Fairytale Cabin on Lake Wedowee

Escape to our fairytale, on 100 secluded acres of gorgeous forest on Lake Wedowee/river (short walk to water down road). Soak in the hot tub, bake a pizza in the wood-fired oven, snuggle in nest swing or stroll the river road to swim or kayak. Hike to Wolf Creek and pan for gold. This gorgeous cabin is inspired by the 1840s rock chimneys-found in the forest—built with reclaimed heart of pine, stained glass & cedar from the woods. No tv—this is a place to unplug. No kids under the age The space We understand that life happens. As a small business, we hope that you understand the necessity to uphold our cancellation policy. We highly recommend purchasing trip insurance that covers your loss from last-minute cancellations (due to theft, medical/health issues, weather, etc.) Travel Guard is an affordable option to ensure you’re covered in the event of the unexpected. This hand-crafted, light-filled cabin will be one of the most unique and interesting spaces you will have the pleasure of experiencing. We call the property "Riversong Forest Retreat" and we have two other Airbnb listings on property: The Starry Steampunk Wagon (further up 532), A Hobbit House (down the River Road), and a future Grain Silo. So you may encounter others at the resort, on the river road and hiking the trails. Brought to you by the team from the famed Alpaca Treehouse in the Bamboo Forest, this beautiful character rich space was inspired by the original 1840s chimneys (2 of them) found on the site, in the forest. THINGS TO DO: -Star gazing. There is no light pollution, so check out the beauty of the Southern skies. -Pan for gold in Wolf Creek. We leave you two black gold pans to try your luck. This area used to have gold mines and the river and the creek have gold flakes and maybe even nuggets. -Fishing: The creek & river are filled with crappie, brim, and bass. -Explore the Property: --Dig for artifacts. There is treasure in the ground surrounding the cabin. We’ve found several valuable bottles. Finders keepers! -Photography: So many opportunities. -Wildlife Watching -Kayak or canoe down the Little Tallapoosa/Lake Wedowee. Put in at Lamar Bridge, up river, and take out at our beach. Will need two cars -Swim in the river or deep holes in Wolf Creek -Soak in the Hot Tub: We have the ultimate hot tub experience with the 1840s chimney. Bank up a fire and soak your cares away. -Make a Pizza in the Wood Fired Oven: Make your own custom pie in our oven. All accessories provided. -Take a Hike: We have 100 gorgeous acres to explore or hike down country road 532 for easier walking. -Curl Up In our Nest Swing: And read a book or watch some Netflix on your laptop. -Check out the Muscogee/Creek Indian Trail Tree: Located down at the confluence where Wolf Creek meets the river/lake is a tree bent using a heavy stone to point the native peoples to special places of important. A confluence was a sacred spot for weddings/funerals. -Search for Treasure: We have valuable bottles and other artifacts on the property just waiting to be found. -Dig Arrowheads and Native Pottery: This was once the home to the bustling thriving Native Peoples/Muscogee or Creek Indians. There are artifacts to be found. We found an arrowhead recently. -Forest Bathing:: Spending time in nature, with its perfect balance of sights, sounds, smells, and peaceful environment, offers essential rewards for our highly stressed mental and physical selves. No wonder the ecotherapy practice of forest bathing, otherwise known as Shinrin-yoku, is gaining steam for all the right reasons. Don’t be confused; the exercise has nothing to do with soap or water. Instead, the name refers to the way participants fully immerse themselves in — and reconnect with — nature. The interior of the home is filled with massive windows that open onto the forest and the wildflower meadow and the guinea fowl. The walls are all sealed 1890s heart of pine flooring wood, with five species of 1890s barn stall wood on the floors. We used several gorgeous pieces of historic stained glass including the Noah’s Ark piece in the front gable from a church. Amenities: hot tub, outdoor fireplace, wood-fired pizza oven, air fryer, blackstone griddle, nest swing, Adirondack chairs fridge, hot plate, microwave, toaster, AC/heat, designer walk in shower with marble and inlaid artifacts from the site. Sleeps 4: queen sized bed in loft and full-sized futon downstairs. This will be a stay and escape that you’ll never forget. FAIRYTALE CABIN BACKSTORY: Kara found this glorious 100 acre property while searching for a beautiful escape retreat to build tiny dwellings. She hiked the property and found it to be pristine, magical, and the topography compelling. She was mesmerized by the Little Tallapoosa River (means “wise grandmother town” in Muscogee) that is part of Lake Wedowee (“ancient waters”). She loved the burbling, laughing, dancing sounds of Wolf Creek and then discovered the natural springs feeding into Wolf Creek. The more she looked, the more she discovered. There is evidence of old moonshine stills on the natural springs. There are evident, left-over piled stones, signaling the presence of old buildings and barns. Kara pulled aerial photos of the property from 1942 and the majority of the existing forest was planted with corn & cotton, except for the steep river bank. Additionally, the old timers in the region, conveyed that there was an old milling concern somewhere on the property. Feel free to look around and dig for old bottles and treasure. We found several bottles worth hundreds of dollars. One was an old 1915 Hobbleskirt Coca-Cola bottle, stamped Roanoke, AL on the bottom. Another was a cobalt blue Milk of Magnesia bottle. Very flashy. There are a couple of ancient trash piles, likely to harbor treasure. Also, you can find bottles in Wolf Creek! Wear gloves to avoid poison ivy while forest digging (we learned that the hard way!) This region was once called “Cambridge” and was a settler’s establishment. I suspect the settlers were from England, as we’ve found a lot of very crazed, very old English pottery, some stamped 1875. There was an old wooden post office, just down at the mouth of where 432 joins up with 532. I suspect that the stone chimneys date to 1840-1850. They were held together with red Alabama clay; we restored them in 2022, to preserve their amazing history. The Creek or Muskogee natives called this land home before the Trail of Tears, when they were driven off their land by the European settlers. Be sure to check out the Native Trail Marker Tree, down at the river’s edge, near the confluence (joining) of Wolf Creek & the river. These trees were intentionally bent, using heavy stones, to use as living arrows signifying an important region or resource for other travelling native peoples. A confluence is the joining of two moving bodies of water and would have been a sacred joining and used for wedding, funerals, and other special occasions. Fairytale Cabin Construction (11/2022-4/2023): (It all began with a pair of discovered chimneys) Originally, when I purchased this gorgeous land, I had planned to begin with a treehouse down at the river’s edge. And that’s still in the plans. But when I nearly smacked into these amazing 1840s rock chimneys in the middle of a privet forest, I was delighted. What a wonderful gift the land had presented. The first thing I did was enlist a brilliant mason, named Terry, to restore them. The chimneys had originally been built using red Alabama clay and I wanted to upgrade that to mortar. The tops of both chimneys had tumbled to the Earth. So, Terry brought scaffolding and restored them both, adding a rustic stone cap and mesh to keep out the critters. And then I picked up pencil and paper and designed a small cabin with an open concept, facing the forest. I decided to use the other chimney as an anchor to an entertainment deck, complete with hot tub, pizza oven, Blackstone griddle, and a place to just chill with Adirondacks and sun loungers. We restored the stone hearth to make it safe for fires so on chilly evenings, you can light a fire in the old fireplace, and sip beverages in the hot tub, in the middle of the forest. After that, Terry dug footings for the cabin itself, built our foundation and then we were off to the races. I’m a licensed General Contractor, but really, I was more of a designer and a cat herder. Rarely did I do a lot of my own work. But with this cabin, I thought it would be fun to actually build myself. So I enlisted some helpers: my handywoman friend Patty and a local man with a lot of building experience, named Steve. The three of us framed the cabin (scary), put the roof on (scarier), installed the trim, the siding, the front door. Patty tiled the floor and the kitchen backsplash. I hired licensed trades to do the systems. We foam insulated the cottage for climate comfort and then we started the finishing, which is the fun part. I’m going to share the history of reclaimed pieces with you. The Walls: The wood: I bought over 2000 square feet of 1890s heart of pine flooring from an old Victorian house from Carrollton, GA. Hauling it to our shipping container took 8 laborious trips! But that wood is exquisite and milled from the virgin forest. Metal Walls: These walls are late 1800s Victorian metal roofing shingles off an old house in Micaville, AL. I was looking around for a vintage material to use as accent walls. You can find it on the bed wall in the loft and on the futon wall downstairs. Once again, I love the patina. We sealed it carefully with a couple coats of polyurethane. The Floors: The floors are my pride and joy. We took down two 1890s barns in Bowdon, GA that were slated for the dump. It took us a week and many trips of hauling the wood to the shipping container. What a job– but worth it. We used those wide planks on the floors and for the window trim. We had to cut out the semi-circles where the cows or horses had chewed the boards down over decades. When someone built a barn in the 1800s, they didn’t care about the species of tree, so the floors reflect that. They are heart of pine, red oak, white oak, walnut, and ash and after having them refinished, my mind was blown. They are stunning. Upstairs, in the loft, the floors are the heart of pine from the 1890s Victorian home. Stained Glass: The stained glass in the front gable is from a 1880s church from upstate New York. It features Noah’s Ark. And, as I’m a massive animal rescuer, that spoke to me. The stained glass pieces downstairs are vintage circa 1900 and both are from Ohio. Front Door: This massive door I personally salvaged from an 1860s mansion in downtown Atlanta. It came from a huge, gorgeous home that was being torn down in the Olde Fourth Ward. I scraped it and then fell in love with the 160 years' worth of patina. You can’t fake that look so we painted on three coats of exterior urethane. Beveled Leaded Glass Sidelights: They were salvaged from a home in midtown and are likely early 1900s. Bathroom Door: I found the bathroom door on the front of the Bowdon, GA farmhouse (1890), but originally that door would have been an interior door. The lockset is cast iron and porcelain and original to the door. Cedar Railing and Porch Posts: The cedar was harvested right here on the property. Terry & his sons & me–we scoured the land for fallen cedar trees that were still intact. And then we dragged them back to the cabin, cut them and worked some artful magic putting together all of the handrails and spindles with screws. The Ceiling: This is old rustic rusted barn roofing. I love the patina and testament of time. The metal came from old farms around Georgia and Alabama. The Garden: I found the original settler’s garden in the power cut back behind the cabin. I dug up the original vintage plants. We have rose vervain, mullein (its flowers and leaves used to treat respiratory infections), garlic, jonquils, and wild roses. I added some wildflowers, gardenias, cannas, irises, etc. to the mix. Bath Room: If you’ll notice, in the cabin bathroom floor, we inlaid “found” pieces of old Ball jars, 1875 stamped English pottery fragments, and tobacco glazed pottery fragments (from big primitive jugs) as a testament to the settlers here before us. We found all of this in and around the chimneys. Guest access All of the outdoor forest, Magical Beaver Pond, Little Tallapoosa River/Lake Wedowee, Wolf Creek, and the natural springs. Please respect the other rental unit's guests' privacy. Other things to note No pets and no kids under 12. This is an adult playground.