Alone In The Woods

West Michigan family that lives on farm without electricity to be featured on Anderson Cooper's show today

Published: Tuesday, October 25, 2011, 10:00 AM | Updated: Tuesday, October 25, 2011, 11:52 AM

By Tom Rademacher | The Grand Rapids Press

No TV, no fridge, no running hot water, no indoor bathroom.

No problem, if you’re a tenacious family of eight who shucked a life of comfort in Ottawa County’s Zeeland Township to live almost totally unplugged on 40 acres in the Montcalm County burg of Coral.

But for a family of New Yorkers who stayed just one night with these reborn Michigan pioneers?

Yes, it’s a problem.

You can see for yourself if you tune into Anderson Cooper's new daytime talk show "Anderson" today. Anderson’s crew captured highlights of the stay by a Long Island couple and their two teens who took up lodging in the Coral family’s Walden-esque cottage, which functions off the grid. The segment airs throughout West Michigan at 4 p.m. on WWMT, Channel 3.

“I think they were scared,” says Angela Kuncaitis, who with husband Matt, decided three autumns ago to move their family and take “simplify” to a whole new level.


The Kuncaitises rent out a spartan cottage that overlooks a pond on their property, and the Anderson Cooper show decided to shadow a tenant, the Nuenez family, when they came for a visit earlier this month.

According to Angela, their guests seemed put off by having to use an outhouse, and were overly concerned about what to do in an emergency. At one point, they wondered about wild animals. Still, she described them as “a sweet, gracious family” who were “hugely good sports.”

Matt and Angela didn’t coddle their guests. They invited both parents and the two teens to pitch in on the hand-crafting of soap, bread and grape juice during their two-day stay.