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LIVE & PLAY --- QUALITY OF LIFE
Best of
Both Worlds
COUNTRY COMFORT WITH URBAN ACCESS
IS AN ATTRACTIVE PACKAGE
By Jacquie Goetz Bluethmann / Photography by Jake Turskey
TWENTY YEARS AGO, KALLIE MEYERS
and her husband, Bruce, yearned for country
living.
But they didn’t want to give up the
benefits of being near urban centers. In the
end, they decided they could get the best
of both worlds by settling on 22 acres in
Oakland County’s Oxford Township. They
weren’t disappointed.
“We wanted a home on a farm that
would still allow us easy access to the cities
where we were working,” Kallie says.
Now retired from FCA (previously
Chrysler), Kallie is the office manager in her
husband’s podiatry practice in downtown
Rochester. It takes them about 25 minutes
to get to the office.
When not working, the two take full
advantage of the sprawling farm where
they keep five dogs, chickens, a cat and
a peacock. They are members of the
Metamora Hunt Club and enjoy fox hunting
on horseback with friends there. The Meyers
also volunteer for the sheriff’s mounted unit.
The couple raised two sons on the farm,
which provided ample space for playing
games and having bonfires.
“It’s a country feel without the isolation,”
Kallie says. “It’s simply beautiful out here.”
A PLACE TO SPREAD OUT
The country lifestyle has been a dream come
true for Pat and Michelle Ervin, too. They
have called Ortonville home for 11 years.
“When our family grew to include six
kids, we decided subdivision living wasn’t
our fit anymore,” Pat says. “We wanted a
place to spread out where the kids could
make noise and wouldn’t bother people.”
They wound up with a house on 10
acres with two ponds and barns. Animals
became a major fixture in their lives.
They’ve got horses, sheep, goats, chickens,
rabbits, cats, dogs and a donkey.
“Our kids are active in 4-H, and
we raise chickens and turkeys for meat
production,” Pat says.
Though at times it feels like they’re a
world away from any bustling city center, it
takes Pat only 30 minutes to get to his job
as executive managing director running the
mortgage division at Talmer Bank in Troy.
Meanwhile, he and his family have come
to cherish Ortonville’s small-town character.
“You know everyone, and everyone
knows you,” he says.
RUSTIC BEAUTY
Stephanie Clement’s favorite part of the day
is the scenic drive from her office in Troy,
where she works as an advertising sales
director for Condé Nast, to her home in
Commerce Township.
“I pass one cider mill, several horse
farms and lots of deer,” says Clement, who
with husband Giuseppe and toddler son
Francesco has lived in Commerce Township
for five years. “It feels like I’m up north.
“We love it. There are lots of kids and
sidewalks throughout the neighborhood.
We also back up to an 18-hole golf course.
Commerce Township is the perfect fit for our
active lifestyle.”
Jacquie Goetz Bluethmann is a freelance writer
from Bloomfield Township.
Bruce and Kallie Meyers
Pat and Michelle Ervin
18 OAKLANDCOUNTYPROSPER.COM 2016