Compiled by Katherine Owen
Photos by Dave Shaw
When Dave Shaw and his family set out to design their dream cabin, they had years of experience as guests in vacation rental cabins to draw from. Now, their dream-cabin-come-true proves you don’t need a big house to live large. Here’s their story.
Dave: We’ve owned this little slice of heaven in the gorgeous Hocking Hills region of southeast Ohio since 2015. We purchased the land with the dream of someday building a cozy little log cabin on it to use as a family getaway until retirement, when it could become a full-time home.
When we bought the property back then, it was pure luck. I mean, nobody had any idea this area was going to take off like it did. But the area is really, really special. When you think of Ohio, you might wonder, “How could that be?” But it’s unlike any other place in Ohio — or anywhere else in the world, really. So, it’s quite lucky that we got it when we did.
Before building our own cabin, every time we’d vacation, we’d rent some kind of a log cabin through Airbnb or VRBO. We’ve stayed in a lot of cabins with our two boys, and, of course, every time we’d stay in one, we’d take notes on what we did or didn’t like. Eventually, we had this big laundry list of things that we thought someday maybe we’ll get to incorporate into our own. And that’s exactly what we did.
During all the craziness of 2020, I decided to take an early retirement from my 9-to-5 and finally start on our own cabin. We designed it ourselves — me, my wife Maria, and our two sons, Diego and Derek.
Out of all the cabins we stayed in, I think the ones that made the biggest impression were those that were small but felt very spacious due to the floor plan. Often, as is the case in our home now, that was because of a completely open layout. We wanted the living areas to be on one floor and the sleeping spaces on the other floor. We also liked the idea of a walkout basement, with our property being in hill country. So that’s exactly the kind of the parameters we settled in on.
When the time came to decide on a log provider, we wanted someone with a good reputation, since building a log cabin is something that none of us were experts in by any means. So, we relied heavily on customer testimonials, interactions with the company representatives and ultimately that gut feeling, if you will, as to whether it felt right or not. We ended up working with Hochstetler Log Homes to bring our cabin design ideas to life. They’re from Ohio, which was another plus, as we like to do business with local companies when possible.
Steve Lykins at Hochstetler drew it up, and then we commissioned Hillside Construction from Jackson, Ohio, to be the primary log crew. I acted as my own general contractor and even built a few things here and there! We started digging the foundation in December 2021, and by December 2022, most of the hard work was done. All that was left were the finishing touches. By spring 2023, Sunset Ridge was ready to enjoy!
Now, we have a cozy cabin with high-quality, high-end finishes. We’ve found that small and affordable does not have to be plain. Even though it’s just over 1,000 square feet, it feels very spacious for the square footage. That was really our goal ... a small footprint, a modest budget and a high-end quality and feel. A lot of people put so much emphasis on square footage — which I understand, as that’s certainly a part of it — but I think design efficiency is probably even more meaningful than square footage.
That to me, is the biggest takeaway from what we did. If you’re careful, detail oriented, selective and follow your plan, it can be done on an average person’s salary. We did it, and that means that other people can do it as well.
