Bay View Community in Petoskey, MI

We have driven past the Bay View neighborhood many times on the bike trail and in the car, but never stopped. This day we drove over and parked the car and pushed Mallery around in her stroller around the neighborhood. The Bay View Association Of The United Methodist Church is a National Historic Landmark community that was founded in 1875.

In the community there are 450 cottages and 30 public buildings.

In October 2012, Bay View was awarded with a great honor of being selected as one of America’s “Prettiest Painted Places” by the Paint Quality Institute and is a 'must see' destination. 

There are several families who have been a part of Bay View for six generations. Bay View residents have a great interest in the preservation and restoration of their cottages, most of which are famous for their Victorian "gingerbread" decorations.

This is one of the hotels in the neighborhood.

I couldn't get it all in the picture so I had to take 3 in all, but only posted two of them.

This community started as a religious camp meeting place in 1875 for a week in tents, and from there, it grew each year with new cottages and public buildings.

This area was chosen for the camp meeting due to the pleasant summer climate and the beauty of this area, as well as a railroad and steam boats that came to this area.

Enjoy the stroll through the neighborhood with us, as we did!

A close up to show all the unique detail of this cottage.

Most are bigger than most average homes of today.

The Bay View season is from May though October.

In the middle of the community is the John M. Hall Auditorium 

Every summer, Bay View offers world class presentations of music, theater, internationally renowned lectures and educational seminars, all of which are open to the public at the auditorium.

This home sat on a hill and had a bench seat half way up the stairs.

There was a sign on the home that said "Heaven Hill" 1880.

This is a close up of the porch of the house in the previous picture.

Hydrangea's grow really well up here with the cooler summers.

All the home owners seemed to love their flags.

This is the most beautiful neighborhood I have ever seen, but I love older homes!

I think this is one of the public buildings. The community has all kinds of classes from knitting, cards, musical instruments lessons, culinary, arts, gardening, and much more.

I love this home with it's deep front porch.

A little closer view.

Not a single home looks the same as you see in most neighborhoods today.

Most of the cottages sit in a neighborhood across the street from Little Traverse Bay.

There are a few that are on the lake shore or a few houses away. This one is a Bed & Breakfast.

Such details and character in the cottages.

Now this one is the Queen of all the cottages as far as I am concerned.

This home sits on Hwy 31. We first saw it last year as we drove into Petoskey from the north.

The flowers were in full bloom for this picture.

I posted a lot of close ups, so you can see all the detail in this one house.

What a beauty!

Built in 1886.

A view of the south side of the house.

Check out the dragon on the roof!

A foot bridge was built so the home owners could access the lake without crossing the busy Highway 31.

The community has a tennis court and we see kids taking lessons all the time when we drive by here.

This home sits on Hwy 31 and has a great view of the bay.

A view on the hill where all the kids park their bikes and take the foot path for tennis, swimming, sailing, or recreation classes.

Any visitor or Petoskey resident from the age of 3 to 15  can take any of the classes that are offered. Sorry this blog ws so long, but it was hard to cut any of the homes out. They are all so unique. To be continued: