The "Keffer Kabin" - A Family Cabin

Each spring, the fun returns to this three-season getaway.

Story & Photos by Karl & Debbie Keffer Our cabin on Grindstone Lake in northeastern Minnesota has been enjoyed by five generations of the Keffer family. It is a very rustic structure with just a few modern trappings. Karl Keffer, our grandfather and an accomplished architect from Iowa, built the cabin in 1930 with water-resistant white cedar logs and mortar chinking. Since then, it’s been a summer haven for swimming, fishing, canoeing, rowing, motorboating, cookouts, grandchildren playing on the hammock, and much more family fun. The uninsulated cabin was built for three-season use only. An antique Franklin woodstove and a fireplace are the only sources of warmth during the chill of an early autumn. So the cabin is our summertime “Camp,” as my grandfather fondly named it. (My grandmother would later change the name, printing engraved stationery and having linens embroidered with the moniker “Keffer Kabin.”) The interior of the cabin is just as rustic as the exterior. Electricity was added in 1951 and running water in 1977. All of the original oil lamps and fixtures still hang where they were originally installed and still can be used today. Although a small electric stove has been installed in the kitchen, a fully operational wood range still exists. A small fire in the stove’s firebox can easily chase away the chill of early morning. When pulled, a cord inside the room rings a large dinner bell mounted outside. This bell used to call school children to a one-room Iowa schoolhouse in the late 19th century. A long metal-covered table that seats 12 on picnic benches is the central focus of the dining room. The living room is larger than the kitchen and dining room combined, with a vaulted ceiling and a large fireplace. A fire built with slow-burning maple and birch wood on a rainy, chilly September day invites a person to sit and read a book or just relax. The living room furniture was purchased from a secondhand store, but several pieces are special, including a walnut tallboy we still use daily when visiting. Three small bedrooms have very basic furniture, but with the right decorations, they are very cozy and inviting. Each bedroom has its own color for coordinating curtains, tablecloths and bed spreads: blue, yellow and pink. All bedrooms have a three-quarter double antique bed in order to save space. Additionally, there is a loft above one side of the living room that can sleep up to four. To entice youngsters into the loft, half of it was converted into a play area. Several outbuildings surround the cabin, including a bunkhouse, a bathhouse, a garage and a woodshed. The bathhouse was converted from an ice house during the 1970s. The modern interior includes pine paneling and the usual running-water conveniences (shower, wash stand and commode). Another feature outside the cabin is a large barbeque fireplace and seating area overlooking the lake, built from sandstone blocks that once graced the sidewalks of Sandstone, Minn. When the city fathers decided to convert the sidewalks to cement for easier care and maintenance, my grandfather was able to obtain a large quantity of the town’s sidewalk stone blocks. Our barbeque fireplace area is used every summer for family cookouts and lakeside parties with friends and neighbors. In 1950, the remaining stones were used to construct a boathouse large enough for a canoe and a fishing boat. Grindstone is a magical lake. With a maximum depth of more than 150 feet, it’s one of the deepest in Minnesota. The native fish are much like those in Lake Superior: trout, herring, smelt, sturgeon, northern pike, bass and pan fish. Following days of fun in the sun are the summer sunsets that have mesmerized most family members over the decades. You can almost hear the song “Canadian Sunset” in your mind as loons call to each other at dusk. Little has been done to remove trees and brush between the cabin and our shoreline, which has resulted in a somewhat obstructed view of the lake. The small forest, however, continues to surround us and surely makes for a special cabin in the woods. Every winter, we look forward to warm spring days when trillium blooms in the woodlot behind the cabin and birds sing in the forest canopy. Summer hails the return of swimming, boating and fishing. Autumn comes too soon, but it allows us to gaze upon the glory of orange and red maples, as well as bright yellow birch. Each October, we winterize the cabin, placing shutters over all the doors and windows, draining the water system, and shutting off electricity. As we drive down our lane one last time, we say goodbye to our lake cabin until the next long-awaited spring.