In The News
Cottage Home Builds First LEED® Certified Homes in
South Haven
Lakefront Homes Receive Gold and Silver Certification From The U.S. Green Building Council
Cottage Home announced today that the company's two lakefront homes on Monroe Boulevard in South Haven have received LEED® Certification by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) for achievement in green homebuilding and design. The Monroe Beach House at 850 Monroe Boulevard was awarded LEED Gold certification, while the neighboring home at 862 Monroe Boulevard was awarded LEED Silver.
Cottage Home is ReGreening West Michigan
Lakeshore Builder Helps Existing Homeowners Achieve LEED® Certification
Cottage Home, designers and builders of well-appointed beach houses and cottages, announced it is now offering renovation services designed to bring existing homes into compliance for LEED® certification through the LEED for Homes program. Developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), the program is an extension of REGREEN, the first nationwide green residential remodeling program for existing homes.
The Time for RCF is Now
Brian Bosgraaf Guest Column in Grand Rapids Business Journal
As a builder of more than 800 homes in the West Michigan area over the last 20 plus years, I have been required by new homeowners to justify the cost of incorporating energy efficient and sustainable technologies based on a Return On Investment (ROI). The cost of highly efficient systems, additional insulation, and upgraded features must, in the eyes of most buyers, offer an equal reduction in home heating and cooling costs or increased in resale value. This ROI approach to reducing home energy consumption must be replaced by forward thinking Reduced Carbon Footprint (RCF).
Blue Green Gala Raises Funds for Michigan Maritime Museum While Showcasing Upscale Sustainable Living
The sun broke through and the band began playing. On Sunday, August 23, the Cottage Home Blue Green Gala welcomed 200 friends and neighbors to view the contemporary LEED certified Monroe Beach House, raise money for the Maritime Museum and enjoy a perfect summer's evening with friends, food and music. The event focused on "Keeping It Blue By Making It Green": a sustainable event showcasing two new homes to raise money for the Michigan Maritime Museum in South Haven.
"The event was a success, beyond our imagination," said Brian Bosgraaf, President, Cottage Home. "Our turnout was tremendous, the weather was wonderful, and we were able to spend time with many people in
the community."
Blue Green Gala To Benefit Michigan Maritime Museum
West Michigan residents and visitors to the lakeshore area will have a unique opportunity to view sustainable design at its best when Cottage Home opens the doors Sunday, August 23rd to the new Monroe Beach House, 850 Monroe Boulevard, South Haven.
The 'Blue Green Gala' is being underwritten by Cottage Home as a way of demonstrating how sustainable lakefront living helps "Keep It Blue By Making It Green." The event, which is open to the public, includes tours of two homes, sustainable design discussions, live music, with refreshments and hors d'oeuvres catered by the South Haven Yacht Club.
Cottage Home Receives Community Partnership Award For Deerlick Creek Park
Cottage Home, designers and builders of well-appointed beach houses and cottages, was one of several recipients of the 2008 Business Excellence Award for Community Partnership by the South Haven Chamber of Commerce at a special awards ceremony held June 6. The company was cited for its efforts in partnering to preserve and improve a unique public beach at the end of 13th Avenue in South Haven Township.
Cottage Home 'Green Cottage' Receives LEED Platinum Certification
Lakefront Home Joins a Select Group of LEED Homes
Cottage Home, designers and builders of well-appointed beach houses and cottages, announced today that the company's Green Cottage was awarded LEED Platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). LEED Platinum is the highest level of achievement in green homebuilding, making the Green Cottage one of only five LEED Platinum homes in Michigan and the only Lake Michigan shoreline home to achieve this level.
Todd Sanford and Brian Bosgraaf Join SWMLC Board
Two west Michigan business leaders have joined the board of directors of the Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy (SWMLC) - Todd Sanford, CEO and owner, Sanford Financial Services, in Portage, and Brian Bosgraaf, president and designer, Cottage Home, Inc. in Holland.
"We are extremely pleased that Brian and Todd have joined our board of directors," said C. Larry Edris, SWMLC board president. "Their varied expertise and commitment to land protection is a good fit with our organization. They will both be invaluable in helping us as we move forward with our partnerships and aggressive conservation plans in 2009 and beyond."
Cottage Home Development Transforms Area Near South Haven - Kalamazoo Gazette
LakeBridge isn't the first Lake Michigan shoreline development for Brian Bosgraaf and his Holland-based residential development company, Cottage Home. But this development, just south of South Haven in an area known as Deerlick, was a commitment to both the environment and to the local community.
It's hard to believe while standing on a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan, just feet away from one of the five homes already built on the seven lots that make up the development, that just a couple of years ago you couldn't even see the lake from the spot. The 750 feet of beachfront were intertwined with bramble and 34 earth-mover tires.
LEED-Certified Homes Gaining Popularity - WZZM 13
Grand Rapids has nearly thirty "LEED" or leadership in energy and environmental design certified businesses, such as the new art museum, the YMCA and the Hispanic Center of Western Michigan. Homes with the LEED certification are growing in popularity as well. WZZM 13 took a look at one home being built to these tough environmental standards.
Cottage Home is one of several "LEED" certified home builders in West Michigan. Its home along the lakeshore is built to a high standard for environmental quality both inside and out and energy efficiency.
Three from Cottage Home Awarded Certified Green Professional (CGP) Designation
Brian Bosgraaf, Jeremy vanEyk and Steve Kloosterhouse of Cottage Home recently became part of the select group of professional builders, remodelers, and other industry professionals nationwide who have earned the Certified Green Professional (CGP) designation, identifying them as individuals with knowledge of the best strategies for incorporating green building principles into homes.
The CGP program is administered by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) University Housing and sponsored locally by the Home & Building Association of Greater Grand Rapids.
The CGP curriculum incorporates a variety of information tailored to green building and business practices. The CGP curriculum incorporates training by leading building industry practitioners and academics on a range of topics, including strategies for incorporating green-building principles into homes using cost-effective methods of construction, and how green homes provide buyers with lower maintenance and good indoor air quality. Techniques are also discussed for competitively differentiating your home products with increased indoor environmental quality as well as energy and resource efficiency.
CGP program graduates are required to maintain their designation by completing 12 hours of continuing education every 3 years, a portion of which pertain to green building activities.
Cottage Home Announces Completion of Holland's First LEED Certified Home
Local builder Brian Bosgraaf, and company Cottage Home, recently finished the first LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) Certified home in the Holland area. This home, which was LEED Certified at the Silver level, was built for their clients who recently moved to the area from Switzerland. It demonstrates a number of unique energy efficiency, sustainability and environmentally responsible features.
One such feature is a full geothermal heating and cooling system. The Lake Macatawa home utilizes 2,700 feet of closed loop tubing which was placed into the lake for this purpose. From that point, heat pumps were installed to capture the natural heat of the water, which passes through a series of coils, providing radiant heat into the floors of the home. In the summer, the home is cooled in a reverse manner, as the heat is extracted from the indoors and passed outside.
Other features that led to this high level of certification include: advanced insulation materials and techniques, low water usage plumbing fixtures, appliances and irrigation systems, low electric usage features, an intricate native and zoned landscape plan, and a number of indoor air quality assurance measures.
Cottage Home has just begun construction on another green home in its lakefront community of Suequehanna (Glenn, Michigan), which will be a model of sustainable design and LEED building practices. The home was completed in August.
Cottage Home Receives Quality of Excellence Awards
Holland, Michigan... Cottage Home, designers and builders of well-appointed beach houses and cottages, has added 3 more awards to the company's growing portfolio of achievements.
The Home & Builder's Association of Greater Grand Rapids, Sales & Marketing Council presented Awards of Excellence to Cottage Home for Best Exterior Design $500,001 - $650-000, Best Exterior Design $1,000,001 +, Best Green Built Home $1,000,001 + and Best Owner's Suite $500,001 - $650,000.
The awards were presented for recently competed lakefront homes in Holland and South Haven, Michigan.
Off The Beaten Path - Detroit Free Press
Builder Blends Secluded Custom Cottages Into Lake Michigan Dunes
In a housing market begging for buyers, builder Brian Bosgraaf has found a niche immune to the downturn.
It's nestled along the Lake Michigan shoreline, in places like Holland, Glenn, Douglas, South Haven and Benton Harbor, tucked among secluded and state-protected dunes.
Building permits are hard to come by and vacationers who value the privacy and the western Michigan lake culture are willing to pay a premium to claim a slice.
Bosgraaf -- a design buff with a penchant for living naturally in natural settings -- created Cottage Home in 1999. The eight-person company based in Holland, custom builds seven to nine lake cottages a year on sites that most builders would consider difficult, such as dunes or isolated spots with no access roads.
Still a Dream Come True
Custom Built Cottages Offer Upscale Summer Living Along Southwest Michigan's Shoreline
Brian Bosgraaf tells the story of a couple that walked the entire shoreline, from the Indiana border to Grand Haven, in search of the perfect lakefront property. They drove two cars, parking one up the road and then walking off their research on foot, getting a first hand sense of the land, the lake and the opportunities. After many weekends and a hundred plus miles, they knew where they wanted their summer home - the Cottage Home LakeBridge community, just outside South Haven, Michigan.
"Our clients tend to be particular," said Brian with a smile, "they've done their research and they know what they want." As president and designer of Cottage Home, builder of beach homes and lakefront cottages, Brian and his staff have helped clients from as far away Switzerland make their dream cottage come true.
Lake Michigan Shore
Eco-Built - A Geothermal Family Home in Holland
Martha and Urs Waldvogel have just moved from Switzerland, Urs' native country. Into the nearly 5,800-square-foot home they built on the northern edge of Lake Macatawa, in Holland, Michigan. Urs had long yearned to live on a lake. "That was always my dream," he says. They considered building on Lake Tahoe, in California, but chose, finally, to settle closer to Martha's family in the Midwest. They looked long and hard before choosing the Holland property. The next step was to find a builder.
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Cottage Home Receives Two Awards,
Breaks Ground on 'Green Home'
Holland, Michigan... Cottage Home, designers and builders of well-appointed beach houses and cottages, recently added two awards to the company's growing portfolio of achievements.
Brian Bosgraaf, company president and designer, received the Custom Builder of The Year award from the Home & Builder's Association of Greater Grand Rapids. Brian was cited for setting professional standards for others in the industry, achieving excellence in new construction and maintaining active roles in educational and advisory councils.
Reason To Retreat - Cosmopolitan Home
On the shores of Lake Michigan, LakeBridge offers residents luxury homes in a natural setting.
A new South Haven beachside development will offer cottage owners much more than a room with a view.
Brian Bosgraaf, award-winning builder and designer at Holland- based Cottage Home, is the mastermind behind LakeBridge, which covers 10 1/2 acres and offers homeowners 750 feet of private beach frontage and 1,000 feet of back frontage on Deerlick Creek.
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Cottages At Summer's Gate - Cosmopolitan Home
Almost a century ago, a drive along Lake Michigan from the city of South Haven would have taken you down the well-known "Doctor's Row". Through the trees, you would have glimpsed elaborate cottages belonging to the elite of the day - an awe-inspiring cluster of homes marked by stone pillars and gated entryways. Today a similar jaunt down "Doctor's Row" and you will witness the resurrection of this history. Behind the gated entrance emblazoned with "The Cottages at Summer's Gate," construction has begun on a prestigious residential community that infuses the luxuries of modern living with an aura of the past.
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Pacesetter Award Winners - Custom Home
It makes sense that Cottage Home, a company designing and building summer homes on the shores of Lake Michigan, would come up with a marketing scheme that includes a vacation. "We wanted to have a permanent model," says president Brian Bosgraaf, "but I thought it was a waste for it to sit empty." Plus, most people drive two or three hours to get there, so a logical solution was to let clients inhabit the model for a few days.
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