Can't Afford Your Own Cottage Getaway? Why Not Co-Cabin with Your Friends?
This gorgeous cabin in Minnesota on a lake in the northwest belongs to John and Susan Swift and has been a big part of their lives for a couple of decades now. The couple had been going up to the lake each summer with friends when they noticed a cabin for sale. They all instantly fell in love with the log cabin and decided to purchase it together and share it in 1984. So John and Susan and their friends Tom and Barb started out enjoying their co-cabin together over the summers as their children grew up.
Can't Afford Your Own Cottage Getaway? Why Not Co-Cabin with Your Friends?
The wives Barb and Susan would take their kids to spend the majority of the summer at the cabin enjoying the lake playing and having summer fun. They spent a good number of summers at the log cabin sharing it all together and created some very fond memories in it. Then, in 1995, the log cabin next door came up for sale and Tom and Barb purchased it on their own. Susan and John loved their cabin, but there was a lot of work they wanted to do in it. Even though the kids were kind of opposed to altering the cabin, because of all the memories they had there, and they didn't want it to change one bit.
Can't Afford Your Own Cottage Getaway? Why Not Co-Cabin with Your Friends?
But with an assurance that the changes would be fairly minimal and only enhance the look of the cabin as well as its functionality, they kids slowly got on board, and Susan and John went ahead and did the renovations with help from an architecture friend Dale Mulfinger. The main focus for the log cabin renovations was to open it up. Before, there were many walls that didn't show the beautiful views surrounding them. The kitchen was so boxed in when working in it, they wouldn't even be able to see the lake at all.
Can't Afford Your Own Cottage Getaway? Why Not Co-Cabin with Your Friends?
So this was the main thing that they worked on. As you will see in the photos, this log home renovation really opened up the home to that nice view that you see now. They tore out a few walls in order to accomplish this, but it looks all the better for it. They maintained the log home appearance by implementing the wood panelling on the walls and the wood panelling on the ceiling. But overall, the renovations to their log cabin was a much-needed update so that they can enjoy their space for many years to come.
Can't Afford Your Own Cottage Getaway? Why Not Co-Cabin with Your Friends?
A bunkhouse was also built into the cabin to extend the sleeping space a bit more from the pre-existing three bedrooms in the log cabin. The other part of this bunkhouse is a play area for everyone to enjoy games and other activities. They also had a Bug House built closer to the water, which is detached from the log cabin itself. This bug house has become a landmark around the lake, and everyone knows it well.
Can't Afford Your Own Cottage Getaway? Why Not Co-Cabin with Your Friends?
They use it for entertaining in the summer months, so they don't have to be attacked by pesky bugs. This is the perfect example of how log cabins can be such a big part of people's lives, and how easily they can grow and change with the dwellers to accommodate for more space. This beautiful family log cabin also shows us how durable and sustainable the log-built structures are, being able to stand the test of time and use over the years and decades that it has been around. This proves the reliability of log structures and is one of the many reasons why people choose them time and time again for their recreational cabins and for their full-time houses. Make sure that you check out this great log cabin renovation.