Baldwin Landing featured in Shore Magazine’s Green Issue!

Living the Dream….Baldwin Landing
Maintenance-Free Living

Baldwin Landing is featured in Shore Magazine! Megan Swoyer of Shore Magazine recently visited Southwest Michigan’s only maintenance-free, lakefront, custom home community on beautiful Baldwin Lake. The article discusses the concept of Maintenance-Free living, architectural style, our community design and environmental design practices. Below is a brief, and the article can be found on the Baldwin Landing or Shore Magazine website.

Baldwin Landing – Hamilton Model

The complaint heard most often from vacation homeowners in the Midwest is all the work that comes with the house. When on the dreamy second-home hunt, buyers often don’t realize that all those, say, lovely trees translate into hours of raking their fallen leaves come autumn. That verdant grass? It requires regular mowing and trimming. And that beckoning driveway and walkway? Come winter, they get their share of lake-effect white stuff and need constant shoveling and plowing.

Thankfully, Signature Development’s new Baldwin Landing on Baldwin Lake in Union, Michigan, has taken all those pesky chores into consideration and has developed a maintenance-free program for the development’s homeowners. All mowing and lawn service, snow removal, pier installation and removal, and more are taken care of by the development.

“I know that there is limited time to enjoy the lake and that there are buyers like myself who would rather spend time on the lake than raking leaves or worrying about taking out a dock,” says development owner Paul DeLano, who lives at Baldwin Landing with his wife and two children.

Signature Development has partnered with Helman Sechrist Architecture to create 18 homes in total (by 2011) with low-maintenance engineered siding, Owens Corning 30-year shingles, and Andersen energy-efficient windows and screens. The homes also feature a screened porch and a deck made with a maintenance-free composite material.

Inside, the three- to six-bedroom homes brim with hardwood and ceramic-tile flooring, custom cherry cabinetry, granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, six-inch baseboards, and showers with jets.

“We’re seeing a mix of buyers, from retired folks to second-home families,” DeLano notes.

As for construction practices, developers work with each property’s natural grade to save as many trees as possible. Both the general contractor—Square 1 Builders—and the architect firm have received National Green Building Certification. In addition, DeLano and his group have been working with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to ensure that threatened or endangered species are not impacted by the development.

Stu Kogge, a wetland/aquatic biologist with JFNew & Associates, has been working with the development and recognizes its commitment to preservation.

“Paul [DeLano] is an environmental consultant’s dream,” says Kogge, whose company helps clients with regulatory processes and ecological restorations. “He is very conscientious about the environment,” Kogge continues. “Whenever we’ve made observations, Paul listens and is willing to do what’s needed to address any environmental concerns.”

A tankless water heater and high-efficiency furnace and air conditioner with humidifier and air purifier all combine to make the homes energy smart.

Each home site comes equipped with its own boat slip, while a private beach area includes a protected swimming spot and private beach lockers. Up for some volleyball or an evening marshmallow roast? Both a sand volleyball court and a community fire pit await at the beach area.

View the full article at Shore Magazine