In search of…land.

When we first started looking for land somewhere in Wisconsin, we considered a wide variety of types of properties, such as a wooded valley overlooking a stream in Wisconsin’s Driftless area, left untouched by glaciers. Eventually, we realized that wooded and pasture land in southwestern Wisconsin was nearly as expensive as northern lake lots at the time. And when we really thought about what we wanted to do with our time, we eventually went all in on searching for lakefront property.

We began looking for a lake lot around the Hayward area. We started our search…in 2010. Yes, over 15years ago! More about that later! We happened upon a Realtor who turned out to be excellent. He was patient with us, taking us to breakfast at various wonderful mom and pop restaurants and helping us get more familiar with the area and the lakes.

Each lake has its own particular attributes, vibe and price points. We wanted a lake that would be endlessly fun for kayaking, that wasn’t over-crowded or overly expensive. We wanted a south-facing lot so that we could potentially take advantage of the sun, and a natural-feeling spacious wooded lot with direct access to the lake. Holly originally fantasized about having 10 acres or more, but we quickly found out that was not within our budget nor would we likely be able to find such a lot. More practically, the lot needed to be easily accessible, as we wanted to be able to live long into our retirement there. And it needed to be reasonably buildable.

We saw lots that faced north where you couldn’t see the lake from the potential building sites. Lots that would need 100 feet of boardwalk through marshes to reach the lake. Lots that were twice as much as the original price of our house in Minneapolis. Lots that squished when you walked on them. Lots where you’d have to blast through a hill to reach the lot, or where the only buildable site was under a power line. Lots that were low, dark, boggy and buggy. Small lots with neighbors close on all sides. Lots on steep river banks that would require 100 steps down to the water. Lots where there was no water access at all.

We were starting to despair of ever being able to find a suitable piece of land. Then, we found a magical property!