41510 Wolf Lake Rd

A 2021 off-grid cabin on 40 acres in Ely Township, 739 square feet with a loft sleeping area, listed at $195,000 and sold furnished. The listing says the 20 by 24 foot cabin runs on propane and a generator, and that the property comes with a barrel sauna, two woodsheds, a deer blind and a pit toilet. It is surrounded by roughly 600 acres of what the remarks call CFR land, and the parcel’s own zoning is Timber Production. The address is Wolf Lake Road, but the listing states waterfront features as None and frontage type as Road, so this is not lake property. The same parcel sold for $36,000 in 2018.

The land and setting

The listing gives 40 acres, 1,320 by 1,320 feet, a square quarter-quarter section, and names one parcel, 520330400500. Marquette County records the same parcel as 52-03-304-005-00 at 1,742,400 square feet, 40 acres, in Ely Township, legal description “SEC. 4 T48N R28W 40 A SE 1/4 OF NW 1/4.” The two agree.

Lot features are Wooded and Sloped and the view is Rural View. The aerials show unbroken hardwood in every direction with the cabin in a small cleared opening. The remarks describe approximately 600 acres of CFR land surrounding the property, Michigan’s Commercial Forest Reserve.

Waterfront features are None. Frontage type is Road and frontage length is 1,320 feet, the parcel’s own road boundary rather than shoreline. The remarks say Wolf Lake and Brocky Lake are nearby, and no photo among the thirty-seven shows a lake.

Access is a two-track through a gate. The listing gives no road surface type, and does not say whether access is deeded or by easement, who maintains it, or whether it is plowed.

The cabin

Built in 2021, 739 square feet on one level with a loft, wood siding. The remarks call it 20 by 24 feet, a 480 square foot footprint, so the 739 total includes the loft. Rooms given are a living room 11 by 11, kitchen 8 by 12, dining room 9 by 11, and a bedroom 12 by 19 on the upper level, which is the loft.

The interior is finished in light board under a cathedral ceiling, and the listing says it sells furnished. Heating is Wall Furnace, Propane and Wood, with one fireplace listed as a wood burning stove, cooling None. The only appliance listed is a range and oven.

Electric is listed simply as Generator, sewer and water both None, propane the only utility. The remarks say propane runs the wall heater, the cooking stove and a light, and a generator handles electronics and additional lighting.

The loft holds two beds under the pitched roof and looks down over a rail into the main room. Additional structures are listed as Shed(s) and Sauna, and the photos show the barrel sauna on its platform, an open woodshed, and a wooden frame standing in snow.

The facts

What to know before you call

The road is named for a lake the property does not touch. Waterfront features read None and frontage type is Road, so the listing does not claim lake frontage, and the address should not be read as implying it. The remarks say Wolf Lake and Brocky Lake are nearby, and none of the thirty-seven photos shows a lake, including the wide aerials. If water matters to you, ask how far each lake is, whether access is public, and where the boat launch is, before you drive up.

The parcel is zoned Timber Production and sits inside Commercial Forest country. Zoning is TP - Timber Production with a description of Recreational, and the remarks say roughly 600 acres of CFR land surrounds the property. CFR is Michigan’s Commercial Forest Reserve, and enrolled land must stay open to public foot access for hunting and fishing. That cuts both ways: the surrounding CFR is why there is so much walkable country here, but the public has a legal right to walk it, which is not the same as private hunting land. Ask whether this parcel itself is enrolled, because the listing does not say and a Timber Production zoning is not the same as CFR enrollment. If it is, withdrawal carries a penalty that follows the land rather than the seller.

The county still has it as vacant land. Marquette County records the parcel as Vacant Land, county use Residential Vacant, with no year built and no building data. The listing says a cabin was built in 2021, and the tax bill jumped from $308 in 2019 to $815 in 2021, which is what a new structure hitting the roll looks like. The record may be behind, or the classification may never have been updated. Ask whether the cabin was permitted, whether a certificate of occupancy exists, and why the parcel is still vacant on the roll, because an unpermitted structure becomes the buyer’s problem.

The bathroom is not what a bathroom usually means. The listing counts one bath and separately one half bath, while the remarks name a pit toilet. The photos show an indoor toilet and vanity sink in a room that is unfinished, exposed studs and fibreglass insulation with no wall covering, and water jugs standing beside the toilet. With water and sewer both listed as None, that fixture is not on a well or a septic system. Ask what the toilet drains to, whether the pit toilet is a separate outhouse or the same fixture, where washing water comes from, and whether any of it was permitted.

Taxes will rise after a sale, and the assessment is already moving. The bill has gone from $308 in 2019 to $914 in 2025 and the assessment from $20,000 to $26,800, a 21.8 percent jump in the last year alone. Under Michigan’s Proposal A, taxable value rises by no more than inflation or five percent a year while one owner holds a property, then uncaps after a transfer to the state equalized value, half of market value. A sale at $195,000 points to a taxable value near $97,500 against the $26,800 on the current roll. Expect the bill to multiply, and ask the Ely Township assessor what a sale at this price would set.

It sold for $36,000 in 2018. Public records show $33,000 in 2001, $20,000 in 2003 and $36,000 in 2018 against a $195,000 ask, more than five times the last sale. The 2021 cabin and the sauna, sheds and blind account for much of that. Ask what was spent on the build and whether there is documentation, because on an off-grid parcel the difference between a well-built cabin and an owner-built one matters at resale.

No water and no sewer. Both read None, there is no well, the photos show jugs, and the remarks name a pit toilet. Ask whether a well has ever been drilled or a point driven, what a septic permit would require in Ely Township, and what the water plan is for anything longer than a weekend.

Power is a generator, and that is all. Electric is listed as Generator, with propane running the heater, cooking stove and a light. No solar, no battery bank, no utility connection. Ask whether the generator conveys, what it runs and for how long, and what the winter routine looks like.

Access is a gated two-track with nothing stated about it. The listing gives no road surface type and says nothing about who owns or maintains the way in, whether it is deeded or an easement, or whether it is plowed, and one photo shows a gate across the track. On a parcel ringed by Commercial Forest land, ask whether your legal access crosses CFR ground and on what terms, and get it in writing.

Structures named in the remarks are not all in the structure field. Additional structures reads Shed(s) and Sauna, while the remarks add two woodsheds, a pit toilet and a deer blind, and the photos show a barrel sauna, an open woodshed and a wooden frame in snow. Ask which convey, and whether any of them, the cabin included, were permitted.

It has been listed one day. It came on the market on 4 September 2026 at $195,000, with no prior listing at that price. There is no market feedback yet, which cuts both ways: nothing has been reduced, and nothing has been tested.

You can see everything else we have listed on the properties page. Nearby we have 40 off-grid acres with a log cabin and a sauna near Michigamme and a furnished off-grid cabin on 40 acres with its own pond, both in the same corner of Marquette County.

To ask about this one, call Benjamin Argall at NextHome Superior Living on 906-250-2874, or the office on 906-214-4267, and reference MLS 50220887. Tell them where you saw it.