Whether you call it a “barndominium” or a “barndo,” a steel and sheet metal house in Hartland Township that’s up for sale is a unique place to call home.
The three-story house is located at 2360 Cullen Road near Highland Road and U.S.-23 in Livingston County. It has a Howell mailing address and is about 9 miles north of Brighton and about 12 miles west of Milford.
Built in 2016, the 4,700-square-foot home sits on a lot that’s more than five acres. The asking price is $960,000.
John Luke, associate broker with RE/MAX Platinum in Hartland and who listed the house for sale, said so-called “barndominiums” like this one have been around for years on the west coast and are becoming popular in the Midwest.
“It’s kind of a craze right now,” he said. “You can have a place where you can both live and work.”
He said this home has a few things that make it stand out. “The design, the functionality, the maintenance-free aspect and the flexibility make this home unique,” Luke said.
Luke said the home’s owner, a car collector and car builder, also built and designed with his passion in mind. “He could have as many as 12 cars in his building, all heated or cooled,” he said.
He said in addition to having the exterior that never needs maintenance, the home can house a small contractor’s equipment, a sportsman’s toys or the tools and workshop of a hobbyist. “There’s a lot of flexibility there,” the broker said. “It’s just so versatile and fun.”
The home has three bedrooms, five bathrooms, a living area, a dining area, a chef’s kitchen as well as a man’s — or woman’s — cave. The man cave has TVs, shuffleboard and video games, Luke said.
The first floor consists of a master bedroom with bathroom, a great room, a dining area, kitchen and a laundry room. The living area has a 30-foot ceiling and the kitchen has a commercial stove and oven in addition to high-end appliances.
The heated, four-car garage is also on the same floor, connected to the house by a hallway between the living area and the kitchen. It has a 2,500-square-foot shop area that’s heated and cooled, making it perfect for car storage. It also has a loft where cars can be stored. Each of the garage’s four doors have one horsepower-motors and separate battery-powered backups.
The first floor, which covers more than 8,000 square feet, is heated and covered with a metallic epoxy and a urethane coating.
Up a level, there are two more bedrooms which have their own full bathrooms like the master bedroom below. Both bedrooms have maple hardwood floors. A sitting area is also on the same floor.
An open area is on the third floor.
Outside, the home features a 40-foot by 16-foot patio with heating coils embedded in its concrete as do the concrete apron in front of the garage and the front porch. Luke said there’s never a need to shovel snow.
It also has a wood-burning boiler outside that can heat the entire home by itself or supplement the house’s natural gas furnace.
Furthermore, all of the house’s windows and doors are made by Pella. The windows have built-in blinds.
“It has lots of features that make it appealing,” Luke said. “The detail work is phenomenal. But I think the No. 1 thing is the flexibility of use. It’s a beautiful living situation geared towards entertaining. If I won the lottery, I’d buy this house. I mean it.”
Another selling point: the home is located next to a golf course. “You could take your golf cart from the back door and drive out onto the course,” he said.
Luke said he thinks the house would be perfect for a car collector because there’s space to work on cars and store them. “It’s just the way it was designed,” he said. “It’s really for the detailed-oriented person. You look at it and think ‘Wow, he really thought everything out.'”
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Twitter: @CharlesERamirez