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By Emmitt B. Feldner
Sheboygan Press staff
GLENBEULAH - Mike and Kari Mooney are the first homeowners in the Kettle Moraine Highlands sub-division
here, but they expect to be the first of many.
The Mooneys are in the process of moving into their 1,750-square-foot, two-story home with a walkout basement on one of 24 lots in the first phase of the development in this quiet little village in the heart of the northern Kettle Moraine.
Seven lots have already been sold in the year-old subdivision and several homes are under construction, along with a model and a spec home, but the Mooneys are the first move in -and they don't hide their enthusiasm.
"We can't really say enough about all
the advantages there are to living here" Kari said one night while workmen outside were finishing up the railing for the front porch.
The move feels like coming home, in more ways than one, for the Mooneys. Mike is a native of the village, a member of the fire department and an |
emergency medical technician with the first responders unit. When he and Kari married about six years ago, they purchased a home in the Town of Greenbush.
"For the last couple of years, we've been trying to get back into town," he said. "When
this subdivision came available, we jumped for it."
Their opportunity came more than a year ago when developers Tod Hellman and Oyvind Solvang purchased 30 acres in the village and won approval for what will be an 83-lot residential development. Most of the parcel was the site of a mixed-residential development proposed
by Bob Herriot in 1996. Herriot went bankrupt after only one condominium was built and the land sat idle for more than four years. |
KARI MOONEY stands next to the island-snack bar in her new Glenbeulah kitchen. Kari and her husband, Mike, are the first to move into the new Kettle Moraine Highlands subdivision in Glenbeulah. Press photos/ Garu C. Klein. |
 THE
MOONEY home features special corner treatments throughout. |
Hellman and Solvang's plans met with an enthusiastic response from village officials, who saw it as a chance to reverse a three-decades-long decline that saw the village's population drop 25 percent. When all three phases of the subdivision are completed, the village
could grow by 60 percent or more. That growth should also help the Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah School District, which has seen declining or steady enrollments for much of the same period.
The subdivision is designed to create a feeling of community, with quarter- to half-acre lots priced affordably on narrower streets and smaller homes set closer to the street with front porches. Mike and Karl agree that the goal of creating a community feeling will
work in Kettle Moraine High-lands. |
THE FORMAL DINING ROOM of the Mike and
Kari Mooney home has a great view of the Glenbeulah countryside. |
THE MASTER BEDROOM of the Mooney home features
a coved ceiling. |
No two houses in the subdivision will be the same, which Karl likes. "That, to me, was probably one of the big selling points," she said.
The Mooneys selected a model home that they made a few modifications on and building began in May.
The potential for a walkout basement helped sell them on the lot they purchased in January -a lot that was about $5,000 cheaper than a comparably sized lot in Plymouth, Mike noted.
The close proximity to the village park (which borders the subdivision on the west) and the Mill Pond, the striking views of the hills and woods of the Kettle Moraine, all added to the attraction.
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"This is a nice area. The view is beautiful out here," Mike said. The sweeping vistas can be seen from the master bedroom up-stairs, the kitchen/breakfast nook on the first floor and the basement.
They will also be enjoyed from the deck the Mooneys plan to build on the first floor level and from the small deck off the master suite.
"There's just something about a small town where you know everybody else," Mike added. "There's lots of recreation
in the area -the Ice Age Trail, the Kettle Moraine, the Sheboygan Marsh. It's kind of like you're in the middle of everything that goes on around here."
"You don't have to be afraid to walk around at night. It's quiet -and they have a good fire department
here," Kari added with a smile.
Reach Emmitt B. Feldner at efeldner@smgpo.gannett.com and
457-7711, Ext. 119. |
THE LIVING ROOM of the Mooney home features
a fieldstone fireplace.
THE FOYER to the Mooney's house features an open staircase. |
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