Five-Mile Creek is a tiny place that most people have never heard of, but it’s been home to my family for five generations now. Tucked away in cedar swamps and deep forest ravines five miles north of Harbor Springs, the creek goes about its business quietly and unnoticed by most who travel along the M-119 Tunnel of Trees. But if you take the time to explore its mossy banks and cool shallows, you’ll discover something magical that has been going on for centuries. Five-Mile Creek embodies everything that I love about Northern Michigan — quiet beauty, enduring natural grace, and a steady flow of life and purity.
At 5-Mile Creek Construction, our vision is to bring that natural elegance and comfort to your Up North home, cabin, or cottage. That’s why we named our company after an obscure little stream. While no amount of man-made craftsmanship can beat Mother Nature, we hope to bring the same sense of peace and beauty to your project that we feel when we take a walk from our front porch down to the creek.
With more than a decade of experience working with fine homebuilders and remodelers like Woodland Builders, Chamberlin Building and Remodeling, Wentworth Builders, and Cooley Construction, company founder Rich Bachus set out to establish a construction company that would both honor the expert skill and knowledge passed down to him, while also charting a new course of sustainable, natural building practices for the future of Northern Michigan homes.
Rich Bachus started working in the trades in 1989. He is a carpenter, entrepreneur, writer, and educator whose people first came to Harbor Springs in 1878. He lives in a century-old farmhouse that has been in his family for most of that time. Rich has served his community for decades working to promote and raise funds for local non-profits including Harbor Springs Public Schools, the Harbor Springs Area Historical Society, North Country Kids Daycare Center, local churches, Camps Leelanau and Kohahna, and the Campership Fund.
Rich’s dream is to craft a “village” of timber-frame homes in Northern Michigan from native trees, combining the best of age-old craftsmanship with the movement towards sustainable, off-the grid living. If you have a piece of property with tall, thick white pine trees that you’ve wanted to build that dream cabin on, we should talk.
