Port City Cottage

Port City Cottage, a spacious 5-bedroom 2-bath home, offers a comfortable way to enjoy the scenic, historic Lake Michigan small town of Manistee. Located minutes from the popular 5th Avenue beach, Port City Cottage welcomes up to 14 guests with modern conveniences, authentic charm, and room for family and friends. Our family has lived and vacationed in this beautiful part of the lower peninsula for generations and we're excited to share our love for this unique destination with you. The space Port City Cottage's two levels feature 4 bedrooms + a kids bunk room: two on the main level and three on the upper level. The main level bedroom has a queen bed and built in desk and dresser. A spacious, well stocked kitchen with island, dining room with two tables, living room, and large bath with walk-in tiled shower and clawfoot tub complete the first floor. There's also a wood deck located off of the kitchen with large patio table and umbrella. The private and charming back yard contains a solo stove fire pit, summer-time hammock and Adirondack chairs for nightly family gatherings. Off the kitchen is a kids bunk room with two twin bunk beds. A comfortable TV room with 55 inch flat screen equipped with an AppleTV is located on the second floor. Off the TV room are three bedrooms. The largest contains two twin beds with trundles. The second has a king bed, ensuite full bath and walk-in closet. The third bedroom features a queen bed. There is high speed WIFi throughout the house. Traveling with a little one? Our home has a portable pack'n'play with mattress and sheets. Let us know ahead of time and we can have it ready for your visit! Port City Cottage is a 5 minute drive or 17 minute walk from the gorgeous 5th Avenue Beach and playground. Frisbee golf fan? Walk five minutes down the street to a free public course - disks provided! Downtown Manistee is an 11 minute walk or 3 minute drive from our front door. Enjoy restaurants, the historic Vogue Theatre, coffee, ice cream, and boutique shopping in the city center. Take a stroll on the Riverwalk and keep an eye on the Manistee, MI Vessel Tracker f a c e b o o k page to see when the next tanker is coming up the channel. Across the channel from Port City Cottage (7 minute drive) are three fabulous playgrounds within walking distance of one another, a large frisbee golf course, baseball field, tennis courts, basketball court, and the stunning 1st Avenue Beach (rated most beautiful beach on Lake Michigan by USA Today). Enjoy a drink around the fire at the new Hampton Inn located steps from 1st Avenue Beach. What do our guests love about our property? Guests often comment on how well our home accommodates large groups and families. The main living and dining spaces are large making cooking, dining, and spending time together easy. Port City Cottage is a real home enjoyed and loved by a real family - no interior decorators here! Our home is designed with a beach loving, game playing, s'mores roasting crowd in mind who want to feel comfortable in a space that is clean with a vintage feel. Our accessibility to the beach and town attractions is hard to beat and the neighborhood is quiet and safe for children. Guests also love our farmhouse kitchen with large prep island and a fully stocked spice cabinet! Guest access Ample on-street parking is directly in front of Port City Cottage. A short sidewalk leads to the front entrance. There is also a driveway to the immediate left of the front of the house that can accommodate one to two cars. Please note that the driveway is quite narrow, for large vehicles we recommend using street parking. There are steps leading to both the front and back doors. Both doors are equipped with coded key pads. You will have complete privacy during your stay at Port City Cottage. During the summer months the lawn will be mowed periodically by our yard crew but they will remain outside the home at all times. Should we need to schedule maintenance to the home during your stay you will be informed well in advance. Snow removal is provided at Port City Cottage when needed. Other things to note Special things to know about our home... Trash pick-up at Port City Cottage is on Monday mornings. Please take trashcans to the curb on Sunday evening. In the Summer: Outside is a solo stove, hammock and gas grill for guests to enjoy. When using the grill, please roll out from beneath the garage ceiling to allow smoke to vent safely. Like many older Michigan homes, the Port City Cottage does not have central AC. There are large portable AC units located in the main rooms upstairs and downstairs. We also provide additional fans in all bedrooms. We recommend leaving the doors open at night in the upstairs bedrooms to allow the cold air from the AC unit to cool all bedrooms. Better yet, enjoy the cool summer nights with windows open! Our steps to the upper level are long with a low ceiling and may be challenging for older guests. Please watch your step. In the Winter: Port City Cottage is an authentic 1800s farm house with modern amenities, although its age has sustained some character! One of these is that the lower level and upper level have separate heating units. While the lower level is heated with central heating, the upper level has a main heating unit located in the TV room. In the winter we provide oil portable heaters for each bedroom upstairs and we recommend keeping the bedroom doors open at night to allow the heat from the main room to circulate. We often come to Port City during the winter months and find these tips keep us nice and toasty! Downstairs the kids bunk room does not have heating vents. We provide an oil heater for the room and recommend that you keep the door to the kitchen open at night so central heat can circulate. Manistee City has an evens and odds policy regarding street parking to accommodate snow plows. On even days of the week, park on the side of the street that Port City Cottage is on (the even side). On the odd days of the week, park your car on the other side of the street (the odd side). You are of course welcome to park in the driveway as well.