Category: Habitats
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Horseshoe Bay Farms Earns Historic Designation
Horseshoe Bay Farms is now on the National Registry of Historic Places. The iconic buildings of the farms, owned by Glenn and Barbara Timmerman, were added to the registry last month after two years of research by Glenn Timmerman that unearthed old photos, stories and film footage.
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I didn’t have to ask Jan Harlow a lot of questions. I showed up at Aqualand Camp Resort to talk to the owner, Mike McAndrews, to get a feel for the place, and after a few minutes he stopped talking and said, “you know what, I should just take you down to meet Jan and […]
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Living with Intention: John & Janice Stiefel
Over two decades ago John and Janice Stiefel, then residents of Plymouth, Wisconsin, set out on a mission to purchase property in Door County. Each weekend they packed the car and headed north, winding their way up to Gills Rock, stopping to view open meadows and wooded parcels, and to watch the progression of blooming […]
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Revamping Eagle Bluff Lighthouse
It was a spectacular lighthouse when it was completed in 1868 at a cost of $12,000 – Milwaukee cream city brick construction, a unique design (a square tower, set at an angle) that distinguished it from others of its kind, and a prime Door County location on the water. Over the next 58 years, it […]
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The most famous Door County door, Death’s Door – the waters between the tip of the Door Peninsula and the rocky shores of Washington Island – is a rough place. History books are filled with stories of shipwrecks, missing vessels and lost lives in this passage, the only way to navigate between the Bay of […]
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Eighteen months of negotiating, $3,000 worth of legal fees and a $32,500 foreclosure find has brought Jacinda Duffin full circle – from the first 650-square-foot home she owned in her 20s, to a three-bedroom home, to a four-bedroom and, now, back down to a 550-square-foot primary residence in downtown Sturgeon Bay. “To most people, success […]
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In 2003, Robert and Trish Kubala were a typical couple: newly married, expecting their first child, and looking for a home to raise their family. What happened as a result of that search, however, was anything but typical. Robert and Trish were not looking for a standard, turn-key starter home. They were looking for a […]
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Rustic Grandeur: The Hermitage in Egg Harbor
“I drove to school everyday past the log house near Juddville,” Miriam Erickson said, “and one day I noticed a for sale sign. I told Howard, ‘Oh, let’s go look at it!’ just out of curiosity.” The year was 1966, and Miriam Erickson was teaching home economics at Gibraltar High School. She and her husband […]
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Affordable Housing Comes to Sister Bay
Affordable housing is finally coming to Northern Door, courtesy not of a federal or state program, but a De Pere developer. In August, Keith Garot began building the first eight-plex on the 40 acres he owns on the corner of Highway 57 and Country Walk Lane, behind the Greystone Manor apartments.
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As anyone who has ever undertaken a major construction or remodeling project knows, there are an infinite number of decisions to be made about the materials used. For some, those choices are guided by a desire to avoid using new materials when old will do, whether those old materials are already present in your home […]
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The Clearing Root Cellar Revived
About a half mile off Highway 42 on Garrett Bay Road in Ellison Bay is the well-hidden driveway into The Clearing Folk School with a sign that says, “Student Entrance.” On weekend afternoons you’re welcome to turn in. You’ll be on a twisty, tree-shaded drive that forces you to slow down and enjoy the scenery. […]
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At least 85 species of North American birds either excavate nesting holes, use cavities resulting from decay (natural cavities), or use holes created by other species in live, dead, or deteriorating trees for their home. Species such as woodpeckers, swallows, wrens, bluebirds, nuthatches and owls, to name a few, are cavity nesters. Heading the list […]
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The issue of going “green” has slowly and surely pervaded the global conversation about energy use, and it has become apparent that choosing eco-friendly products and lifestyles is no longer a question – it’s a necessity. The inevitability of change has arrived and consumers are seeking out opportunities to make responsible choices that can benefit […]
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Keeping it Simple: Door County’s Solar Home Tour
Every October, in conjunction with National Energy Awareness Month, thousands of people venture out into their communities to see how their neighbors are utilizing solar energy to reduce energy costs and do their part to conserve resources and harness Earth’s renewable energy. The event is called the National Solar Tour, organized and put on by […]
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The Small School Experience in Northern Door: Bigger Isn’t Always Better
The rural school experience is an important part of Americana, the belief that the one-room school in many respects was best. But advocates of a large-school education will point to broader academic curricula, expanded extracurricular choices, better educational facilities, and options for exceptional students to achieve at higher levels. People living in northern Door County, […]
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Bobby McCullough was a preschooler in 1954 when Birds Park came into his life, but he remembers very clearly driving north through Baileys Harbor in his family’s 1947 Buick, when his mother suddenly exclaimed, “Oh, my God, isn’t that wonderful!” The wonderful thing she’d sighted was a funny old concrete house, painted white and blue, […]
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Every summer there comes a chance for visitors and residents to get a tour of some of the finest homes and gardens in Door County. This inside peek allows all to share in beautiful architecture, interior design, scenic views and striking gardens that are hidden around the peninsula. This summer the Door County Memorial Hospital […]
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Southern Door County’s Belgian Wayside Chapels
Along the roadsides of southern Door County, in the heart of the Belgian-American settlement, an observant traveler might notice small unobtrusive buildings standing slightly apart from a brick farmhouse or painted red barn. These simple structures, built of wood and adorned with a cross on the roof or above the door, could easily be mistaken […]
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The Door Peninsula is a special place, blessed with a great diversity of landscapes, natural habitats and biology. In a short jaunt, one can venture from dry, towering cliffs with sweeping vistas of Green Bay to low, wet swales near the Lake Michigan shore that are dense with cedars and lush with ferns and orchids. […]
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The Rocks of Door County: Building with Native Stone
Anyone visiting the Door Peninsula for the first time is certain to be struck by the multitude of stone fences separating the fields. These often-massive structures, in terms of width, are as much a testament to the difficulties faced by farmers as they are to the notoriously limited topsoil available in much of the county. […]