Project Journal: July 28, 2025

I have so much to catch you up on, but the list of what we have done and what we have left to do inside The Beach House would almost take too much time and you'd really be exhausted just reading about it. So instead, this project journal is about the ups and downs of something outside the walls of the The Beach House that needs to be shared.

This story is going to start with a bang: the house is no longer named The Beach House. Wait, what? Why, you ask? Well, it isn't on the beach, actually. I could go into a long description about why we called it that in the first place, but we are rebranding the place and this would just muddy your mind, so we're just not going there. I promise you, there was a reason, but that is beside the point now.

So what to do about the name? I had a discussion and brainstorming session with my mom about it. We could just call it Park Ave. After all, that is the street the dwellings are on, which is a great way to name a place. For me, however, Park Ave brought images of New York City, or the expensive blue properties on the Monopoly board, which really isn't our vibe. We could name both dwellings cottages, just maybe cottage 1 and cottage 2? No. What about a Norwegian word for house? Hus. Norwegian for cottage? Hytte. These seem too difficult to pronounce. (If you are wondering why Norwegian, please read our story.)

What about the property itself, or something about the town it is in? Wait, we are onto something! One plant that grows in abundance in the yard jumped out at me. It was a type of plant that was pointed out to us when we bought the property last fall as special and unique. One of our lovely guests from The Cottage this summer shared with us that she really loved the beauty of this plant as well, so much so that we dug up one for her to bring back home. The plant? Ostrich ferns.

This spring, they came up everywhere! Around the house, by the side porch, on both sides of the yard, as well as along The Cottage fence line and driveway. Everywhere. And they were huge. The difference these ferns made in the landscape of the yard was remarkable, since they grow up new each spring and die back in the fall and winter.

So, ferns. Let's make a name with ferns! While I could provide you a list of what the options were during our brainstorming session, from the potential winners to the crazy, silly options, I will just give you the name we decided on... Fernhaven. YES! I was excited. We decided to name the main house Fernhaven, and the cottage will be casually be called the cottage, but officially, The Cottage at Fernhaven.

Now, I don't know a lot of about gardening, so I was thinking I wanted to learn more about these ferns and how to take care of them. Since Mike and I do not live in Frankfort, we needed to understand how to maintain the plants, including the ferns, well, without a lot of daily or weekly tasks, if necessary. I added "research ostrich ferns" to my long task list to get the house ready to post for bookings!

Excited with the potential of this new name, Mike and I drove up to work on the property last weekend. Upon driving in and parking in the driveway, I took one look at the place and started crying. The ferns, which had been large and luscious green last time we were there, looked sparse and brown and, well, horrible! Fernhaven??? Oh, my.

After my tears, and maybe a call to my mom, I got practical. What was the cause of this disaster, and how do I fix it? Well, like I said before, I don't know a lot about gardening, but after internet searching and crowd sourcing answers, it is determined that deer are eating the ferns. Maybe it's too sunny as well? But it's definitely deer. We have video evidence. And deer walk through the yard daily, from Tank hill, through our yard, over the alleyway, and north behind us.

While many jokes ensued -- ("Why don't you call it Deerhaven?" 🤣) -- I am undeterred. The Cottage still has many beautiful ferns, protected from the deer and sun by a fence, and they will come up again next year, big and bold, I am sure. I do enjoy the deer, but I have some natural ideas to keep them from eating the ferns that we're going to try. So let's see. Whether you come to stay at Fernhaven for Lake Michigan, shopping and dining in Frankfort, a concert at Interlochen, a wedding in Elberta, skiing at Crystal Mountain, or to see these amazing Ostrich Ferns, I promise you will have an amazing time, regardless of the particular life cycle the ferns are in when you stay.

Proof the ferns exist

While you wait patiently for Fernhaven to be ready to book, don't forget The Cottage is available for bookings!