The image is pure Mackinac Island, a sprawling timber and cedar shake house by the lake its long, white wrap-around porch with pillars mirrored one floor up with another long, white wrap-around porch with pillars.

It kind of reminded us of the Grand Hotel, said the owner, not to mention the scores more Victorian homes and porches for which Mackinac Island is famous.

But step through the front door of this house and you find its 2001 strengths. You look straight ahead through wide open rooms to high ceilings, expanses of glass, the porch and the lake beyond.

Long sight lines, walls of windows and views of the lake are the defining theme inside this house. The accents are the big round rooms at each end. Theres not a room in this house thats dark, said the owner, and there are wonderful cross breezes.

The house, for sale at $1,299,999, is just west of Brighton between two lakes. Its shoreline is 192 feet on all-sports Clifford Lake, also called Round Lake. The houses street side looks out across the road toward East Crooked Lake.

The most-used rooms, the owner says, are the two large round rooms at each end of the house. On the west side that is the family room. It is two stories tall with a two-story stone fireplace, wrapped with two stories of tall windows. On the inside wall, theres a view through glass doors to the 800-bottle wine cellar.

The east side of the house is the kitchen. Toward the lake, the round end holds the breakfast nook. From there, the kitchen extends across the depth of the house until the sink faces the street-side view, which includes a view of the other side of the lake. Its a relaxed country kitchen with white painted cabinets and vintage-style drawer pulls. The appliances are Sub-Zero, Kitchenaid, Bosch.

Three of the four bedrooms are round rooms with round walls and windows. The exception is the owners suite, where its the bathroom that got the round wall. All of the bedrooms are suites with their own full bath. Two have extra-large showers with multiple shower heads. Like a car wash, the owner said.

The layout takes an explanation. Technically, this would be called a two-story house plus a lower-level walkout. But the bottom floor the walkout stands on its own, about three-quarters free from enclosing earth, so the real-life effect is a three-story house. That makes it logical to count all three floors, 6,800 square feet, as its size, although legally you dont. The two-story family room and one bedroom suite are both located on the bottom floor.

Other assets of the house include:

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Michigan House Envy: Mackinac Island-inspired mansion revels in wrap-around porches

Got Porches? Here are some motorized solutions for your porch.
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Got Porches? Here are some motorized solutions for your porch. - Video

Q: How can I perk up my porch?

A: The porch is an architectural concept that has been in existence since prehistoric times. It can be traced back to overhanging rock shelters. The modern porch concept dates to ancient Greece.

In America, front porches have long been a cultural symbol of our love of nature. By creating a kind of outdoor living space, porches have become a way to greet guests and socialize with neighbors. They range from formal porticos to homey sitting areas above the front stoop.

If youve been feeling like your porch is starting to look, well, ancient, here are some surefire ways to create a space that is as functional as it is inviting.

Dress up your porch with a couple of comfy seats. Any room, even an outside one, should be furnished in a way that creates conversation areas.

Depending on your view and your preference, position the seats to look out or to face each other.

If your porch isnt protected from the elements, furniture with weatherproof fabric is a way to bring color, comfort and style to your space.

Add a table or two and dont be afraid to get creative.

Overturned crates, an old metal trunk dressed with colorful place mats, even a short bench can serve as a table.

Anything that can handle the elements and gives you enough space to place a book, a drink and perhaps a lamp can add to a look that represents your style.

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Ideas that add character to your porch | HomeWork

Porches thick with dust, vibrating walls, pounding headaches from the noise for four years theyve had it all.

But neighbours on a stub of a residential street that had become a service road for construction vehicles finally have peace proving the squeaky wheel gets the grease, as long as the press hears after one call to the media.

That call to The Free Press came after several pleas to city hall for help during the past two years, said Leigh Maulson, whose Trevithen St. home is one of only three on the dead-end block thats been dealing with heavy machinery since it was upgraded in 2011.

Since that summer, road crews have used a private lot at the end of the road to store supplies and machinery, while working on other roads in the neighbourhood.

From now on, city councillors get one courtesy call, then Im directing my complaints to the media, said Maulson, after learning the contractor would be moving supplies to the boulevards directly surrounding the job site.

This is amazing. Its so quiet. Its fantastic, he said. We can look forward to a summer where we can enjoy the outside of our property without all the dust and noise.

Maulson said neighbours welcomed the original 2011 roadwork, which cost them $2,700 on their property tax bills to upgrade water and sewer lines on their block. They begrudgingly tolerated the return of construction workers a year later, when crews spent much of the summer finishing and fixing problems from the previous year, he said.

But last year they were outraged that supplies for work on streets several blocks away were being kept in the lot, causing a steady stream of construction vehicles to use the block as a service route.

The answer is simple: Convenience. But certainly not fair, the city has suddenly agreed.

That lot is very convenient from a construction perspective because it is so close and a large area, said construction manager Justin Lawrence. But we recognize that three years of construction has a major social impact to these people.

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Trevithen St. residents finally get action from city hall

Trees and hydro poles were snapped, roofs were ripped off, and multiple porches were severely damaged as Ontarios first confirmed tornado of 2014 hit the town of Mildmay Tuesday evening.

Laurie Trelford, the owner of a womens clothing store in Mildmay, was trying to close the store for the evening when the tornado struck.

About 5 p.m. a crazy, crazy wind came up, Trelford told the Star. Ive been on the main street here for 10 years, and I have never seen the wind come like that. It was very creepy, very scary.

A series of strong thunderstorms moved across southern Ontario Tuesday evening, and numerous tornado warnings were issued by Environment Canada.

One of these severe thunderstorms produced a tornado in the Mildmay area, just south of Walkerton in Bruce County.

Geoff Coulson is an Environment Canada meteorologist. He estimates that the tornado happened between 5:15 and 5:30 p.m. and lasted only a matter of seconds, according to radar and eyewitness reports.

The storm itself was over relatively quickly, said Coulson. But it did leave a fair amount of significant damage in its wake.

Winds were estimated to be between 135 and 175 km/h. The width of damage was around 150 metres wide with a length of two kilometres.

No one was injured during the storm, but cleanup efforts are ongoing.

Half of the roof of my cousins house and his barn are damaged, said Trelford, whose own house escaped damage. Its quite a mess.

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Trees snapped, roofs torn off in Ontarios first tornado of 2014

MILLSBORO, De. - Neighbors said they saw it all happen from their porches. Workers recently came to the Commons at Raddish Farms, collected goose eggs, and then destroyed them. This was all part of a legal effort to control the goose population, although it's creating some debate in Sussex County.

Geese are an invasive species, and can be destructive to their environment. For that reason the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issues permits for people to destroy goose eggs. At the development in Millsboro, the retention pond where they all gather is a common area, and for that reason the local homeowners association oversaw the removal and destruction of these eggs. President Steve McIlvine said the action was necessary for two fundamental reasons. "We have anywhere from 30 and 50 geese sometimes in the summer time," he said. "A few people like them but overall it's a problem. Just with the feces and the health hazards involved with them. Plus they keep the mallards away. The more geese you have, the less mallards you have." It's the latter argument that has created the most concern from The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control. An official from DNREC told WBOC that the invasive species can be damaging to other wildlife. They said the population is starting to proliferate in Sussex County.

Some neighbors like Wanda Santarelli are less on board with the actions.

"They're life," she said of the eggs. "And I just don't want them to kill them because I enjoy them every year." DNREC has issued regulations on the destruction of these eggs. Those workers permitted to destroy the eggs need to drop the eggs in a bucket of water in order to see if air has entered the shell or not. If the eggs sink to the bottom, they would have permission to destroy the egg. Meanwhile, if it floated, that would signify that air was entering the shell. In that situation, they would have to leave the egg alone. This testing process is meant to make the elimination process more humane.

McIlviine said the problem was necessary to keep the community clean and safe.

"An adult goose poops every 6 to 8 minutes," he said. "They poop throughout the whole day long. And when you have kids or pets on the walking paths in the community, there are certain health concerns too." This practice goes far beyond just in Millsboro. WBOC reached out to DNREC, which said this is a national problem, but has always been an issue in Delaware.

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Goose Eggs Destroyed in Millsboro

SINGAPORE: Luxury property developer KOP is perhaps best known for its Hamilton Scotts condominium, where a unit sold for as much as S$24 million.

It was also responsible for developing the Montigo resorts in Bali and Batam.

But the firm is changing its strategy to focus on building mixed-use entertainment centres.

Amid sluggish demand in the high-end property market, KOP said it is now seeing better prospects in a sector it calls "entertainment real estate".

Ong Chih Ching, group CEO of KOP Limited, said: "We think that the world is slightly anti-elitist right now. So as a company, we need to focus and look at what is next. And when we studied the market, we realised that we should go for consumer-type real estate.

I think that entertainment real estate is not something that a lot of the traditional developers have actually looked at, and that's why we think this is a good opportunity for us to enter."

KOP said it may derive ticketing or food and beverage sales from these entertainment venues.

In addition, given the rising popularity of online shopping, KOP said there is a need to give consumers a greater reason to leave their homes - be it for a concert, or for other forms of entertainment.

Ms Ong added: "There is a lot of online retail (these days), so that also will be a challenge, in terms of footfall and traffic to the malls."

Speaking to reporters ahead of its listing on the Catalist board of the Singapore Exchange on Monday, KOP said its first project in the area of "entertainment real estate" will come in the form of an indoor winter resort in Shanghai, China.

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Luxury developer KOP shifts focus to "entertainment real estate"

Sixteen PORCHES. Cover
A little project I #39;ve been working on this past week. Hope you like it.

By: Ian S

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Sixteen PORCHES. Cover - Video

Sunrooms, Decks, Garages, Porches and Additions
Otterbeck Builders Sunrooms, Decks, Garages, Porches and Additions, bathrooms and kitchen remodeling.

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Sunrooms, Decks, Garages, Porches and Additions - Video

May 9, 2014 Stamp Out Hunger Saturday

By BRAD KELLAR Herald-Banner Staff The Herald-Banner Fri May 09, 2014, 10:01 AM CDT

GREENVILLE Once each year, letter carriers collect items from mailboxes and front porches across Hunt County and the United States, in an effort to help assist the hungry in our community.

The 22nd annual National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) National Food Drive to Stamp Out Hunger, the largest one-day food drive in the United States, is Saturday and employees of the Greenville Post Office will participate in the event.

In 2013 the office collected more than 24,000 pounds to be donated to Hunt County Shared Ministries (FISH) and the Salvation Army.

Last year letter carriers across America collected more than 74.4 million pounds of non-perishable food the second-highest amount since the drive began in 1992, bringing the grand total to just under 1.3 billion pounds.

The local drive brought in a couple thousand pounds during its first year, but has collected more than 275,000 pounds of food in the past two decades.

On Saturday carriers in Greenville will collect from the mailboxes and door steps of local homes, with many area churches also planning to take part. Drop boxes are available at each of the local Post Office locations.

Monetary donations to the NALC National Food Drive will also be accepted.

The drive is held annually on the second Saturday in May in over 10,000 cities and towns in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.

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Stamp Out Hunger Saturday