John

How many times in your life do you get to have a change of lifestyle, start again, and perhaps reinvent yourself. Unfortunately after a long illness, my wife (Pat) had passed away and I had found myself in the position of having to start again but I was determined to give it a try.

I looked at small country cottages but something just didn’t feel right. When a friend mentioned a nearby nature reserve where they were building 50 log cabins set over lakes I had to take a look. After a phone call, I was invited to have a tour around the nature reserve, lakes, and log cabins.

Everything now started to fall into place and the thought of sitting on my own veranda in a rocking chair and strumming the guitar and watching the sun go down could be more than just a dream after all. An impulsive decision it may be but I decided to go for it, I put down the deposit and put my house on the market. Once I had a sale I paid the 40% and waited for the logs to arrive from Finland for the building to begin.

At this time I was emptying my house, which was a job in itself. Clearing 25 years of memories are both emotionally and physically draining.

Soon the house sold and I moved into a hotel for 4 months whilst the build was finished. The weather was harsh but the builders were fabulous and worked through rain, wind, and snow to get the lodge finished, never once complaining. I visited them almost every day taking photographs and admiring their expertise.

Having a property built from scratch means you are starting with a blank canvas, and its up to you how much you want to spend on the extras. For me, I just wanted a very simple pure log design as I’d stayed in many times in Canada and the USA. The kitchen design people were very helpful at giving advice on suggested appliances that would save me repair bills in the future.

I designed my lodge to be bright and airy and with only one bedroom the large open space created exactly the feel I wanted. The floors were left wooden so I could put down large Navajo style rugs that I had seen before in log cabins and loved the look of.

I decided to call my lodge ‘Hunter’s Rest’ which felt very appropriate although now I’m more into conservation than hunting.