Hartford, Michigan
Welcome to Lake Van Auken! Recently remodeled, our secluded lake + farm retreat (family-run red bell pepper and soy bean operation) features over 3,500 sq. ft. of living space including 6 bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms, with stunning water and farmland views.
Whether you’re enjoying a sunset meal on the upper deck, a cozy fire in the living room, kayaking on the lake, or time in the large yard, this home is ideal for a large family gathering and entertaining among friends.
NOTE: There is currently no developed beach on the property - but guests are welcome to use the public launch on Lake Van Auken with a small, swimmable beach area a block away or nearby public beaches on Lake Michigan. We also recently installed a pier that guests are welcome to use for fishing and to dock boats.
House was perfect size for our large family...we had 10 adults and 4 under 17. The rooms were very spacious and well kept! I loved spending our evenings out by the fire and our early mornings fishing from the provided kayaks. Loved the 1/2 bthrm on the main level! The kitchen, bedrooms and bathrooms had everything you needed and more! The drive to the beach was a little longer than what were used to but the large yard, firepit and lake makes it worth the drive. Also, easy to communicate with! Thank you for all the beautiful memories!!
Jack’s place was even better than the pictures. Super spacious, comfortable and the cleanest VRBO I’ve ever stayed at ?. Awesome view of the lake and more room than we needed. We were very comfortable and appreciated the extra touches such as games, movies, super fast Wi-Fi and well equipped kitchen. Our family will be back. Thank you!!
Very nice house with plenty of bedrooms and bathrooms to accommodate a large group. Had a great time with friends on our golf trip. Some fished while others hing out by the fire pit.
Lovely home, with Kayaks and a beautiful lake view!
The views were beautiful ,great location! Not far from lake Michigan or south haven. Fully stocked kitchen. Was a great vacation spot. Hosts are great to work with.
Even though we are usually staying in South Haven proper this property was more reasonably priced for the size we needed. The drive was very doable once and even twice a day to the beach/town. The biggest hit was fishing off deck with Grandpa! Clean and roomy. We would definitely stay again.
This place is so peaceful. It was so clean. We had everything we needed, and the owner was super communicative. It was perfect for our extended family to get away for a few days without being all cramped on top of one another. It's a great lake house and we loved having access to the kayaks and ping pong table!
Lovely home with great bedroom arrangements. Excllent Wifi service. TV was not a true Smart TV. Was not able to access the internet from the TV. This is the farthest we have stayed from St. Joe but not to inconvenient. You need to add a Keurig coffee maker. My entire family thoroughly enjoyed our stay. Your home had a little bit of something for everyone.Thanks for the late check out. I picked up a large screw in my tire and it was flat when we started to leave. I did not have a spare but did have a flat tire repair kit. Used your air pump to pump the gel into the tire and reinflate the tire. I drove it to Fairplane and bought a new tire. Thanks We are back home in Kentuky safe, sound, and satisfied.
Our large family had a great time at this location! The owner was great to work with and the house/property worked very well for our stay. It's a peaceful property close to Lake Michigan. We didn't end up doing any fishing at Lake Van Auken because we ended up spending most of our time in South Haven or St. Joseph.
Nice, well-kept property in the countryside. Plenty of room to spread out our multi-generational family. The kids loved using the kayaks on the little lake behind the house. 20 min from Lake Michigan beachfront towns. A couple of things to note: the playroom with the futon is connected to the master bedroom, so you have to walk through the bedroom to get to the playroom. Also, there is a 2nd, smaller master bedroom with bathroom on the main floor. I must not have read the description clearly because I assigned my parents that room before arrival thinking all but the upstairs master bathroom opened to the hall. With the 2 master baths that leaves the other 3 bedrooms (8 people in our case) sharing the remaining full bathroom upstairs and half bath downstairs. Not a huge deal, but required some coordination since my parents went to bed early and my sister and her small kids were in the master upstairs. Overall a very nice rental. The host was attentive, texting me daily to make sure everything was okay. Will stay here again if we're back in the area.
We hosted a three night grief retreat here. The house was the PERFECT place to hold us through the intense and emotional sessions, with plenty of gathering space to be together, and enough spaces for everyone to break off and process individually and in smaller groups. The back yard is incredible and we even had a fire under the stars in the fire pit. Everyone enjoyed the lake dock, and we frequently walked out there to process, and be with nature. We cooked soups, and beautiful breakfast meals, we had lasagna, and baked fresh brownies and corn bread and had everything needed to make all these meals delicious and fresh. There was two fridges one in the house and one in the garage that kept the beverages cold. There were kayaks in the garage that we took out to play with. No issues with hot water, and they had plenty of clean bottles drinking water on hand. Lots of towels for showers. The house had a feel of summertime, and everyone loved the patio deck outside the kitchen to gather post meals and in between sessions. We cannot wait to come back to this secluded paradise.
The house was as described and perfect for my kids and grandkids. The teens especially appreciated the kayaks. The location was close enough that we were able to spend a few hours at the dunes. The only recommendation would be for window coverings upstairs to keep early morning sunlight out.
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Includes taxes and fees