Just Listed in the Poconos: Contemporary Chalet in Pocono Lake
Located in a gated lakeside community, this rustic-yet-modern house has a couple of features you’d pay a lot more to get in Philadelphia or at the shore.
This 13-year-old house in the Arrowhead Lake community looks like a ski lodge and is very nicely outfitted with features you just don’t find at this price at the Jersey Shore — if, indeed, you can find a house at this price at the Shore at all. It’s located at 190 Minisink Dr., Pocono Lake, Pa. 18342 | Bright MLS images via RE/MAX Central
From time to time, we here at Philly Mag have marveled at how reasonably priced Poconos houses are. Where a house at the Jersey Shore would run you an arm and a leg, and still require you to walk a few blocks to the beach, you can buy a great vacation or even year-round home close to the slopes in winter and all sorts of recreational opportunities in the summer for a song.
Like this Pocono Lake contemporary chalet house for sale.
It’s located in one of several gated lakeside communities the ice-harvesting business made possible. Arrowhead Lake, where this house is located, is one of a series of man-made lakes created when local entrepreneurs dammed several streams in the 1890s in order to harvest ice from them in the winter months. The refrigerator put these guys out of business, but the land around the lakes they owned soon found new value as the basis for resort subdivisions.
Like at Pocono Lake, Lake Naomi and Stillwater Lake, Arrowhead Lake residents have a panoply of amenities and recreational opportunities right within their gates. Here, they include two lakes for boating, fishing, and swimming at your own risk, four beaches with playgrounds and roped-off swimming areas, three swimming pools, a fitness center, tennis and volleyball courts, a game and reading room, and a library, banquet room, great room and billiard room in the community lodge. (Some of these facilities are temporarily closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.) The community also has a year-round calendar of activities for members. Residents also have access to the Thornhurst Country Club Estates golf course.
Main living area
All of this comes with this house. And the house itself is also nicely outfitted.
On the outside, it has both a wraparound front deck and a sun porch, through which you pass to get to the front door.
Dining room
Inside, you encounter a totally open main living area with a two-story-high cathedral ceiling made of knotty pine, a wood stove and a unique deer-antler chandelier in the dining area. The huge windows at the front and the skylights in the ceiling fill this soaring space with light.
Kitchen
If you love to cook, you will definitely appreciate the kitchen, which is located under the upstairs balcony and open to the living area.
Kitchen range
In addition to the usual granite countertops and stainless steel appliances, it boasts a true commercial-grade Montague Grizzly six-burner gas range with griddle and a restaurant-grade vent hood to go with it.
Home office loft
The primary suite sits atop the kitchen on the second floor. It consists of a loft area that currently serves as a home office, a bedroom and a bathroom.
Primary bedroom
The primary bedroom has plenty of space, enough to include a sitting area, plus a Juliet balcony overlooking the backyard.
Primary bedroom sitting area
A second bedroom is located next to the kitchen, and the other two bedrooms are in the recently renovated walkout basement. The basement also contains a large family or rec room. And the house has a central vacuum system.
In addition to everything Arrowhead Lake has to offer, state game lands for hunting and some of the Poconos’ best ski resorts are a short drive away.
How much do you think a house outfitted like this in a community like Arrowhead Lake would run at the Jersey shore? Let’s just say that compared to that amount, this one is an incredible bargain.
THE FINE PRINT
BEDS: 4
BATHS: 3
SQUARE FEET: 2,068
SALE PRICE: $379,900
OTHER STUFF: An $1,870 annual homeowners association fee covers maintenance and use of the community facilities along with trash removal.
190 Minisink Dr., Pocono Lake, Pa. 18347 [Tina A. Guerrieri | RE/MAX Central]
