but for someone seeking a mid-century style modern home it could be perfect. The setting is expansive, the lake views every so slight, and the slip just fine. The slip is in the harbor at Trinke’s, so your boat won’t be able to have a t-top or fixed bimini, but it is a slip nonetheless. As a side note, I really like this home even though it isn’t a cottage in any sense of the word.
After Trinke’s we must turn towards Lake Geneva and turn again onto LaGrange. There’s a brand new listing down that street for $649k, and while the home is modest at best, it does have a transferable slip. The MLS description tells us that the seller is highly motivated, so if anyone feels like testing just how high that motivation goes, I have quick fingers and an intense lack of price sensitivity. The association there pales in comparison to the quaint nature of the associations at both the Lake Geneva Club and the Harvard Club, but to be perfectly fair, every lakefront pales in comparison to the Harvard Club.
Leaving the city of Lake Geneva, we now retreat back West, toward Fontana but not so far as that we end up in it. My listing in Oak Shores, priced now at $675k has a slip, and it’s a beauty. This association is very rarefied, and their lakefront park is simple and beautiful, and as the road is private there are golf carts permitted between home and pier, though the walk is easy and quick and won’t do you a bit of harm. Circling around the lake in a clockwise motion, we’ll drive through Fontana and through Williams Bay, and end up at the curious home that is listed for $744k at the corner of Aspen Lane. The association here, Oak Glen, is among my favorite on the lake for a buyer seeking a low volume, private setting. The home here is large and lodge-like, and while I like it, I don’t like that the price has stayed put at $744k for what feels like years. But it only feels like years because it has been years.
There is a listing on Hunt Club Lane for $839k that is okay, but it’s just okay and that means I don’t really care for it. There is one for $895k in Alta Vista, and I do like that property quite a bit. It’s large and impressive and it does have a slip, even if the association lakefront isn’t too charming. For the same price you could buy one of the largest homes you’ve ever seen priced under $900k outside of Tennessee. The original stable at Loramoor is back on the market for just $895k, and if you can tolerate the sheer size of this home, it should be considered. For years this home has drifted onto the market and back off, but this time at $895k it is a serious contender for my vacation home dollar. There is a slip, a pool, a tennis court, and roughly 87,800,433 square feet of living space. Actually it’s more like 16,000, but even that number is astounding. Even so, I’d like it if you’d contact me about this property because I do like it. The problem here isn’t one of value- it’s of finding a buyer with the pockets deep enough to pay for the upkeep of such an impressive, historic, lake home.
The last house on the list today is in Wooddale, priced at $985k. I don’t care much for Wooddale, though if I can find some rare value or some rare location there, I would be a buyer. This home strikes me as being neither, so I’m nonplussed. There are more homes, others priced over a million dollars that have slips but do not have lakefront, but we’re not going to talk about them. Why not? Umm, because if I’m going to spend $1.2MM to buy an off-water home with a slip, I’d rather just spend $1.25MM and buy a true lakefront home with an actual private pier that I have to share with no one. Private pier ownership should be the goal if the means support it, as no one but the DNR can limit the size of your boat, and not even that department can tell you to take down that hideous rainbow striped sun umbrella.