Thank you for coming to visit Camp Paradise. I hope that you will find inspiration here whether you live in, travel to or dream of cabin living. I love to connect with fellow lovers of log homes.
How did a girl from Dallas end up living in a log home in the Northwoods of Wisconsin?
The living in Wisconsin part? I married a Wisconsin boy.
The log cabin part?
#1 Laura I think my love of log homes began as a child. I wanted to be Laura Ingalls Wilder. I loved the books and the television show. I still do! I’ve read the books to my kids and we’ve watched the entire series with them.
My Classroom
I spent the first seven years after college teaching elementary school and my classroom was decorated in a cabin theme. My classroom and my tutoring/educational enrichment business with a friend was called The Learning Lodge. I think every gift from my students over those years was a moose! I love my collection from all those special kids.
A Place of Our Own
Almost 15 years ago our family began a search for our own get away spot. We are beyond blessed that we have family living in amazing places for us to getaway and vacation to throughout the year (Nana and Papa’s mountain home in Montana, my sister-in-law in Florida, Grandma and Grandpa’s Farm) but we were looking for a place to go and spend time weekends and breaks that was a short drive away.
Friendly Advice
Some of our dearest friends, who hasve children older than ours, were always sharing with us about their wonderful times at their lake cottage “Up North” in Eagle River, Wisconsin. They said the two best things we could ever do for our children was to teach them to love God and buy a lake home.
They shared how the time together as a family at their cottage playing games, fishing, and talking around the campfire away from all the “to dos” of home was so valuable. They had great conversations and connected with their kids. So when Brian and I started to talk about finding a spot of our own, “Up North” was where we were headed. We began looking online for homes and every one we had interest in was a log home.
Do you like happy endings? Do you like flipping to the back and reading the end of the story first? Then here’s your peek at the end of our cabin search and the beginning of our family’s love for our log home. We loved the cabin we bought as a vacation home so much that a year after buying it and traveling up on weekends, we moved up full time.
My husband grew up in Southeastern Wisconsin and had always heard people saying they were heading “Up North to the Cabin,” but he had never been “Up North” before so we decided to take our time driving through communities in the Northwoods, three hours north of home. We picked up some real estate home magazines and I got online, just curious what lake homes might be available. I was drawn to all the log homes.
Our drive brought us to the Lakeland area and the Minocqua community. We were instantly charmed. It had shops, restaurants, art galleries and character! We set up an appointment with a realtor to see a few cabins.
After touring the first few homes on the list we pulled into the driveway of “Camp Paradise” and knew we had found our family’s cabin.
We walked in the beautiful front door and saw the beauty of the full log walls and the view from the floor to ceiling windows.
Camp Paradise has a wonderful floor plan with a great room with vaulted ceilings and a towering fireplace. See more here.
The cabin was built by a couple from Chicago that loved the process of building the home. They poured a lot of time, energy and love into the cabin. They were kind enough to leave us the photo album of all the pictures of building from start to finish. What a fascinating project!
The kitchen and dining room are the busiest rooms in the house.
I love antiques and vintage pieces and am always on the hunt to add to my collections like the vintage thermos collection I have above my kitchen cabinets.
The master bedroom gives us sweet dreams as we fall asleep to the loons in the summer and the fireplace in the winter.
Our master bathroom is a relaxing space.
Our guest bath showcases a pair of my red skis.
We gave a nautical style to our lakeside bathroom.
We entertain on this gorgeous deck.
There’s also a wonderful basement family/ game room, bunk room and an upstairs loft.
I am stopped in my tracks often as I look around the beauty of the woodwork in our log cabin and have been honored to take care of it and raise my kids within it’s walls.
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Kristin I have enjoyed learning the story behind the cabin and person I have grown to love on IG! I have never been interested im traveling to this part of the country until meeting you. Your home, stories and adventures have introduced me to something new amd exciting I always thought was kind of boring before! I would love to someday meet you and experience Camp Paradise in person!
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