Having grown up along the shoreline of Wisconsin’s popular Door County area, Debbie and Gary Krause are intimately familiar with the Northwoods. So it’s no surprise that they would be at home in a waterfront retreat, aptly dubbed Bay View Lodge, as a nearby escape from their primary residence and workplace.
“Since Gary and I both have wonderful but stressful jobs in the hospitality industry, periodically we need to get away and recharge,” Debbie explains. The cabin provides the perfect home-away-from-home experience, she adds, not only for them but for guests and renters as well.
In 2001, a real-estate agent mentioned that a log cabin in the nearby village of Fish Creek was for sale. Gary took one look and decided it would double as the perfect family retreat for them to share with others.
“It was compact, beautifully maintained — not to mention both of us were enamored with owning a log home,” Debbie recalls. “The view alone, overlooking Green Bay and Peninsula State Park, was worth every penny.”
The 2,064-square-foot cabin, secluded on 1.6 wooded acres off the main road, lives larger than its size implies because of an open living-area design. Three bedrooms and two bathrooms afford plenty of space for guests, and a wraparound porch provides the perfect perch to take in those lakeside views. Good construction also was a plus that has relieved the Krauses of any serious headaches. (The logs were supplied by Northwoods Log Homes, and the house was constructed by a local builder.) Resident handyman Gary has blacktopped the gravel drive and stained the exterior once since they purchased the home, Debbie notes.
More than a decade has passed since the Krauses purchased the cabin, but they still enjoy it whenever they can. “We pack an overnight bag and come up fairly often,” Gary acknowledges. “It feels like we are really on vacation. Even to this day, we still walk in and say, ‘Wow.’”
Dutch Oven
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Cabin Porn: Inside
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