| Livingston Daily
Buying a with house? Here’s the deal with Livingston County property
The owner of a more than 6,000-square-foot mid-century modern home in Cohoctah Township, MI is selling the $1.8 million home for cryptocurrency.
Wochit
Buyers beware: If you want to own a more than 6,000-square-foot home on about 89 acres, including half of a lake, in Cohoctah Township, you’ll need to bring your Bitcoin.
The home on Hidden Lake Drive is on the market for $1.85 million or roughly 36 Bitcoin, a cryptocurrency that operates independently from a central bank.
“People who would be interested in this house probably made a lot in Bitcoin and now they can unload it without a lot of scrutiny,” said Doe Schubert, who built the house with her late husband Don about 40 years ago.
Schubert said a Bitcoin transaction could be attractive to people who want to be discreet.
She said she sees Bitcoin as a good investment and there are advantages for her as the home’s seller.
Schubert said she grew up in the Cayman Islands and has dual citizenship in the U.S. and the U.K. She said she sees Bitcoin as a good way to make international transactions instead of dealing with currency exchanges.
In Bitcoin transactions, the funds are transferred quickly and directly from the buyer’s to the seller’s Bitcoin “wallet,” bypassing the need for banks and lending.
However, Bitcoin’s value fluctuates, so investors take on risk. The cryptocurrency is not widely accepted in all countries and illegal in some.
As of Wednesday, one Bitcoin is worth more than $51,000.
“Bitcoin is a really good way for me to process money,” Schubert said.
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Listing agent Tory Sheffer with Signature Sotheby’s International Realty said cryptocurrency transactions still are rare in Michigan real estate, but he represented one other seller who sold a home in Ann Arbor for Bitcoin.
A wonder in wood
The mid-century modern home, located north of Howell, is unique, featuring several types of hardwood harvested right from the property. Thick, finely finished lumber covers the walls, floors and ceilings throughout the house.
Schubert said she and her husband collected designer furniture and art during their world travels and at auctions.
A bar and billiards room is floor-to-ceiling cherry wood harvested from the property.
A set of California redwood and sheepskin couches and a table are by Japanese-American architect and furniture maker George Nakashima (1909-1990), who rose to prominence as a leader in the American craft movement after enduring a U.S. internment camp during World War II.
Schubert said her husband called it his Western room; she would tease him and call it his “cowboy room.” She said he was always interested in Native American culture. They often searched for and found arrowheads on the property.
She said the light sconces on the walls are Native American pieces, made of animal hide and barbed wire. They purchased a set of pre-Columbian pottery on display in the room on a trip to Columbia.
Even the toilet is designer. Several bathroom fixtures — sinks, a toilet and a bidet — are Ginori, a centuries-old studio in Italy.
Other types of wood from the property include maple on a tall ceiling in the living room — which originally was the location of a pool before they filled it in and expanded the home more than 20 years ago.
Rough-sawn hickory cabinetry gives the kitchen a unique and warm feel.
White ash covers the walls and ceiling in the master bedroom, where Schubert keeps one of her favorite possessions, an atomic clock with early LED lights that can be set with a magnet.
While not harvested from the property, flaming mahogany panels on the dining room walls pop and carry the theme of wood through the house. The dining room table and a matching sideboard are custom-made from marbled Donatello granite.
Another unique feature in the home is a set of decorative metal doors, which Schubert remembers as being made by an Italian designer in the late ’60s or early ’70s.
Schubert and her husband originally owned more land contiguous to the property. They sold a couple hundred acres to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.
Sheffer said the DNR has right of first refusal to purchase the remainder of the property, but there is no plan to sell it to the state.
Assuming it remains privately owned, the new owner would have about 2,500 feet of lake frontage on a small lake south of Hidden Lake.
Schubert said she could see it selling to someone who enjoys privacy, as she and husband did.
“It’s warm, lovable and livable,” she said.
Contact Livingston Daily reporter Jennifer Timar at jtimar@livingstondaily.com. Follow her on Twitter @jennifer_timar.
