Log Cabin retreat

[Anonymous]

So I have recently become obsessed with the idea of buying a few acres and a log cabin somewhere out towards West Virginia. I know with kids activities etc. we might not even head out there too much, but it would be nice to have a retreat from the city.

Is this a crazy idea?

[Anonymous]

I had the same thought a while back but the traffic on Fridays out I-66 really discouraged me from it. Would you be ok with the long commute to and from? Otherwise I think it is a fine idea. There were some in VA wine country I liked.

[Anonymous]

There are some beautiful places in Winchester. Secluded, but not too far away from shopping and food.

[Anonymous]

It's a 90 minute trip from DC to Winchester/Front Royal/eastern Panhandle of WV.

I won't lie, when my DD and any future siblings get older the thought of having a nice place in Berkeley Springs is appealing. OTOH, my DW doesn't like the idea of moving to a TH in Frederick if she decides to SAH; she's way ingrained in the "buy a home, and kids NEED A SFH!!!one!!!" mentality.

Consider it a weekend retreat, if you're a SAHM, it becomes easier to take the kids out there for long stretches of the summer.

BUT, your kids will have ideas and opinions of their own and the cabin will be unused for long stretches. You don't want to become THAT parent that is always seeming to disappear w/o the kids and expect grandparents, friends' parents, etc., to do all the childcare.

[Anonymous]

I have been going back and forth on this idea. I live in Anne Arundel County, so it's easy to go out on 70 to the Berkeley Springs area. We rent a cabin there every year, and the prices are so cheap, it's tempting to buy our own.

For safety and practicality's sake, I would prefer a cabin that's not terribly isolated. I also don't want well water or a septic system, and I do want highspeed internet, so I was leaning toward a cabin resort/community like The Woods in Hedgesville, WV. We drove through it and checked out some homes last month, but even though it's only 12 miles from Berkeley Springs (which has some restaurants we like), it felt much farther because it's a twisty roller-coaster of a road.

Sigh. Just can't find the perfect place. And even Berkeley Springs is probably too far for us to go every other weekend, which is what I was envisioning. I have scoured all the towns on 70 between here and there (Frederick, Hagerstown, and everything in between) for little retreats in the woods, and unbelievably there don't seem to be any.

[Anonymous]

My relatives had a log home out in Rappahannock county, VA. It was beautiful and very quaint. They enjoyed it for many years but eventually sold because their kids got to an age where they had activities on weekends and needed to be around town. I think this happened when the kids were like 7 and 9.

[Anonymous]

Resist the urge. It will be a headache to maintain. You will be the "big city" person the repair people will take pleasure in swindling. There was an article in the Post a few years ago, with just this situation - the author bought a weekend place out in the country, and he was constantly swindled.

[Anonymous]

I have a log cabin in Shenandoah and we love it! Due to kids activities, we also rent it out on the weekends, as we can't get down there as much as we would like. It is also our back-up plan if the shit hits the fan, as our mortgage is only $600/mo and the home is very comfortable. It is not super secluded, but secluded enough that we have mountain and forest views (without views of neighbors).

I do not SAH, but often WFH on Fridays (meaning working from the cabin) I bring everything we need for the weekend, get dinner cooking and DH and the kids join me after they get out of school. Believe it or not, we sometimes come home Monday morning and take the kids directly to school and us directly to work.

It is a great way to bond with family and friends. More weekends than not, we bring other families with us, the kids raise hell downstairs while the adults hang upstairs and drink way too much wine.

WE are never lacking for something to do...there is a ski area a mile away, tons of wineries, and the Shenandoah is full of festivals and things to do...and don't get me started not the opportunities for hiking and biking...too much to mention. We really enjoy the local musical talent found in the Shenandoah, I never thought in a million years I would be so in love with bluegrass and folk music. I would not do well if we were very secluded, that is too remote for me.

As far as being "swindled" this is one of the silliest things I have read on here. It is quite the opposite. We built our house from scratch using local craftsmen and I fee swindled every time I get work done in NoVA, the prices to get work down down there are half. For instance, we had a huge deck put on on our cabin, cost $8500. Here in NoVA, we want a same sized deck and our quotes have STARTED at 15K. I'm trying to convince my Shanendoah guys to come up here and stay in my home for a weekend and build me a deck. I find the people down in Shenandoah much more honest and fair and quite frankly nicer people.

[Anonymous]

Thanks PP - this is very much what I dream of.
can i ask some follow-up questions -
How frequently do you head out there?
How much do you rent it out for/how do you rent it out?
How do the kids feel about it - are they annoyed to miss activities, parties etc in town?

[Anonymous]

I'm from northern Minnesota, and it is super common there for people to have cabins, at least for awhile. I can tell you the #1 complaint people have isn't about the drive, the traffic, or even the frequency of use. It is about the work involved. Even if you go up every single weekend (which you won't), the maintenance on the yard and home become a real wet blanket. After awhile, you'll be dreading the weekends, because instead of relaxing at the awesome house you rent where basically all you have to do is show up, you'll have to go there, mow the lawn, weed the garden, dust, vacuum, etc.

[Anonymous]

Hmmm.. I barely mow the lawn, weed, dust or vacuum at home. I figure if I get something "rustic" enough a little nature won't be too noticeable.

[Anonymous]

Any info on cute places to rent for weekend over Christmas break...Berekeley Springs or Shepherdstown WV? Would love to take kids...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So I have recently become obsessed with the idea of buying a few acres and a log cabin somewhere out towards West Virginia. I know with kids activities etc. we might not even head out there too much, but it would be nice to have a retreat from the city.

Is this a crazy idea?

Yes, it's a crazy idea. We took the plunge over 10 years ago before we had kids. We have a cabin and a fair bit of land. We hardly ever get out there, although sometimes DH and the more "outdoorsy" kid go for the weekend while I stay home with the one with the conflicting activity.

The pro side of things is you really, really get away from the city and back to nature in a big way. This may sound sappy, but I feel much closer to God out there when I am walking along in the forest and enjoying the gorgeous views. We also tend to have more "simple fun," like card games and puzzles, when we are out there.

The con side is the expense, the hassle and the fact that we have no help out there. It's good for the kids to learn to do things where we don't have help, but the reality is mom often stays inside doing laundry while everybody else goes for a hike. We are really remote, which means it isn't served by any cleaning services, etc. Our closest neighbor is more than a mile away. But when we have needed a neighbor's help, those people are truly the salt of the earth. The traffic on 66 always sucks, so we often go really late on Friday rather than dealing with rush hour on 66. Interestingly, we had an easier time getting DSL out there than we did here in town, so from that perspective the remoteness has not been a disadvantage.

Think really hard about what you really want. Do you want solitude or activities? I would have rather been somewhere that we could go out to dinner and that had cute little stores, but my DH wanted something remote and with at least 50 acres, so that pushed us in a different direction. That may account for the fact that he gets out there more than I do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks PP - this is very much what I dream of.
can i ask some follow-up questions -
How frequently do you head out there?
How much do you rent it out for/how do you rent it out?
How do the kids feel about it - are they annoyed to miss activities, parties etc in town?

1. Now we get there about 2xs a month, but with b-ball coming up, we will hardly get there this winter, which is OK since prime time rental is during ski season. I much prefer the summer. Since I can WFH, I take the kids up there for a week or two in the summer and they go to camp down there (they have nature camp, tennis camp, swim camp, and golf camp) they go to camp during the day, I work, and then we all join together at 4:30 and I get some special time with them...playing UNO, roasting marshmallows, watching movies, or playing the Wii. Dad then comes on the weekends. I also like summer because there is a lake. We most always go on 3 day weekends unless we get a good rental.
2. I rent it for around $550 a weekend, but that is average. Ski season can be more, summer can be less. I use a management company, but I also use VRBO. I prefer VRBO because I only pay mgmt 10% (plus cleaning) If I find the renter. If they find the renter they get 25% which is steep IMO.
3. We don't go up when the kids have parties to attend. Also if the kids have something they really want to do here, we stay. Sometimes they don't want to go, but since we often bring other families, they look forward to it. We also met another family down there with a vacation house and try to coordinate weekends that we all go down, so the kids can get together. WE also practically have no rules at the cabin (they can jump on beds, run around like crazy, stay up late, watch lots of TV and play lots of video games) so for them it truly is a retreat from our normal lives.

I'm not sure what the last poster is talking about in regards to maintenance (I love when people chime on on these things that have no real experience with other than "people they know"). When we first bought the cabin, we did sink a good amount of money into it making sure everything was maintained. We do very little to it, other than an huge annual clean out. We have some great tradesman on call if an issue arises. We don "do" any yard work. Since labor is so cheap down there, we hire people (and according to experts on here, we are being swindled). Also the lot is wooded, we are on a mountain, there is no grass to mow. Who likes grass outside of suburbia? Even if it snows, we have someone who automatically comes and shovels the driveway and the deck, so we don't even shovel. I do strongly suggest that if you do buy something to have a good amount of cash on hand to make all updates/maintenance right when you buy it, so that is out of the way and you don't have to worry for a few years and you can just enjoy your cabin.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any info on cute places to rent for weekend over Christmas break...Berekeley Springs or Shepherdstown WV? Would love to take kids...

I love Wintergreen. Lots to do there as well.