|
|
|
|
Number 1 Rated B&B in Saugatuck Michigan For Sale Beechwood Manor Inn & Cottage is a meticulously restored Greek Revival home located in downtown Saugatuck, MI “on the hill” and within walking distance to all of the restaurants and shopping that Saugatuck has to offer. The only Bed and Breakfast in Saugatuck listed on both the State and National Historic Registers, Beechwood Manor Inn & Cottage is the number 1 rated Bed and Breakfast in Saugatuck (see Tripadvisor for reviews). With 3 Guestrooms in the Bed and Breakfast, all with private bath and 3 common area rooms, it is situated on over 1 acre of property along with a 3 bedroom Cottage that is also currently renting and is included in the sale. The large owners quarters offers an extremely large bedroom, living room, office, kitchen, large basement with plenty of storage and laundry area and has 4 separate entrances so you are completely removed from guest areas. The grounds are well manicured with a walking path between the B&B and Cottage along with parking for guests. While the Cottage is newly acquired, the additional property that it is located on is ideal for weddings, receptions and other large gatherings. Beechwood Manor Inn has seen a constant growth since the new owners took over and we continue to grow. Saugatuck has become a 4-season destination and, with the advertising efforts of the Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Saugatuck Area Business Association (SABA), “off season” months are showing a steady increase in activity. The selling price of $875,000 includes a successful, fully furnished, turnkey business with an excellent track record, many repeat guests and lots of room for growth. Visit our website for photos and descriptions of all guestrooms and Cottage. Please feel free to contact us directly with any further information requests you may have. Financial documentation is available with a signed non-disclosure agreement.
Excerpt from NEXTVILLE:
Amazing Places to Live the Rest of Your Life (2008) by Barbara
Corcoran and featured on NBC’s Today
Show. (click here
for the clip) Saugatuck, Michigan
A Great Spot to Open a
Bed-and-Breakfast (But They Won’t Let You Open a McDonald’s) If you’re one of those friendly souls with
dreams of opening a cozy bed-and-breakfast somewhere in leafy New England, think
again. Maybe you should consider
handing your ‘Rooms For Rent’ sign instead along the beautiful sand dunes of
Saugatuck. Sauga-where, you ask?
If you’re not from the Midwest, you may not know about this little gem
of a place, which is tucked away on the east side of Lake Michigan.
Saugatuck has super clean beaches with giant sand dunes big enough to
gallop on. It’s known locally as
“the art coast of Michigan,” with galleries galore, a funky art school in
the woods, and artists setting up easels in the middle of the sidewalks
downtown. On top of that, Saugatuck
has great shops, world-class golf close by, and its own movie festival that’s
much like a mini Sundance. All of that means there’s money to be made here because
there’s a growing demand for B&Bs. Great towns often have a colorful history,
and Saugatuck is one of them. For a
while it was known as a wild little ‘sin city,’ as it was the only place in
this part of Michigan where you could buy booze.
This attracted bands of motorcycle riders who rumbled into Saugatuck to
party, giving the town an even rowdier reputation. But that was then and this is now. These days Saugatuck is laid-back and mellow.
It’s often compared to Martha’s Vineyard and Key West but feels more
undiscovered and has more small-town innocence.
Everyone eats fudge in Saugatuck, and the local pizza shop is what passes
for a ‘hot’ restaurant. Paddleboat
rides are all the rage, and the ferry that takes you across the river is hand
cranked, bumping slowly along on a chain that extends from one shore to the
other. There’s no Starbucks or McDonald’s – they’ve tried to
come in, but the locals banded together and said, “No thanks.” Those same citizens began a wonderful dial-a-ride bus service
as an alternative to driving. Seniors
call in and a bus picks them up at their door, taking them anywhere in the area
for a whopping fifty cents! The people of Saugatuck are a motley crew,
coming from all over the country and mixing young writers, artists, a large gay
community, and lots of retired professionals.
There’s a fair number of millionaires with yachts and also some lovably
eccentric characters, such as eighty-year-old Jan Van Dis, who plays the Statue
of Liberty every year in the town’s doo-dah Fourth of July parade.
Jane also sleeps outdoors in a box once a year to raise awareness for
homelessness. One reason Saugatuck attracts so many
creative types is a quirky little place called Ox-Bow.
I guess you could call it an art school, but it doesn’t have classes,
per se. Ox-Bow is more like a
collective of artists, with studios set out amid the trees by a lagoon.
It was designed as a haven that art students could escape to, without any
distractions from the real world. But
lots of people who attend Ox-Bow never leave Saugatuck.
They stay and become local artists.
That’s why there are so many art galleries in town, and it’s why the
B&Bs all adorn their walls with works by local artists. There are about forty B&Bs in Saugatuck,
ranging from grand old mansions to little cottages.
Although the town has been dubbed “the B&B capital of the
Midwest,” it doesn’t mean the B&B market is tapped out, by any means.
Fred Schmidt, who oversees the local business chamber, says, “They all do
pretty well because we have so many visitors, and at the same time there’s a
lot of turnover so you’ll often find a B&B up for sale.”
My advice: spend a week in Saugatuck, stop in at the B&Bs, and talk
to the friendly owners to scope out the market and see what’s available.
But be prepared to discover you don’t want to leave.
Fred, a onetime New Yorker who retired here eight years ago, says: “You
won’t get me out of here except in a box.” What It’ll Cost You: The average
home goes for $252,400, but a nice B&B starts at $500,000 and they can run
way up. Keep in mind you’re
buying a home and a business, and a well-run B&B should pay all the
expenses, including your financing. Bonus Fact: If you’re a retiree
here, you’ll save on taxes because Michigan has homesteading rules.
That means retirees don’t pay taxes to run the schools because they
don’t have kids using them. Median Age: 46
|
|
Last modified: 29-Apr-2008 |
