Log Home Tour Series: Little Log Cabin in the Hollow

It's day three of my annual Log Home Tour Series! Welcome to Genevieve's Little Log Cabin in the Hollow.  This sweet little cabin on their farm was built in the 1840's and renovated in 1972.

Genevieve says:

When we began our search 3 yrs prior to my husband’s military retirement, we had our wish list written out and we took into consideration all of our large homeschooling family’s special needs. One thing was definite, we were searching for a place that we could finally plant our family’s roots and call home. We went from thinking that we would have to live in a trailer while building on our future property, to finding an established homestead with almost everything on our wish list, to include our beloved 1840's log cabin that serves as our guest house for friends and family who visit from across the country. It is the original dwelling of the family who settled in this hollow over 177 yrs ago.

From the first time we drove up and saw the property, we were smitten. It was love at first sight! We were sure this was the place we wanted to raise our family. The 1840's log cabin was a HUGE bonus and to this day, is one of my favorite parts of the property. 

Sadly, aside from the original family’s last name, we have little information on this unique piece of history. We know that it was in poor shape when the previous owner purchased the property back in 1972. He was the second family to own the property. He would painstakingly dismantle the log cabin, one log at a time and build a new foundation, add an additional room, and update it to have all the modern day necessities.  

 The beams and the original limestone fireplace really add to the rustic charm of this old beauty. We bartered several cedar logs for the old wood burning stove. It was totally rusted and needed some TLC, but my husband saw the potential and brought it back to life one weekend and now it fits in perfectly with the old log cabin’s charm. Pictures just don’t do it justice!

My dad's paintings are on the mantel and the shelf he built upstairs.

While repairing the roof and putting a new metal roof on, my husband and the helping crew came across an old brick from the original chimney that had the name of the original brick layer etched on it. We came to find out that back then, the brick layer and his family would move to the site and live side by side with the requesting family as the chimney was being built. 

My husband built a primitive looking box to hold all of the medium sized kindling pieces for the cold winters. He even found some old rusty hinges for the lid in his workshop.

We also have the original well between the cabin and our stone pump house. We have yet to remove the large flat stone placed on top of it to see what we might find. 

I love all the little details that the old owner’s added, like the bird house on the ledge to the stone front steps. 

They planted so many different flowers throughout the main living area of the property. It is always a treat to see what will bloom next, during the spring. The peonies are my favorites, with the day lilies coming in close second.

We love functional and practical pieces that go with the style of our home. We even enjoy decorating our farmhouse with vintage farmhouse style. We find old rusted equipment in various areas on the property. We even have an area that has several, so we call it the "equipment graveyard."

At the time of purchasing our homestead, we had been enjoying the Laura Ingalls Wilder book set as a family. You can imagine how thrilled we all were that first night that we stayed in this pre-civil war cabin, while the old owners still occupied the main farmhouse. In the evening, we gathered around, eating popcorn while my husband read the next chapter to us before bed. It was almost like we had been transported back in time and we were the first settling pioneers. All that was missing was the fire in the fireplace and Pa Ingalls playing his fiddle. (Smile) It was such a wonderful experience to share with the children. Many of our long weekends were spent visiting the farm until we transitioned and moved full-time to the property, 2 yrs ago.

Thanks for sharing your cabin and your story with us, Genevieve! There is just nothing like the coziness of a log cabin and yours is so charming.

Thanks for stopping by this third log home tour!  If you'd like to see more of this cabin, lots of farmhouse beauty, and Genevieve's inspirational story on Instagram @gracefully_home.

In case you missed the first two tours, you can find them here:

Log Home Tour Series: Shelly's Dream Cabin In the Woods

Log Home Tour Series: The Pioneer Girl's Cabin

And to see all of the previous tours, click on the Log Home Tour Series Tab or click here. Thanks for stopping by today and I hope to see you back tomorrow for another log home tour!