Gorgeous Lake Retreat

Summer: May 15 thru Labor Day: 7-nite stay req’d w/ Sat. check-in & Sat. checkout ( exceptions sometimes allowed early & late summer season).

Fall-Winter-Spring: 2 nite stay req’d + “Free Days”: For reservations starting the day after Labor Day & ending before May 15, enjoy early Check-in of 6 AM & late checkout of 4 PM. It is like having two extra days. Ignore check-in/checkout times on booking screen. Offer written into my House Rules for your peace of mind

Everything but your food & drink:
Free firewood and propane + 4 adult kayaks, 3 kid kayaks, 2 adult paddle-boards, 2 kids paddle-boards, rowboat, fishing rods/tackle/minnow bucket, fillet knife/board + cocktail station w/tools/commercial blender/fixings + paper towels/toilet paper, shampoo, body wash + sheets/bedding, bath/hand/face towels + board games, numerous bikes, water volleyball/badminton net, bocce ball sets, corn-hole, can-jam, spike-ball, other yard/beach toys +12 snowshoe sets, Ice Auger & tip-up’s + tennis rackets, pickle-ball set & frisbee-golf set for courts/course at park (1/2 mile away). Park also has hiking/biking trails, baseball diamond, kids playground

We do not have any cameras or audio recording devices inside the home or garage. We do have three exterior cameras. One video doorbell & two second story eve mounted cameras that can see the yard & driveway. The same places that are also visible to our neighbors. This being said please only allow booked guests on the property. Our neighbors quiet enjoyment is a priority and we enforce a no extra guests on the property rule. If you book for 8 or 12 then only 8 or 12 are allowed on the property

This Executive Home is a stunning architectural property. The best materials, furnishings, amenities & an unbelievably clean sandy bottom lake sets our property apart from others.

Sunset Bay is an artfully designed four season waterfront home with stunning lake views & expansive perennial gardens. This property offers a unique experience for any season. In warm seasons, you can literally create the illusion that you are in the gardens by opening all the slide-by windows to invite in the sounds of songbirds, the rustling wind and the fragrance of summer flowers. In the winter, the expanse of lakeside windows creates a surreal feeling being outside, despite being toasty warm inside & warmed emotionally by blazing fires that create a feeling of serenity & distance from the stresses you sought refuge from

Four bedrooms & a private Den comfortably accommodate 12 people. The Den has a custom built queen cabinet bed with 6” foam mattress. The Den can be a private space for sleeping if you pull the blinds and close the frosted glass doors. Two wood burning fireplaces add to the warmth & provide a sense of "place" to the tongue & groove wood interior. The main living space is a contemporary yet warm design constructed of wood, stone, and sculpted concrete

The kitchen, den, office, dinning, great room are all discrete spaces; yet, all interconnected & large enough so that you can withdraw into your own private space while remaining connected to the happenings of your group

KITCHEN
There is a fully equipped chef's kitchen with a powerful gas cooktop, convection oven, large refrigerator, microwave, kitchenAid Stand Mixer, electric food processor, Electric Crock-Pot, manual food processor, Stainless Mandolin Slicer, four slice toaster, drip coffee machine, whole bean coffee grinder, pots/pans/stock-pots, stovetop griddle, black clay tagine, stovetop espresso maker, milk frothing wand, cooking utensils, dinnerware, flatware, glassware & barware, etc

When done cooking /entertaining relax as the ultra-quiet Bosch three-tray dishwasher cleans and dries the dishes from a party of 12 in one load.

Just outside the kitchen through the den is a high tech infrared gas grill & gas fire table on a bluestone outdoor patio.

The kitchen island is truly an engaging space where no one is left out of the fun. The cooks, preparers & clean up crew are all included with what is going on in all the spaces around them. Key to this engagement is that the sink, cooktop and much of the countertop have the preparers facing the main seating areas. You won’t have to sauté those onions with your back to the group

DINNING
We have plenty of dinnerware, flatware & glassware to easily accommodate 12 guests. In addition to that we have tons of serving platers/plates/bowels to feed everyone at all our dinning locations

The main dinning table accommodates 8 comfortably & 10 family style. The secondary dinning area (ostrich table) seats 4 very comfortably & 6 family style. The kitchen island seats 4 more

BEDROOMS
Don’t forget the Den sleeps two on the custom queen cabinet bed with 6 inch foam mattress

Three Top Floor Bedrooms:
The Master Bedroom, constructed with privacy in mind, has stunning lake views, soaring ceilings, a private bathroom with heated whirlpool bath, shower & bottom up blinds . A gas fireplace in the master bedroom adds a cozy note. It is truly amazing, comfortable and unique. This is definitely the bedroom to fight over

The second and third top floor bedrooms are constructed with cedar walls & vaulted knotty pine ceilings. Both open to a deck facing the green space behind the house. These bedrooms are located either side of & share a second floor bathroom with a tub and shower

The first floor bedroom can be turned into a private suite with a private bathroom and shower by closing the pocket door leading to the back of the home. You can keep this space private or open the pocket door to allow access to the first floor bathroom and laundry that are a part of the space.

All the bedrooms, except the bunk-bed room, have queen trundle beds with the same 12 inch high quality mattress’s that adorned the main beds. No bad nights of sleeping for guests on the secondary beds

OTHER AMENITIES
Other amenities include a fully equipped laundry room including large washer & dryer. The den contains a large screen TV (no cable). You can stream any Apple/Android device to the TV using the provided Apple TV, Chromcast or Lightening to HDMI converting cable for Apple devices. We also provide, through the AppleTV: Netflix, Pandora & Prime Video

There also exists a whole house speaker system for playing music throughout the home. This system is nearly always available (99% of the time). Sometime a guest will dismantle the equipment to play video games or similar & the whole house speaker system gets disabled. I can usually direct a guest to fix the system (but sometimes not)

THE GARDENS, LAWN, BEACH AND LAKE
The home is surrounded by perennial gardens & the wildlife they attract. Feeders/flowers attract chipmunks, humming birds, sparrows, bluebirds, pileated woodpeckers etc. In the center of the garden facing the lake is a bluestone patio for dining and relaxing. Sit, surrounded by flowers, on the 4 comfy chairs around the stone table with umbrella

Expansive lawn extend from the gardens to the lake. There is plenty of space for lawn games & socializing. Near the beach is a large fire pit & bluestone patio w/12 chairs for cozy camp fires. Chairs can be used in shallow waters.

Off the back of the house is a bluestone patio where the grill and fire-table sit. A private grassy yard adjoins this patio. This patio has 4 Adirondack chairs and 6 zero gravity chairs. The Zero gravity chairs, being fabric, can be stored in a container on the same patio to keep them dry

The gardens, lawn, beach and bird/suet feeders require periodic maintenance. Your hosts might seek your permission to perform some of these tasks

We have installed a beautiful dock & floating swim platform along the north property line for our guests use & enjoyment. The swim platform sits in just a 2 to 3 feet of water and is tucked behind the pontoon to protect it from the wind. It has a table and 2 built in folding backrests. Great for adults to be removed from the hubbub of the beach but great for seeing everything. kids love it also

There is a ladder from the dock to the sand bottom lake

All the paddle boards and kayaks are mounted on racks at dock level & can be accessed from the knee deep all sand bottom water

At the waters edge we have created a cozy sugar sand beach on the south 50 percent of our water frontage

Crystal clear water & a weedless sugar sand bottom beach occupy that south 50% of our property; no muck, no stones, no rocks and no drop offs. Just pure sand. The lake is extremely safe at only 3 feet deep 200 feet from shore. It is perfect for swimming & great for water sports. You can walk from the sand beach all the way into the lake without being anywhere near the weeds and natural area on the north side of the property

There is a water volleyball net in front of the sandy beach part of the water frontage

The north 50 percent of our property we allow to grow natural. This natural area is home to frogs, dragonfly’s, fish & visiting blue herons & eagles The weeds & reeds are confined to the north half of the property & extend out only100 feet from the shore, beyond is a weedless pure sand bottom as far out as you can walk.

Hosts periodically stay in a cottage on a back lot. The cottage is further from the lake home than my three nearest neighbors homes. Hosts occasionally use a private path, on the north property line to access their boats at the end of the dock.

We do not allow guests boats to tie up to our pier. If you rent or bring a boat it can be pulled up on the beach or you can trailer your watercraft daily to the boat landing which is only 1/4 mile away. The dock & swimming platform are available seasonally but will generally be left in as long as possible in the fall and made accessible as soon as possible in the early spring.

Close to Nisswa, Crosslake, Brainerd, Crosby.

VRBO asks us to list activities within 15 minutes. As we are rural we chose to list activities within 30 miles.