100-year-old’mushroom house’ with mediaeval theme for $4.5 million

Earl Young, a local builder famous for his colourful, fanciful stone cottages, started off by building the house. His residences have been referred to as “Hobbit dwellings” and “mushroom houses.”

According to the Charlevoix Earl Young District report, Young resided in the Thatch House until the late 1940s with his wife and their children.

Seitz, a mechanical engineer, told Insider that Young constructed this house by himself when he was 20.

Seitz purchased the house in 2013, but this is the first time he has listed it for sale.

According to information from real estate marketplace Realtor.com, the median listing price of homes in Charlevoix, which is close to Michigan’s northernmost point, is $399,900. The Thatch House is the most expensive listing out of the 45 single-family houses that are now on the market in the region, which have prices ranging from $79,900 to $4.5 million.

The listing is held by Nate Granata of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Michigan.

The home’s famous thatch roof wasn’t always there; before to Seitz’s renovation, the roof was built of asphalt shingles.

Although Young is well-known for his mushroom homes, this building was not created in that manner, according to Seitz: “It had a completely different roof, and it was truly just a regular house of the 1920s.”

Seitz made the decision to fully reconstruct the roof, giving it a waved appearance “like a floppy hat.” He was inspired by the Cape Dutch thatched cottages in South Africa, where he was raised.

Seitz said that the house’s proximity to the mushroom homes that Young constructed his collection of aided.

“With my almost same style, I came from South Africa, and the neighbouring homes gave me a clear idea of what I wanted to build. What a wonderful site to display my artwork, I thought “said he. “If I’m a classical pianist and someone else is playing the piano, I’m going to go there.”

Seitz, a Houston resident, originally saw the house while on vacation in Charlevoix. He couldn’t stop thinking about the house on the flight back home.

Seitz considered the things he wanted to modify while using the measurements he recorded when he first saw the house.

My first reaction was to try and sketch the house because I could see it in my brain, he said. “I was sketching on a napkin when we were travelling back from a holiday.”

Seitz used a Lego set and some sticks to construct a replica of the remodelled house when he arrived back.

Seitz created a Lego replica of the Thatch House using items he collected about the house.

Steven Seitz

Seitz’s former wife advised him to drop the project since she couldn’t comprehend what he was attempting to do. However, Seitz resisted her advice.

In order to demonstrate to everyone how the roof would seem, he added, “I made a model of the house right there and then.”

Seitz knew he was going to purchase the house once the model was finished.

He said, “I went to them and stated, ‘I’m purchasing this business,’” without first doing any inspections.

Seitz preserved the home’s historic stone exteriors while removing the old roof during the restorations.

Seitz had the old shingle roof ripped down entirely.

Steven Seitz

The thatching was done by hand by a local artisan using roofing material that was imported from Europe.

He said, “It’s a natural reed.” It has a long lifespan of 60, 70, or even 80 years.

Seitz said that Reed could be shaped in a variety of ways, enabling him to design the roof’s gentle slope.

Seitz desired an open floor design on the interior. He furnished the room in stone and wood, giving it a mediaeval feel.

Seitz said that little stonework was present within the house prior to the remodelling. To add the boulders to the inner walls, he hired a nearby stonemason.

While some of the rocks had to be purchased, Seitz discovered the majority buried on the site as waste rock.

Seitz estimates that the upgrades cost him close to $2.6 million.

Even the solid wood doors, which come in several sizes, were manufactured almost entirely by hand, according to Seitz.

Seitz said that “typically everything is done precisely the same since Home Depot doors are used.” Therefore, if the doors are one or two inches off, it intensifies the impression that they are slightly wrong. I wanted to make sure they didn’t seem to be pre-built.

According to Seitz, even the wood on the stairways has been given an aged appearance by being rubbed with dirt.

In the Thatch House, one of the living spaces.

Steven Seitz

He said that a coating of wax was applied to the filthy wood slabs to create an aged appearance.

In addition, Seitz said, “I absolutely like the old, rustic, romantic design, with plenty of fireplaces and enormous timbers — as the home is today.

Seitz monitored the remodelling through FaceTime meetings with the contractors since he lived in Texas. He stated that he travelled there once a month to personally monitor the development.

Seitz is presently renting out the home, which has seven bedrooms, for vacations.

The whole home may be rented, however the cost varies according on the season. According to Seitz’s website, prices start at $1,100 per night for weeknights but may drop to between $1,300 and $1,900 on weekends.

According to Seitz, he didn’t construct the Thatch House to be a rental property and had to convert it into a company as a result of the significant expenses he spent.

One of the Thatch House’s seven bathrooms.

Steven Seitz

Seitz said that after going through a divorce, his financial condition also altered.

He said, “Suddenly I truly can’t afford to have this property, so as an afterthought it went on the rental market. Since I don’t have much money, I need it to generate income.

Seitz is not in a hurry to sell the home, despite the fact that it is on the market. He is aware that it is an expensive house and that not everyone would like the design.

A extremely costly painting or other rare item may stay on the market for 10 years until the appropriate buyer comes along since not everyone wants to purchase art, according to Seitz.

I don’t care whether it sells now, next year, or in 20 years; maybe my kids will receive it, he said.