Tom and Debby are holding pages from a newspaper from 1899, discovered when remodeling their bathroom.
Tom and Debby Koulentes weren’t asking for much. They just wanted a place on a nice lake, not more than a few hours from their Illinois home and with enough space for their growing family. To them, Barron Lake checked all the boxes—and then some.
“We were very naïve about the whole thing,” Debby said. “We didn’t even think about where or exactly what we were looking for. We knew we just didn’t want to be more than two hours from Chicago. We didn’t even realize a lot of the things that are around here. We lucked out being in Niles area rather than further out.”
Debby and her dear friend, MJ Markworth, started looking at lake houses. (Dave and MJ Markworth bought on Barron Lake three months after the Koulentes’ did.) “We went to Wisconsin first because we’re both from Illinois. We thought we’d like Wisconsin, but we couldn’t find anything up there we liked so I said, ‘Let’s go to Michigan.’ I had lived in Detroit until I was 12 so I liked Michigan,” she said. They began their Michigan search in New Buffalo, but the realtor suggested some inland lakes. “She took us to the Sister Lakes area, Donnell, and some other different lakes. Then, Barron Lake and I liked it because of the proximity to Chicago,” Debby said.
Although it was originally Debby’s idea to purchase a lake house, Tom soon came on board. “Our dream was to have a place where the kids could come up to enjoy themselves and have a good time,” Tom said. “It’s not a real fancy place—but just a place they can hang out, come up with their friends, come up with family and just enjoy themselves.”
Tom said Debby left the decision up to him on which house to buy. “There was a house on Donnell Lake and then this house on Barron Lake. But when I looked at the party room—what we call the room above the garage—I said, ‘This is it.’ This is where we want to be,” Tom said.
They closed on the house on Rose Drive on Aug. 1, 2003, and they’ve never looked back. Instead, they were looking forward to creating wonderful memories with family and friends.
“We have four sons who all live in the Chicago area,” Debby said. “One was married with one child and that was it when we bought. So, we fit fine. Well, now there are 20 of us because all four sons got married and there are 10 children,” she said. So, they added bunk beds in the “party room” and a few other beds upstairs to accommodate the growing family.
“The cousins range in age from 23 down to seven, and they look forward to coming to the lake where all 10 of them can get together go out on the lily pad, go out on the boat,” Debby said. “They just look forward to it so much, and it’s does your heart good.”
The grandchildren also look forward to being pulled on a tube. “I have this thing where I tell them if they’re going to tube, we’ll take them, but first they have to ski around the lake at least two times. So, they’ve all learned to ski. We started with the little beginner ski and as they got older they got better. It’s fun to watch,” she said.
Staying active and taking advantage of all that lake life offers is a priority for Tom and Debby and their family. One such activity was participating in the boat parade, held off and on for the past 10 years.
“We participated because it was a lake event. We wanted to support the lake and the people on the lake, and we loved it,” Tom said. The credit for the creativity goes to Tom. “He spent a lot of time doing ours and he did some really cool floats,” said Debby, who was a past coordinator of the boat parade with MJ Markworth.
The entire process, from brainstorming ideas and building the floats to participating in the parade along the water, was a family affair.
The designs ranged from Barn in the USA, the Titanic—complete with the smokestack, Margaritaville with a volcano and a saltshaker to a covered Wagon Train.
“We did them with our grandkids and other family members,” Debby said. “The last one we did we had a big cardboard horse in the front as part of Wagon Train. The theme was TV shows. It was so windy that day that we had to have my brother-in-law up in front holding onto the horse,” she said. “We sure do miss those. They were fun.”
“I do have all the numbers if anyone is ever going to do it again,” Tom said. “They’re all in the garage.”
In the past few decades that the Koulentes have been on Barron Lake, Tom says he has seen a lot of changes. “It’s gone from a quiet fishing lake with a lot of weeds and a lot of fish to more of sports lake with a lot of power boats. We’ve seen a lot of little cottages knocked down and big houses put up,” he said. “The lake is changing and probably for the best. We love it. The water is spectacular this year, best it’s ever been.”
The Koulentes’ are happy with their decision to purchase a home on Barron Lake—although not too long ago they did contemplate selling the house.
“Two or three years ago, Tom and I sold our house in Illinois and moved to Florida for part of the year,” Debby said. “So, after two years going back and forth, Tom says, I don’t know if I can keep up with this. You know, maybe we should sell it (the lake house).
“We talked about selling, and we didn’t say too much to the kids at the time. Then we got really close to calling a realtor last year. But we sat here on Labor Day with all the family around and we said, You know what? We can’t sell. These are memories for the kids, for the family.”
Photo on top is their house in 2003 when they purchased it. Photo on bottom is what house looks like now after some outdoor upgrades.
As told by Tom and Debby Koulentes. Written by Jodi Marneris.
Barron Lake Association. September 2024.
