Lake’s Beauty Brings Many Back Home People Who Grew Up On Lake Cda Often Find A Way To Come Back

Many recent waterfront buyers have a tie to North Idaho that draws them like a homing device.

Keith Mabrey grew up in Coeur d’Alene in a family that spent summers at its Carlin Bay cabin.

Now he and his wife live on Bainbridge Island, Wash., where they own and operate a Mercedes-Benz garage. But they’re never gone long from North Idaho.

“When I married him I had to marry Coeur d’Alene,” explained Gailene Mabrey.

The couple owned a place on Lake Coeur d’Alene for about six years, but sold it nine years ago. That was a mistake, she said. “We paid dearly for that.”

When they started shopping for lakefront property again “we were totally shocked,” Mabrey said. “I couldn’t believe how much it went up, compared to what we paid 15 years ago.”

Two years ago, the Mabreys bought a cabin with ceiling-to-floor windows in a cove by Powderhorn Bay. The previous owners left all of their old furniture, dishes and some paintings.

“It’s like someone just up and walked out,” Mabrey said. “It’s not anything fabulous, but it’s just right for us.”

The view is terrific, she said, and the water-skiing is better than on the north end’s choppy waters. Water-skiing is a passion the couple and their three young children share.

Larry and Sharon Anderson moved into their new home on Lake Coeur d’Alene’s Driftwood Point last summer.

“When I was a kid, we had floathouses on Coeur d’Alene Lake,” said Larry Anderson, who was raised in Kellogg. “I learned to water-ski, and that’s where my kids learned to water-ski.”

The Andersons had just moved to the Spokane River when Larry Anderson was transferred to Texas in 1989. He worked for GTE for 30 years and recently retired.

Anderson says he left “fingernail marks all the way from here to there” when he was transferred, he said. There was no question that they’d move back when they could.

“We always wanted to live on the lake,” said the avid fisherman. “The last couple of weeks, the lake’s been like a sheet of glass. It’s been just beautiful.”

The only drawback to their new home is the 20-mile, winding drive to Coeur d’Alene. It still beats commuting in Texas, Anderson said.

“It was six lanes of traffic,” he explained. “The only way you changed lanes was to change cars. I’ll take this over that any day.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo