Amish country east of Clare

The Clare area is home to one of Michigan’s larger Amish communities, settled here since about 1980 and now numbering more than a thousand people. Most live and farm in the countryside east and southeast of the city, around Colonville. If you buy a rural home in this part of the county, expect to share the roads with horse-drawn buggies (slow down and pass with care), and you’ll likely have Amish neighbors and family farms nearby.

The community is also a draw: Amish-owned bakeries, bulk-food markets, and furniture and quilt shops dot the back roads, and twice a year — a weekend in May and over Labor Day weekend — the Yoder family hosts a big Quilt Auction, craft show, and flea market that’s one of the largest in the state.

It’s a genuine, working part of the local fabric, not a tourist setup — worth understanding if you’re settling in the rural areas here.