HomeOpen House: Bill and Kathee’s Niles, MI Retreat
15. Jul, 2010 
6 Comments
There’s something magical about Wilhelm (Bill) and Kathee Kiesselbach’s two bedroom Niles, Michigan home. Bill bought the one and a half acre property several years before the couple first met, but the first time Kathee saw the house, she felt as if she had been there before. In fact, nearly everybody who visits senses something special. ”My friends have said it’s the kind of place where they feel they could write a novel – or create a masterpiece,” says Kathee. “I always thought it would be a wonderful artist or writer’s retreat.” In fact, that’s what it has become for Kathee, who makes art in her studio, a second bedroom with a gorgeous stone-clad exterior wall, and the garage, where she keeps her letter press. Her work can be found throughout the house, and Bill’s work is on display too. He spent four months applying a tile mosaic to the top surface of a built-in stone ledge near the entrance to the dining room in the hallway connecting the home’s entrance to the rear bedrooms. A built-in dining buffet is made of the same Redwood used throughout the house, most notably on the living room ceiling (above). A variety of redwood still grows on the property, and Bill and Kathee spend a lot of time outside, bird watching, beekeeping and tending to their plants. By day, Kathee drives into nearby Buchanan, where she works at Thomas Jolly Home & Garden, and she writes a column about local artists for Off the Water – a Leader Publication. Bill’s retired, but he works from home as a freelance translator. During the evenings, you’ll often find the happy couple reading or watching TV in their library. Does it get any better? Thanks Bill and Kathee!
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Click here for more information about Kathee Kiesselbach’s art. Click here for past Open House posts.
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People say the living room reminds them of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater in Pennsylvania.
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It took Bill four months to create these mosaics. The process pretty much consumed him, and he took breaks only for sleep, to eat and to work.
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A very beautiful, unusual redwood built-in dining room hutch.
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Bill’s collection of US Military metals.
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Kathee’s studio.
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Kathee and Bill spend a lot of time reading and watching TV in their den.
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“We are always Googling something or looking something up in a book,” explains Kathee. “It is common for us to drag out an atlas a garden book to look up a plant or bird.”
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Kathee made this lithograph with pieces from Bill’s past.
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The jacuzzi room is an addition to the house.
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Check out the gorgeous Redwood ceiling. Also note the tree.
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Which grows up through a hole in the Redwood ceiling.
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Like so.
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Kathee’s letter press.
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Bees.
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This is a fascinating home and couple.
While the furniture clashes charmingly with its framework, the house itself is stunning. I would be very happy in this house, but would install even more bookcases in the library. Any type of artist would find this a setting conducive to creativity.
It is a wonderful place to live. And you will be pleased to know that we do plan more bookcases! I am also inclined to put some in the studio where I now have a free-standing bookshelf!
Beautiful! I’d swipe the pond – my backyard can use all the help it can get and a lovely pond like Bill & Kathee’s would be such a nice feature!
So warm and personal. I love seeing antiques in modern homes and seeing people make their spaces truly function for their art and minds. The space looks highly functional and decadent at the same time. Brava!
FYI this house just went on the market! Contact realtor Paul Hicks Cell (269)369-2975.