NORTH MANITOU ISLAND, MI - If you're on the hunt for an unusual Northern Michigan cottage - or perhaps a really nautical B&B - with unparalleled views of Sleeping Bear Dunes and the Manitou islands, an auction house may have a deal for you.

You'll just have to learn to flip-flop your Up North expectations: Can you live on the water, while gazing at the shore?

The North Manitou Shoal Light, which for decades kept ships safe in the sometimes treacherous Manitou Passage, is on the auction block after no buyers have been found for it in the last year.

The two-story lighthouse crib - with a working light and fog horn in its three-story tower - is located just southeast of North Manitou Island. It boasts four bedrooms, evidence of modern plumbing and generator-powered electrical service, though the condition of the aging utilities are not known.

Its concrete base is anchored into the bottom of Lake Michigan in about 26 feet of water, according to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and the Lighthouse Friends group.

The U.S. General Services Administration, which sells obsolete properties, started the online auction process for the North Manitou crib and three other lighthouse properties in mid-July. It reportedly had an opening bid of $25,000, though a current bid of $10,000 is listed on the GSA auction website.

The North Manitou Shoal lighthouse crib (Photo courtesy of the U.S. GSA)

If you're serious about the site, GSA is organizing a group visit to the lighthouse crib on Aug. 30. It's open to registered bidders who have paid the $10,000 deposit. The group will meet at the Leland Marina. Bidders are being advised to bring a flashlight, throwaway shoes, disposable gloves and a camera.

Current pictures on the auction site show it's in rough shape cosmetically. Double-crested cormorants have made it a favorite resting spot. There is peeling paint inside and out. It's been largely vacant since 1980, when the U.S. Coast Guard stopped rotating regular crews onto the light crib.

Lake most Great Lakes lighthouses, it's got an interesting history.

When the North Manitou Shoal Light was built in 1935, it made its neighboring lighthouse and some nearby seasonal lightships obsolete. The North Manitou light's purpose was to keep ships from running into trouble on the island's shoals, which spread miles into the famed passage between North and South Manitou Island and the mainland's Leelanau Peninsula.

While the light crib is not within the boundaries of Sleeping Bear Dunes, it sits about 8 miles off Leland. The National Park Service says it can be easily seen from Glen Haven's shoreline. Here's how the NPS described its working history:

The Lighthouse Friends group added more details about the crews who worked at the shoal light, known as "The Crib."

The last Coast Guard crew left in 1980 when the crib light was fully automated. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.

And any new owner should know: The light is still an active navigational aid operated by the U.S. Coast Guard.

"A red light atop its 63-foot tower flashes on 15 second intervals, its fog horn sounds on 20 second cycles when conditions require, and a RACON (radar transponder beacon) imposes a Morse code character "N" on the radar screen of passing ships," according to Lighthouse Friends.

Another view of the North Manitou Shoal light. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Coast Guard)

About 16 years ago, a nonprofit group formed to look at the possibility of rehabbing the shoal light, but determined the cost was too high. In May 2015, the Coast Guard declared the site excess property. The auction details were posted online last month.

Three other Lake Michigan lights are also being auctioned. GSA describes them as:

* The iconic White Shoal Light, a major engineering feat at the time of construction in 1901, is located offshore 20 miles west of the Mackinac Bridge on Lake Michigan. The red and white tower has a terracotta, steel, and brick interior, and is featured on a state of Michigan license plate.

* Gray's Reef Light, built in 1936, is located four miles west of Waugoshance Island on Lake Michigan. The historic 82-foot light has a square tower with steel plate construction on a concrete crib. The light is an active aid to navigation operated by the U.S. Coast Guard.

* Minneapolis Shoal Light marks the entrance to Little Bay De Noc in Delta County. The 82-foot high octagonal lighthouse sits on a 32-foot square metal structure that housed the living quarters for the keeper. The light was constructed in 1934 and was the last manned lighthouse to mark an isolated reef. It remains an active aid to navigation operated by the USCG.

When it comes to excess lighthouse property, the GSA works together with the National Park Service and the Coast Guard to implement the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act. Since 2000, 119 lighthouses have been sold or transferred out of federal ownership, with 74 transferred at no cost to preservationists, and 45 sold by auction to the public.

Some of these lighthouses have been turned into maritime museums or classrooms, said Cat Langel, GSA's regional public affairs officer. Others have been purchased and turned into homes, or bed and breakfasts.

Sale prices have varied from as little as $10,000, to $986,000 for the Graves Light Station in Boston Harbor.