An 11x11 foot one room former tourist cabin gets a rescue! We love stories like this - a true labor of love! Purchased in 2006 for $500, it needed plenty of work to get...
An 11x11 foot one room former tourist cabin gets a rescue! We love stories like this - a true labor of love! Purchased in 2006 for $500, it needed plenty of work to get...

...to its current wonderful incarnation, including a move from the original Illinois location to Wandawega Lake in Wisconsin.
One of our "someday" dreams is of a small getaway spot on a lake and this one definitely fits the bill. Read the entire article and see the complete slideshow right here at Chicago Home + Garden (or pick up the May-June 2009 issue, of course!).
Images: Aimee Herring/Chicago Home + Garden
I want to see inside!!!
view Classic CC-40's profile
Yes, we want to see inside. Don't tease us! Argh.
view hyacinthine's profile
Looks as if it would be a NYC studio apt in the middle of no where! PERFECT! It's wonderful......Enjoy!
view lilipixi's profile
Oops - somehow I missed the slideshow link. It's cute.
view hyacinthine's profile
Ditto! Fun!
view Classic CC-40's profile
Summer in Wisconsin is the best!
view sally305's profile
adorable!!
view punkystyle's profile
I wonder if it has a toilet. I don't see it in the slide show.
view ftpansy's profile
hmm the link isn't working right now. does it have a kitchen?
Daily Architecture
lisaletostak.blogspot.com
view lisaletostak's profile
Love it! Exactly what I would want in a country house.
view Charlotte's profile
It's cute, but what about security?
view WahlFactor's profile
I don't think there's a bathroom.
view cweingarten's profile
Isn't this a repost? I know I've seen this cabin before.
view mlleErica's profile
If you click through to the magazine slideshow, there's a link to "details" about the property. From that section:
"The cabin is located on the wooded grounds of Wandawega Lake Resort, which Surratt and her husband, David Hernandez, ...purchased in 2003 from a Latvian church. Not open to the public, the resort is a private gathering place for family and friends...The cabin has no plumbing; guests use kitchens and bathrooms elsewhere on the property."
view Daisy11's profile
What constitutes a "tourist cabin"?
view clampers's profile
this reminds me of the summer cottages on the shoreline of connecticut where i grew up. sadly over the last 20 years many of them have been torn down to build enormous summer house monsters. i've always wanted to buy one to move and save it. just looking at these pictures makes me so nostalgic and dreamy....
view austin Charles Benton's profile
The church camp I went to in my youth had actual cabins much like this, but lined w/ bunks, had I think a couple of windows and a door if you needed to pee, you went to the bathhouse across the field where the pool once was and that was the bathroom/shower house.
The campground was originally built in 1922 but sadly, pretty much all of the original structures have been replaced over the past 40 years due to decay and such.
This is way cute and such a nice thing to keep around.
view ciddyguy's profile
There are still a lot of places like this in Wisconsin...especially in areas not yet discovered by "FIBs." (All I can say in this polite forum is that the I stands for "Illinois.")
view sally305's profile
Yeah, because us Illinoisans are hell-bent on ruining everything... give me a F'ing break, sally305.
view lizamaniac's profile
I just did some Googling and found out she is publishing a book about the whole process of rescuing the cottage! Check it out!
http://www.averymodestcottage.com/
view chgomatt82's profile
http://www.averymodestcottage.com/flash/index.html
view William in the 22's profile
What a cute guest house!
view baileyb's profile
My family owns a small cabin like this and we have loved it for many years! It is about twice the size and does have a kitchen and bathroom. We usually bring tents and camp out, with elderly relatives using the bunkhouse, and all of us much appreciative to be able to camp out but still have a toilet and hot coffee in the morning.
Unfortunately we are forced to sell soon :( The nearby cabins are being torn down to make way for giant monster houses, and the property tax has increased from $400/year to $9000/year in the last 15 years.
view Aleri's profile