A Dream Cabin 25 Years in the Making

This cozy lakeside cabin boasts major cottage style and clever design ideas.

“I fell in love with the spectacular south-facing view because of the high elevation and the nice shoreline for swimming,” says Gayle.

Written by Gina Chiodi Grensing

Photos by Rick Hammer, courtesy Lands End Development

Boy, did Gayle Litchy have patience! Her 25 years of persistent waiting culminated in finally being able to live her longstanding dream of owning a cabin by the lake.

“I’ve had this dream for as long as I can remember,” Gayle says. “I probably was influenced in large part by my parents’ lake home, which they built in 1976.” But Gayle’s dream cabin wasn’t going to come already constructed. “I’ve always had an interest in someday building a custom home. I really liked the idea of being able to figure out the spaces you want, the materials to use and then finally decorating, all while trying to stay within a certain budget.”

After scouring the real estate circulars that are found in gas stations and grocery stores for quite some time and getting tips about properties from family, she found the spot – just over an acre of land on Kimble Lake in central Minnesota.

“I fell in love with the spectacular south-facing view because of the high elevation and the nice shoreline for swimming,” says Gayle. At the time, she was working for the Minneapolis Public Works Department and owned a small one-bedroom condo in the suburb of New Hope. Scrimping and saving over the years, not even buying a house in the Minneapolis area, resulted in her dream of a 1,656-square-foot, two-bedroom retreat she now occupies full time as a retiree.

“I saved and saved and saved,” says Gayle. “I sacrificed for all the years I worked for the city, 39 years, to save money to eventually build my lake home.” Gayle often visited her land, which is about 2 hours and 45 minutes from her home, where she could indulge her gardening passion, “My parents have a lake home on North Long Lake (about 25 miles south), so I would often stay with them and just come up for the day.”

Work on her dream cabin began four years ago when she chose Lands End Development, a custom home designer and builder located in Cross Lake, to bring the cabin to life. Her list of “must-haves” wasn’t too extensive.

“I wanted lots of windows, a fireplace and nice finish materials.” A bathroom on each the cabin’s three floors was also a must.

“She wanted a real cottage feel,” says Matt Balmer, co-owner of Lands End Development. “There are coffered ceilings, bead board, natural wood and just a blend of textures. Most of the materials were sourced locally, which helped keep costs down.”

“The biggest challenge was getting everything to fit into the small footprint, adds Jeff Balmer co-owner of Lands End and Matt’s brother. “But we enjoy those challenges.”

Also prominent in the cabin’s design was Gayle’s love of plants and nature.

“I wanted to save a large red pine tree that was in the middle of the buildable area,” she said. “It worked out that the tree became the focal point between the house and garage.”

Other site considerations included the fact that the property is a bluff, which made setbacks crucial. “I was forced to build approximately 125 feet back from the lake and 30 feet back from the top of the bluff,” Gayle says. Allowing space for the septic and well condensed Gayle’s buildable space even more. However, these things did not deter her.

“I needed to keep the footprint small and use three levels to get the spaces I wanted. It worked out perfectly. So instead of worrying about the fact that I’m getting older and it might be harder to live on different levels, I look at it as a way to keep me fit. And, I love the size, shape and the way the house ended up sited on the property.”

The 672-square-foot main floor is an open floor plan with a living room, dining area, kitchen and half bath. Gayle’s master suite lays claim to the second floor. The walk out basement has a bedroom, small family room, laundry closet, bath, office nook and mechanical room. Plus, Gayle wanted bonus space above the garage. That’s where two built-in beds, a sitting area and a large table for crafting is located. “I enjoy many, many crafts including making mosaics and baby quilts,” she says.

Gayle is somewhat of a snowbird, though not going to the deep southern part of the United States for the winter.

“For the most part, I live at the lake, even though I still have my condo in New Hope and use it often, especially in the winter.” The Twin Cities area is where her parents (who are now in their mid-80s and spend six months at their lake home and six months at their city home), most of her large extended family and many of her friends live. “It’s easier for me to visit them than for them to come to the cabin in the winter,” Gayle says.

However, when at the cabin, Gayle is busy. When not crafting, she enjoys hiking, snowshoeing and biking. “Mostly I love gardening and making my outside as beautiful as the inside,” she says. She also loves hosting family and friends at her retreat. Of special importance are her grand-nieces and grand-nephews.

“We enjoy swimming, crafting, playing games and sitting by the camp fire,” says Gayle. “The kids love sleeping in the window bed or in the upper garage, and the girls love my big freestanding bathtub.”

This cabin definitely proves that good things come to those who wait.