Babs Young has been looking at the world from the other side of the lake. She writes: This is the home of Patti and Jack Findlay in Alden and was part of their Garden Walk. Patti has beautiful gardens which are certainly worth seeing.
Then does she show us these gardens? She does not, except for that pretty frill of petunias. They remain Secret Gardens, and you may imagine them as you will. But I must say Patti has some pretty cool gingerbread. And did you notice the tidy stained-glass borders on the windows? And the fishscale siding? And the screen door! I love the screen door.
I am fond of looking at gingerbread on other people’s houses. Looking at it on my own would fill me with despair. All that work, I would think, and then I would go and have a nap in the hammock in the Secret Gardens.
Torch Lake Views 
rapidcityrecess
July 11, 2011
It’s a beautiful home and I gawk at it every time I drive by. I love all the details as well, but also fear I would shirk my caretaker’s duty if I were responsible for upkeep
Gerry
July 12, 2011
It’s good to know these things about ourselves, lest we invest in property that either takes over our lives or falls down in a heap. A caretaker, now, that’s a good idea . . .
P.j. grath
July 12, 2011
Sweet cottage. Those steps look very old. I’m picturing the Secret Gardens behind the house, hidden from public view, private and peaceful.
Gerry
July 12, 2011
I think the Secret Gardens must have a corner hidden even from inside the house. That is where I will put my hammock.
Dawn
July 12, 2011
This is the kind of house some of us dream of living in…and while we dream, we envision weed free gardens and a glorious master suite…so perhaps it’s best to admire it from our hammocks.
Gerry
July 12, 2011
Some things are better dreamed than lived, eh? I think you’re onto something there. Can I refill your lemonade?
torchlakedays
July 12, 2011
Every time we drive into Alden, I ooh and ahh over this house. Ah. Three weeks to Torch Lake. WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.
Sorry. I had a moment there. I’m better now.
Gerry
July 12, 2011
Hey, Beth . . . you’ll be even better in three weeks!
Joss
July 12, 2011
Is this really really a ginger-bread house? Made from actual gingerbread? What happens to it when it rains? It can’t be 90 degrees there ALL the time. It looks uncanny. So do the flowers. I’ve never seen petunias growing out of a lawn before. They seem as unreal as Babs’s dayglo flowers in the previous post. Torch Lake used to seem so like home.
Gerry
July 13, 2011
No, it’s a real house made of wood. “Gingerbread” refers to the fancy Victorian millwork up under the eaves and framing the porch.
It is definitely not 90 degrees here all the time. I would flee.
The petunias are growing out of garden borders on both sides of the stairway. They are nice fluffy petunias, and mound over the edges in a very becoming manner. They’re definitely real, and smell good with the sun on them.
The astonishing dayglo flowers in the previous post are Katherine’s creation. They started out real. You see what 90 degree heat does to the northern imagination.
Fee
July 13, 2011
That’s a simply gorgeous house. Just beautiful. Someone needs to invent maintenance free houses, methinks (she says, remembering that our gutters need cleaning out, and that I need to borrow a big ladder to do it. Himself has no head for heights.) Or I need to find a hunky handyman who’ll work for coffee and smiles.
Gerry
July 13, 2011
I think the difficulty with inventing maintenance free houses is that they must be kept outdoors where the spiders and dust and rain and dead leaves get all over them. I have a nice big ladder and my head’s fine with heights. It’s just the rest of my body that refuses to get up there.
Coffee and smiles? Really? I can see that I’ve been taking the wrong approach to domestic challenges.
isathreadsoflife
July 13, 2011
A “gingerbread” house ! I had never heard this name before apart from the sweets which I love ! After some enquiries, I see now why it is called this way: just as beautiful and dainty as the real gingerbread houses. We call them “maison en pain d’épices (spice bread houses). What a delightful picture and house !
Gerry
July 13, 2011
Thank you, Isa. We have a fair number of such houses Around Here, although some of them are not in such good repair as this one. They’re very cheerful.
Patti Findlay
July 13, 2011
Hi Gerry,
It’s time you came to Alden to see “The Pink Lady” as I promised. As it’s owner I invite you to come see. Remember I promised to take you to lunch and share some secrets. I’m very serious, when can you come? Let me know.
Thanks for putting me on your site.
Gerry
July 13, 2011
Hello Patti! Delighted to adorn the site with the Pink Lady. I just sent off an email–I look forward to our Secret Lunch.
katherine
July 13, 2011
I love the house. It’s a smaller version of the house I just moved out of. And yes they take a ton of work, a LONG ladder and a head that doesn’t mind heights! They also need insulation, closets, and new everything.
Gerry
July 13, 2011
Sounds like the Writing Studio and Bait Shop except that I have spider webs instead of gingerbread. It’s always something.
Anna
July 15, 2011
Goodness, what a gorgeous gingerbread house! It looks straight out of a fairy tale.
Preston Surface
July 17, 2011
I happen to agree with the wonderful commenter above about straight out of a fairy tale. She hit it right on the nose. Have you happen to catch a glimpse of Hansel or Gretel somewhere in this neighborhood?
Gerry
July 17, 2011
Hi Anna! Hi Preston! The Pink Lady certainly has loads of charm. I’m invited to visit its gardens next week and can hardly wait.
I don’t believe Hansel and Gretel have ever visited Alden, but they have slept in Banks Township.
dnrevel
July 18, 2011
Love this post. I WANT to see a photo or two of those lovely gardens. Ah well! Love the Hansel & Gretel connection blog post too!
Gerry
July 18, 2011
Hello, Deb. As it happens, more photos from the Pink Lady are forthcoming. Stay tuned . . .