04/18/19

Hello from the North! This is our first blog entry, and we are excited to bring as much useful information to you as possible. Thanks for checking out our website and our properties. In the words of a respected local artist and writer team that produced a gem of a book called  "Antler Bear Canoe"- an alphabet book- "J is for all the junk we find under the melting snow". I'm paraphrasing. We are currently discovering all the lost solar lights, shovels, mittens and other oddities we thought lost forever. Grand Marais is once again emerging from a recent snow storm. I really do believe this is the last one. For reference sake, we have lived here 16 years and generally speaking Grand Marais goes from winter to summer- bypassing spring. Locals call this the "Brown Season" because we don't have snow and we don't have green. As the frost leaves the ground it can get muddy on the trails. There is still plenty of snow on the shadowed sides of the hills and in the woods. The streams are still covered with ice in places but it is no longer at all wise to walk on them. The big lake is no longer frozen. Generally speaking, winter lasts about two months more here, and falls last about a month longer than in the city. So that's what happened to spring: it got gobbled up by fall and winter.

Travelers love to come this time of year for the good deals, the quiet (it's even quieter than usual), and with luck a good storm to make lake watching a truly "immersive" experience.  The sunny days are absolutely dazzling. Deer are boldly crossing highway 61 at all times of the day, fox, otters, beavers, even bobcats can be spotted in or near town. The seagulls are getting feisty as the mating season is here. Keep your doggo close because once the gulls start nesting they like to try to scare away pooches. If some young seagull tries to intimidate your pup just wave your hands around in the air- like you just don't care- they usually don't try more than once. 

We are thankful for the wonderful write up in Midwest Home Magazine recently about our David Salmela designed homes "The SkyHouse", The "Horizon", and the "Aurora". The title of the article was "Panoramic Grand Marais". 

It has also just come to our attention that our cabins as a design statement been accepted in to respected show in Northern Europe but that will have to remain a secret until the offical announcement. But it is wonderful to get that letter telling you it is going to happen!

We hope to have a tree service arrive in the next couple weeks to move some trees around (we have some mature trees that were so cute when they were little but have outgrown their locations, and we have other locations that need a place holder). 

Check out our fantastic specials in the middle of the upcomming weeks- we run a tight ship and we are very proud of our properties and we don't think you can find a better value out there right now!

Cheers!

Todd and Susan

 

 

5/18/19 A private sauna experience.

 

            We are completing a sauna house right here on the property of the North Shore Fisherman’s Cabin, the Lighthouse, and the Writer’s Cabin. It is right in your back yard. It is a very nice sauna with room for 4 comfortably and up to 6 max. It is an all cedar and pine sauna with an electric sauna stove. Everything is top of the line and natural. The building has three chambers: There is a completely unheated outer chamber, then after that a partially heated dressing area, and then the hot room of the sauna itself. This is a great way to relax after a hard day of hiking, skiing, or sightseeing. Or just a way to beat back the blues if the weather has been uncooperative. This is a private sauna and is available only for the registered guests here at Miller’s cabins (The North Shore Fisherman’s Cabin, The Lighthouse, and the Writer’s Cabin. And of course, Todd and Susan). Times will be blocked out for your group’s exclusive use.

 

How it works

 

            If you wish to indulge in the sauna experience, please contact us at 218-370-2026. We will collect a $40 fee via visa or cash, and you will have free use of the sauna during your registered time for 90 minutes. We will supply you with robes, special towels, and instructions for operating the stove and how to property enjoy a sauna in the true Finnish way. (After all, they are the experts!). You will need footwear to safely get from your cabin to the sauna house and it is best if your foot wear can be easily popped off like sandals or crocs.  The sauna will be yours privately for the duration of your time, and although clothing is recommended inside the sauna, it is not required. If going in your birthday suit, please place a towel under you for sanitary purposes. We will send you a link to YouTube instructional video so that you know what to do step by step. There is no water at the building, so after sauna showers need to occur back at your cabin. But you may bring a small container of water, 2 quarts or so, to put in the sauna bucket to be used for steaming up the chamber by ladling it on the hot rocks. There is also eucalyptus oil that can be used very sparingly in the water to open up the respiratory system.

We hope to have this sauna complete by June of 2019!

 

Cheers and happy sauna-ing! Todd and Susan Miller 218-370-20267

 

 

We are very happy and proud to be featured in Minnesota Monthly Magazine this Summer. Pick up an issue and come and stay with us to see what the fuss is all about!

 

 

 

We have commissioned three paintings of the tre søstre development, to be painted by area artist Matt Kania. We hope to make these images part of our marketing, such as post cards. Thanks Matt!