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The offbeat occupant: Colleen, Weekend warrior
Other occupants: My husband Sam
Approximate square footage: 650-1000 sq. feet
How many bedrooms? 1
Lives in: Wisconsin, USA
Let’s start with the neighborhood. What’s it like where you live? Our cabin is on a very quiet, small lake. We have nearly four acres, so there’s plenty of space between us and our neighbors.
What makes your home offbeat? We’re big do-it-yourself-ers. We love the outdoors, so this cabin is our getaway.
Home building on a very small scale
Space is a premium in all types of homes, but the Tiny House movement glorifies homes which check in at around 100 square feet. Not... Read more
What’s the most challenging about this space? How do you deal with the challenge? This place is just quite a bit of work, more so than you can see in the photos. We bought the cabin from an elderly couple who had slowly built and added onto it over many years. The craftsmanship and materials were good, but a lot of projects had been left unfinished.
For instance, the sunroom had no flooring (only plywood). We laid a new pine floor in that room as well as the bedroom, where we had taken off some gross red-and-gold shag.
The lakeshore is completely overgrown around the dock and clearing it (even just enough to fit in a rowboat) is a crazy amount of labor.
What’s your favorite feature of your home? The scenery! We have 1000 feet of lakeshore on a really quiet lake. The cabin is full of windows that capitalize on the view. It is just such a quiet, peaceful place. We’ve really enjoyed exploring our land as the seasons change. On Monday mornings we find ourselves wishing we were back at the cabin rather than at our desks.
What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned from this home? I’ve learned how fun and satisfying it can be to tackle big projects and learn new hands-on skills. Our cabin also reminds us to slow down, relax, and really soak in every day.
What’s your grandest plan for the space? I want to tap our maple trees next spring and make my own syrup. Our other big dream is to build a deluxe outdoor shower. In the meantime, we just want to get the roof to stop leaking and the mice to go away.
Amazing. A place like this would be a dream come true. I had the chance to live on a lake once. It was just perfect. The wildlife that was there was amazing. I loved it. Does it snow there? Looks kinda cold, there are no leaves on trees, does the lake freeze? I live in the tropics so those things are foreign wonders to me.
I’m not the OP, but as someone who has spent enough time in Wisconsin, I can guarantee that yes, it does snow there (I’m sure it looks gorgeous), and since the lake is small that it probably freezes most winters. I’ve been to B&B’s and vacation rentals like this, and they are awesome!
I want to drive up there and stay some weekend.
Yes, we get snow and ice! This winter was quite dry in terms of snow, but we still had some.
Very pretty and cozy – be sure to update when you get that outdoor shower built 🙂
What a gorgeous cabin! Thanks for giving us a peek into your living space =)
Thank you!
What an amazing place to escape to in the weekends! You are lucky! I am wondering how far it is from your main home?