The Spokesman-Review: Lake Coeur d’Alene Home Designed by Fans of ‘Blog Cabin’ Hits the Market
January 2016 | Press
A fully furnished and decorated new home with custom artwork and sweeping views of Lake Coeur d’Alene is an unusual real estate listing.
The 4,000-square-foot house on 8 acres hits the market next week. It will be familiar to those who watch “Blog Cabin,” an interactive home improvement show on DIY Network.
Viewers voted on design features for the “modern-style mountain retreat” on the east side of the lake, and the network gave away the house in an October drawing from more than 23 million entries. The New York couple who won came out for a brief visit but decided to sell it.
“People have seen it on TV and online, but no one has really seen it in person except the owners and myself and the builders,” said Mark Hensley of John L. Scott Real Estate. “It’s a pretty unique home.”
Hensley, who helped the producers find the property, plans to list it for $895,000. The three-level house sits atop a knoll near Driftwood Point, a 20-mile drive south of Coeur d’Alene along state Highway 97.
It has three bedrooms and three bathrooms, a game room, a media room, a library, gas fireplaces, an outdoor kitchen and herb garden wall, a hot tub and a four-car drive-through shop. The master bedroom suite features a private deck with lake views, stairs up to a secluded sanctuary and second deck, and a roomy bathroom shower wired for lights and sound.
On a tour of the home Wednesday, Hensley pointed out some of the distinctive features: a tranquil water feature under a wide open staircase, sliding barn doors, and liberal use of concrete, wood and metal finishes. The great room balcony looks over the lower level and out onto a generous southwest view of the lake.
“This is what you’re paying for,” Hensley said in front of a two-story wall of windows.
Most of a 1970s house on the site was torn down for the project, with just a part of the foundation remaining. Edwards Smith Construction of Coeur d’Alene reused materials from the site during the nine-month project.
“Everything in the house has a story,” Hensley said. “It’s just interesting how they tied all that together.”
A collection of pictures in the downstairs family room was fashioned from old, hand-painted “for sale” signs on the property. A pile of Idaho diamond stone became an outdoor patio surrounding a gas fire pit. A metal wall hanging is cut in the shape of Idaho, and the shadow box dining table frames a lit metal “Coeur” sign. The decor includes items from all 50 states.
Albert Zaranka, a retired teacher and pianist, won the grand prize Oct. 27. He and his wife, Ellen, had just moved to New York to be closer to friends and family.
“Timing just wasn’t good,” Hensley said. “It’s clear on the other side of the country. He goes, ‘Mark, I just can’t do anything with it.’ ”
An open house for the property is set for Jan. 16 from 1-4 p.m. For information, call Hensley at (509) 998-7200.
“I don’t think I’ll have a problem selling it, but I just think it’s got a unique story,” he said, referring to the spotlight on North Idaho throughout the ninth season of “Blog Cabin.”
“It’s not very often you get national exposure for the area for that long a duration.”