When Mary Thompson and Mark Parnell started their search for the perfect house on Lake Martin in 2018, they were open to all possibilities offered by their Realtor, Angela VanHouten. One 1970s house on Little Kowaliga Creek, however, became the reference to which they compared other choices.
“We knew the house would need a gut job, but it just felt right, and we kept coming back to the great view. We just didn’t realize exactly how much work would need to be done,” Thompson said.
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