Vacation here!
T. (as in Tom) Ashwell's restaurant is in an elegant old country house just off Highway 42 in Ellison Bay.  The menu features American & ethnic choices, with appetizers being a specialty.  Some people go there and make a meal of the appetizers.  See the T. Ashwell website for more info.

The Viking Grill is a classic old-time Door County family restaurant/bar.  The wait staff has "attitude" and the specials are a good value.  Last, but not least, the traditional Door County Fish Boil (see their web site) has been served here a long time...worth a stop.

Live here!
Yacht Harbor Shores Condo is south of Ellison Bay and just north of Sister Bay. This luxury development offers spacious units with high end finishes, first level master suites, two fireplaces, and attached two-car garages. The water/sunset views match the beauty of the development. Owners have access to 460 feet of Green Bay shore for their enjoyment.

Units range in size from three bedroom/two and a half bath to four bedroom/four bath. Some new construction units offer the opportunity to customize finishes if desired. It’s just a short walk to Yacht Works Marina, JJ’s or The Water Front Restaurant, and a short drive to the restaurants above.

Contact Jim for all of your Door County real estate needs.

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I like the strategies involved with playing bridge, and the interplay between partnerships that goes on.  There's a duplicate group in Door County that plays regularly in the Fall and Spring at The Clearing.  For more about the Door County bridge scene, check Contract Bridge on my website.

I also ocasionally play on BridgeBase Online which is free, and hosts thousands of players at all different skill levels.  Otherwise I practice using Bridge Baron which you have to buy and load onto your local machine.  With Bridge Baron you can select the conventions you want to use, those you want your partner to use, etc.

Anyone out there involved with on-line bridge?

Vacation here!
The Pioneer Store is a Door County icon - established in Ellison Bay around 1900 by Charlie Ruckert, and then  known as Ruckerts.  It's an old-fashioned general store that has been called the Pioneer Store for 40+ years.  The actual building was destroyed in a tragic propane explosion in 2006, but the intrepid entrepreneur, Carol Newman, survived the blast and went on to rebuild and reopen in 2007.  For a more complete story see the article in Door County Living Magazine.

The Linden Gallery is an amazing resource for Door County - featuring "Exotic Asian Antiques and Collectibles" - really(!) - in our little corner of northeast Wisconsin.  Brian & Jeanee Linden also have a shop in Madison, WI, and are starting a retreat center in China.  Read more about it at their Linden Gallery website.

Live here!

Waterfront living is close at hand - check out the Heritage Harbor Condominium complex.  It's a small development, but right on the waterfront just south of JJ’s Restaurant on the north side of Sister Bay. The water view changes every day – sun, clouds, boat traffic to the Sister Bay Town Dock, etc. The residents enjoy the use of the common shore (200’ +) and pier.  The upper-level units are served by elevators, and each unit has a patio or balcony and garage.

Contact Jim for any questions about Door County real estate!

Vacation here!
This is a small (174 acres) park in northern Door County with dramatic water views out over the Bay of Green Bay. There are hiking trails, picnic tables, and an observation point out over the bluff edge.  Because of the location there are few visitors at any given time - a great quiet place to relax and enjoy the beauty.  To get to the park take Highway 42 to Porcupine Bay Rd. (just south of Ellison Bay), then west and follow the signs.

In Ellison Bay be sure to stop at the Newport House Gallery (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article) owned and run by Jan & Carol.  They are gracious, fun proprietors and have a high-quality collection of folk art, and work from a variety of artists, including William Hemmerling, a southern artist that does one-of-a-kind creations on "found objects".  His art was featured at the Jazz Fest in New Orleans.

Live here!
For a place to live nearby, check out the Liberty Park complex of condos.  Located north of downtown Sister Bay but south of Waters End Rd. & Beach Rd., this new development spans both sides of Highway 42. The waterfront units (“Liberty Park Waterfront E”) on the Green Bay Shore are large and luxurious, ranging up to five bedrooms with five baths, and come with a 14’x30’ boat slip.

The units on the east side of the road (“Liberty Park Estates”) are the more traditional 3/2 or 4/3 size, and offer shore access, wood or water views, two-car garage and basement.

Contact Jim for any questions about Door County real estate!

Live here!
One of the best features in the County is an organization known as The Clearing in Ellison Bay.  It was started in 1935 by Jens Jenson, a noted Chicago-area landscape architect who was instrumental in designing the Chicago waterfront park system, one of the most magnificent park systems in a city-center setting.

Jenson vacationed in Door County and started a school for landscape architect students.  That humble beginning has grown into a "Folk School" with many varied programs.  One of which is the Winter Program classes that cater to Door County residents who are here in January and February.  The classes are all taught by volunteers and cover a wide gamut of subjects ranging from glass making, wine tasting, watercolor, astronomy, contract bridge, wood carving, soup making, great books, knitting, weaving, oil painting, and the list goes on and on...over 110 different offerings this past season.

The people who attend the classes are social too!  Every other week there's a pot-luck supper that draws hundreds of attendees.  It's a great place to meet new people and see old friends.

See Jim's favorites for more of the reasons he likes living here!

Vacation here!
Newport is a 2,373-acre park in the northern part of the peninsula on the Lake Michigan side.  The Newport State Park web site describes the park as "...Wisconsin's only formally designated wilderness park".  There are reservable backpack campsites, but minimal facilities.  What's lacking is facilities is made up for by the beauty of the forest and shoreline trails, including our favorite, the Hotz Trail.

Live here!
In nearby Ellison Bay you can live at Northbluff Condominium.  All units have a gorgeous view of the bay of Ellison Bay from high on the bluff. Skylights enhance the open feeling, and fieldstone fireplaces accent the living rooms. Decks and attached garages are added features. The location is just minutes from Sister Bay & Ellison Bay, in a private, beautifully wooded setting. Amenities include tennis courts, outdoor pool, and caretaker.

Vacation here!
One of our favorite summer restaurants, The Shoreline Restaurant, is in Gills Rock at the tip of the Door Peninsula.  The food is good all around, and the sunset views out over Hedgehog Harbor (Bay of Green Bay) enhance the dinner-time dining experience.  See their web page for more info.

Live here!
A nearby condo development, Cottge Glen, is a well-planned community located in a beautiful wooded setting with meadows and wildflowers. Enjoy the clubhouse with indoor & outdoor pools, sauna, and fitness center, or the tennis courts or walking trails.

The units come in a variety of styles, and all have attached garages. This great location is an easy walk to the Ellison Bay Park sand beach, the Liberty Grove Town Dock, the Pioneer Store, and more.

When I lived in Illinois, virtually all consumer real estate transactions involved a lawyer at some point in the process.  In Wisconsin all of my transaction, and virtually all those at my company, go from start to finish with no lawyer involvement, with the exception of the attorney the title company uses to prepare the deed.

So, how is it that we Wisconsin real estate brokers can draft binding contracts that get the job done?  It all goes back to 1961 and a Wisconsin Supreme Court case known as Reynolds V. Dinger (State ex rel. Reynolds v. Dinger, 14 Wis. 2d 193, 109 N.W. 2d 685 (1961)) which pitted the lawyers v. the real estate brokers. The Court ruled that it had the authority to regulate the practice of law (v. the lawyers and lawyer groups) and in effect said that real estate brokers could, within narrow confines, use appropriate approved forms to accomplish transactions.  For a current article (August 2007) on the case see Defining the Practice of Law, in the online edition of Wisconsin Real Estate Magazine.

In today's world the Wisconsin Dept. of Regulation and Licensing and its agencies promulgate the rules that brokers must follow to accomplish transactions within the board-approved framework.  If brokers "practice law" within the framework established by the Board they should avoid legal trouble.  This is not to say they are immunized from drafting mistakes, poor judgments, etc., they just won't run afoul of the "practicing law" issue.

From my perspective, I appreciate the opportunity to do the transaction work without involving attorneys in routine transactions.  It's hard enough the get the principals and brokers to all agree and proceed without involving another layer of experts with their own agendas and opinions.

If you're in real estate in Wisconsin, I have a variety of resources available on my Door County Real Estate website:
Door County Real Estate Forms - illustrative examples of commonly used transaction forms
Wisconsin REALTORS® Association - Legal Hotline Hottips - an archive of articles on a variety of subjects
Wisconsin REALTORS® Association - Legal Updates - in-depth treatment of current legal issues

I'm interested to hear about how the process works in other states - leave a comment if you're so inclined...

I just joined AR - and can see that I have a lot to learn about the intricacies of the site.  Already I have
read some helpful posts on info for newbies, SEO, etc. (thanks to Jason Crouch, Katerina Gassett, Brad
Andersohn and others) and many more subjects.  I can see right off I'll be interested in AR groups about SEO,
photography, marketing, legal issues, and many more.  

I love living in Door County, WI for a host of reasons.  There's unparalleled natural beauty, an abundance of
art, artists, theater, music performances, galleries, outdoor recreation opportunities including state parks
and miles of bike trails, miles of coastline with plenty of opportunities for boating and fishing,  many great
restaurants (no chains) and last, but certainly not least, a rich variety of friendly, interesting people.

In future posts I plan to write about some of these features and places and, of course, the local real estate scene.  See my website (www.jimkinneyrealtor.com - Door County Real Estate) for a little about me…

Feel free to comment/inquire about vacationing here and living here - it's great!