Sign of the times: Proctor’s Lakehouse Cottages going condo

LACONIA — Twenty years ago, Fred Clausen purchased the 1950s-era Proctor’s Lakehouse Cottages on Weirs Boulevard from a member of the family that originally owned the waterfront business.

In a sign of the times, the Clausens are converting the individual units, each about 400 square feet, into condominiums that will be marketed at up to $250,000 each. They are handling the sales themselves.

An open house is set for Tuesday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the property, 1144 Weirs Blvd.

Up for sale are 12 free-standing cottages as well as six suites in a single building.

A main house now used to administer the business is not part of the current sale.

In recent years, many motels and cottage communities along the lake have been converted to condos.

Real estate agent Joe MacDonald of the Roche Realty Group explained the trend.

“If you go from Shaw’s supermarket all the way to Proctor’s, there are eight or nine cottage villages that have been converted over the years,” he said.

The price of lakefront land has become so expensive that there is not sufficient return on investment for someone to buy a short-term lodging community and continue to operate it as such, he said.

In 2013, the entire property was marketed at $2.8 million, but didn’t sell. The property is assessed on city property tax rolls at $861,200.

There seems to be plenty of demand from people who want a lakefront condo they can use as a vacation getaway.

Developers bought the 1950s-era Christmas Island motel on Weirs Boulevard in 2013 for $1.2 million and built 16 duplex townhomes that sold for about $600,000 each. Even a parking lot for what used to be a Burger King on Union Avenue is now the site of four waterfront condominiums.

Clausen, 72, said that when he bought the property in 1999, he never envisioned it would go condo.

“As you get into your 60s, you start realizing you can’t keep doing this for years and years and years,” he said.

“I thought I’d be doing it into my 80s because there are so many cottage owners around here who are in their late-70s, early-80s, but life is too short.”

He still does some work at the business, but his son, Patrick Clausen, 40, left a job in Boston to take over day-to-day operations five years ago. Father and son each have business degrees from Bucknell University.

Fred’s wife, Maureen, and Patrick’s wife, Gladys, have also been integral parts of the business.

Fred Clausen had a one-word answer for his post-sale plans — “relax.”

Patrick Clausen, 40, said he’ll invest proceeds from the sale and find another career.

“One of the main drivers is that this is so summer intensive and I have a young family, so I’m kind of looking to spend more time with them,” said Clausen. He and his wife have two boys and a girl.

“As jobs go, I don’t know if there is one better than this, but it is ultimately consuming.

“I love this place. It is just a great spot. Families have vacationed here forever, so changing that didn’t come without a lot of thought. So the fact this is just not going to be our family’s place any more is bittersweet.”

Fred Clausen said a key advantage for the cottages is water access.

“We, I think for what’s out here now, have one of the nicest beaches, kid friendly, nice and sandy,” he said. “It’s the waterfront that people want.

“We are so lucky we bought on the water and you don’t have to cross Weirs Boulevard.”

The condos will be seasonal under the condo-conversion terms filed with the city. The property is serviced by a well that is turned off in the winter.

Buyers will also be able to defray their costs by renting out the units themselves.

“If somebody buys it and wants to rent it out, I’ll be able to put our guests in touch with the new owners so they can still come,” Patrick Clausen said.

“That’s part of the bittersweet, too. What we are doing will, in effect, have some bit of excluding people who have been here forever and that doesn’t feel great, so trying to help them still be able to come back is really important.”

No exterior modifications will be allowed.

“It should look like this in 50 years,” Patrick Clausen said. “We think that’s very important to people who buy here. People want it to feel uniform and kind of charismatic.”