High-End Homes: French-style chateau on the Thornapple River listed for $1 million

Read article : High-End Homes: French-style chateau on the Thornapple River listed for $1 million

ALTO, MI – Located along a wooded stretch of the Thornapple River, this chateau at 5945 Tannon Court SE offers a French Country décor with Parisian accents.

Joann Amash, who is an aunt to U.S. Rep. Justin Amash, R-Cascade Township, has put the house on the market for $1 million with Realtor Robert Antonini of Coldwell Banker AJS.

Amash said she decided to put the 10-year-old house on the market after her husband, Mike, died last year and their children started to leave the nest. The family has owned the house for seven years.

Located on two acres in a subdivision half an hour southeast of Grand Rapids, the three story mansion offers views of the river from centrally located great rooms on each level.

Guests enter the home through a large foyer with porcelain tile flooring and a cherry-trimmed staircase. Off to one side, there’s a small room with faux-painted walls and a grand piano. The room could be converted into a home office.

Straight ahead is the great room with a large limestone hearth and a series of ornately draped windows that overlook a deck and a path down to the river about 200 feet away. In the summer, there’s a deck on the riverbank that allows for relaxing and offers a launching point for tubing, canoes or kayaks.

The great room opens up to a large kitchen with a large granite-topped island. Appliances are commercial grade with a hand-painted French country hood over the stove. An adjoining dining area is filled with light by windows that surround three sides of the room.

A hallway from the kitchen leads to a large laundry room that also includes an island for craft projects and a built-in desk for homework time. Another door leads to the three-stall garage with a flagstone floor.

The master suite on the ground floor features a large bedroom with river views and a see-through fireplace. The master bath suite features a powder room, walk-in closets, a glass-blocked walk-in shower and a Jacuzzi tub. Beaded chandeliers and wall sconces lend Parisian style to the suite.

On the second floor, there’s a great room that Antonini calls the “Safari Room.” Palm branch ceiling fans hang from the barrel ceiling. There’s a hearth with lion head corbels and a bank of arched glass windows overlooking the river.

Now configured as a large home office, the original owners used the upstairs great room as a play area for children. With 8,400-square-feet of living space, Antonini says the house is flexible enough so new owners could easily change the uses of the rooms through décor changes and minor alterations.

Also on the second floor, there are two full bedroom suites. Both feature full baths and large walk-in closets. On the ground floor, there are two more bedroom suites, each with a full bath – one with a steam shower.

Much of the lower level is dedicated to entertainment. There’s a large family room with a stone hearth and wet bar for parties. There also is a billiards room and a separate home theater room with a large wide-screen projection system.

For grown-up pastimes, the lower level also includes a well-ventilated cigar room and a tanning salon equipped with a tanning bed. The lower level also includes several large storage rooms and a two-stall garage and workshop that could be used to store watercraft or other toys.

Technologically, the house is up to date with security and lighting systems that can be centrally controlled and a surround sound system with built-in speakers throughout the house.

There are four furnaces that manage the heat and air conditioning in various portions of the house.

Jim Harger covers business for MLive/Grand Rapids Press. Email him at jharger@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter or Facebook or Google+.