If you’ve got an eye for potential and like the idea of creating a special place for your family on a mostly undeveloped, 38-acre lakefront property in Northwest Washington, there’s a diamond in the rough waiting for you.

For co-owner Cliff Olin, there’s a lot of memories and tradition wrapped up in his family property, which includes a charming, 1929-built home on the edge of beautiful Lake McMurray in Skagit County.

“It was sort of the family homestead after my grandfather bought it back in 1925, but it’s almost disappeared out of the family many times,” says Olin, referring to various financial crises the family endured over the decades. He shares a 50-per-cent stake in this parcel with his wife, while his mother, now 97, owns the other half. “I’ve been going to the lake since I was two weeks old,” he adds.

With the property on the market for $3.2 million through Engel & Völkers Seattle Eastside, the Olins are looking for the right buyer.

Lake McMurray 1080unb from gabrielc on Vimeo.

Family has bucked development trend on the lake

The west side of the lake opposite the Olin property has been largely developed, which happened gradually after the Burlington Northern Railway abandoned its rail line in the 1960s.

The Olins, whose property borders a permanent RV park, have made it a point to keep their side of the lake unspoiled by development. But there’s plenty of potential for the next owners to build a modern home, or perhaps consider undertaking a sustainable forestry operation, Cliff says.

“For somebody that wants to build and create a family estate, this would be an ideal property, but it’s not a get-rich-quick situation,” he says, noting that future owners would need to work with Skagit County to pursue more extensive development. “For the right person with imagination, it’s a wonderful opportunity.”

Olin’s grandmother, Hortense, lived on this densely forested property until the time of her passing in 1984. As a way to preserve its integrity and keep the property in the family, an LLC was created in 1998 under the name Hortense’s Cedar Reserve and some selective logging was done, Olin says.

You’ve got choices with this unique property

With 3,100 feet of lakefront and one of the largest contiguous land parcels on the lake, there’s numerous options here.

“It really is a rare find,” says Engel & Völkers broker Gabriel Ciuca, who is marketing the property with fellow broker Jim Price. “Going outside the city and finding 38 acres is one thing, but finding it on a lake with the exposure this has and so much waterfront, it truly is a unique property.”

The one-bedroom home, featuring two decks and a 40-foot dock just steps away, is “close enough, yet far away enough” to be considered as a second home or weekend getaway, he says. At less than an hour from Bellevue, for example, it also has potential as a full-time residence, with expansion of the existing home or building new among the choices.

If you’d like to chat about the possibilities of this lakefront offering, email Jim.Price@evusa.com or Gabriel.Ciuca@evusa.com or call 206-818-0543. You can learn more about Engel & Völkers here.

Brokers Gabriel Ciuca, left, and Jim Price with Engel & Völkers Seattle.