Timberlane Shores Homes for Sale

Timberlane Shores runs along Lake Michigan just north of New Buffalo, in the Union Pier area, where wooded lots sit back from a long stretch of private shoreline shared with several neighboring communities. Homes for sale here range from established cottages and renovated houses to custom residences and large lakefront parcels, so what you are buying changes street by street. Craig Palmer works this pocket of the shoreline and knows how differently two houses a few hundred feet apart can live.

What to know about Timberlane Shores

The beach defines the place. Timberlane Shores is associated with a large private Lake Michigan beach shared among several nearby communities, described as roughly 3,000 feet of private shoreline. That is separate from public access: New Buffalo's main public beach is New Buffalo Beach at 200 Marquette Drive, and the two should not be confused when you are weighing what a given address actually entitles you to.

You do not have to own lakefront to reach the water. Some interior homes carry deeded or association beach rights, which gives you the lake without the cost and upkeep that come with owning direct frontage. That combination, a wooded lot with more privacy and often more land plus a walk to a private beach, is where a lot of buyers land. But beach rights are not automatic. Read the deed and the association documents for the specific property, and do not assume the house next door has identical access.

The setting is heavily wooded, with many homes on mature lots, and it feels more private and more natural than the denser lakefront blocks closer to downtown New Buffalo. Lakefront properties are the most limited and the most distinctive: direct frontage and lake views, with lot size, frontage width and shoreline character making one parcel very different from another. Timberlane Shores also includes some unusually large lakefront parcels. Compare frontage, beach rights, lot size and location rather than trusting the community name to tell you what you are getting.

Timber Lane and Meadow Wood hold a mixture of established cottages, renovated homes and larger custom properties, with some of them only a short walk from the beach. If you want to build, it is possible but uncommon here. There is no large subdivision inventory of new construction; most opportunities come down to an individual vacant parcel, a teardown or a redevelopment. One current example is 10520 Marquette Drive, marketed with Timber Lane Beach access and a proposed new home.

One more thing that trips buyers up: the community is commonly described as being in the Union Pier area, while some properties carry a New Buffalo mailing address and sit within New Buffalo Township. Confirm the actual municipality, the zoning and the property records for each address you consider, because the mailbox will not settle it for you.