Iconic Bicentennial Barn property for sale again

From staff reports

Leelanau’s iconic Bicentennial Barn is for sale once again.

The 1890s farmhouse and barn on a 4-acre property on the corner of M-22 and Bohemian Rd was purchased in February 2021 by Greg and Heather (Nachazel) Ford, who over the last three and a half years “have been pouring their love into the farmhouse and have dealt with the structure, roof, and windows—all the unromantic things,” said Ranae Ihme of Leelanau Vacation Realty, which lists the property for $665,000. The Fords are moving out of state and “passing the baton to someone who can complete the process and put the ‘frosting’ on it.”

Since 2021 the Fords have reinforced the foundation of the farmhouse as well as the septic, roof and doors and finished the floors with Lake Ann hardwood. They also added a screened-in porch. What was originally 7 bedrooms and 1 bath in a 2,000-square-foot space now features 4 bedrooms and 2.5 baths with 2,600 square feet. The property sits a short walk from Shalda Creek and Bohemian Road’s Lake Michigan beach.

“We love the property and love the work we’ve done here,” said Ford. “We put a lot of heart and soul into meticulously preserving the original character as much as possible. We wanted it to still feel like it did in 1890. Now the good news is the interior can still be done to anyone’s liking.

“My hope is that someone takes it over and keeps going with the project with the same historic Port Oneida theme that we were going for. I hope that whoever ends up with it has a vision to see it through.”