This cabin never closes
By Judy Hayworth, Journal correspondent | Posted: Tuesday, April 12, 2005
Parker and Scott Schmid put logs in the wood burner, which heats the family cabin on the farm pond near Kingsley, Iowa. (Photo by Judy Hayworth)
KINGSLEY, Iowa -- Spring. The season lake dwellers and "summer people" anticipate. Time to open the cabin or lake home until closing time come fall.
For one couple here, their cabin is never "closed for the season."
Dennis and Maureen Schmid's dream of a cabin at their farm pond had been long simmering. "We had talked about making a cabin out of telephone poles," says Dennis.
"We decided one day that the old granary that sat south of the house would work well," adds son, Scott, owner of Schmid Construction, Inc., of Le Mars, Iowa.
"Scott showed up one day and started in," Dennis continues. "He had decided it was time to do it." Construction in the winter of 2003 took about three months, the two working weekends.
Since then, the family -- Scott and wife Brenda and son Parker; daughters Deedra and husband Ryan Harman and children BreAnn and Drake of Manson, Iowa, and Amber of Des Moines -- has enjoyed their time at the one-room cabin and pond.
"There's no time of the year we don't enjoy it," says Maureen. "And it's used a lot in the winter."
During winter, there's ice fishing on the pond, and evenings spent playing cards.
"We roast hot dogs and heat a can of beans on the wood burner," says Maureen. After hunting or sledding, the cabin is a cozy spot to warm up and relax. The grandchildren help collect sticks from the nearby timber for the wood burner, which heats the cabin.
The family enjoys fishing for bass, crappie, bluegills, and catfish. Beaver, muskrat, ducks, geese, bluebirds, and orioles are seen. Sunrises and sunsets can be awesome.
Parker especially likes "eating hot dogs, playing in the loft, playing with Drake in the fort they built in the trees, fishing in the summer, and grilling the fish."
"Whatever we do, the cabin gives you a feeling of getting away," says Scott.
Construction of the get-away spot wasn't without obstacles. Much dirt work was done at the site before the 12-foot x 20-foot granary could be moved, and electricity was provided by a generator run by a tractor.
Over the old granary frame, the Schmids applied insulation, log siding, and a new roof. One large window catches afternoon rays. "The windows are leftovers from another job," says Scott. "We stained the log siding outside and the knotty pine inside."
The multipurpose room inside houses a couch, table and chairs, and the wood burner, and the loft provides a sleeping area. Decorations include netting, wooden fish crafted by Maureen, and an old rod and reel used by Dennis as a child.
With no electricity -- though wired for it -- and no plumbing, the rustic cabin offers a simpler life. "We use gas lanterns and candles for lighting and we light the wood burner for heat and fixing food," Scott says.
The "simpler life" the Schmids enjoy at their cabin and pond is an echo of the feelings of Henry David Thoreau, writer and pacifist, who built his cabin away from his hometown of Concord, Mass., on the shores of Walden Pond. Of the pond, he said, "It is glorious to behold this ribbon of water sparkling in the sun, the bare face of the pond full of glee and youth, as if it spoke the joy of the fishes within it, and of the sands on its shore."
Dennis has his own way of saying it. "We love the outdoors -- we just like being outside. I've always enjoyed the water; it attracts me more than anything so, so that's why we put the cabin as close to the water as possible."
For one couple here, their cabin is never "closed for the season."
Dennis and Maureen Schmid's dream of a cabin at their farm pond had been long simmering. "We had talked about making a cabin out of telephone poles," says Dennis.
"We decided one day that the old granary that sat south of the house would work well," adds son, Scott, owner of Schmid Construction, Inc., of Le Mars, Iowa.
"Scott showed up one day and started in," Dennis continues. "He had decided it was time to do it." Construction in the winter of 2003 took about three months, the two working weekends.
Since then, the family -- Scott and wife Brenda and son Parker; daughters Deedra and husband Ryan Harman and children BreAnn and Drake of Manson, Iowa, and Amber of Des Moines -- has enjoyed their time at the one-room cabin and pond.
"There's no time of the year we don't enjoy it," says Maureen. "And it's used a lot in the winter."
During winter, there's ice fishing on the pond, and evenings spent playing cards.
"We roast hot dogs and heat a can of beans on the wood burner," says Maureen. After hunting or sledding, the cabin is a cozy spot to warm up and relax. The grandchildren help collect sticks from the nearby timber for the wood burner, which heats the cabin.
The family enjoys fishing for bass, crappie, bluegills, and catfish. Beaver, muskrat, ducks, geese, bluebirds, and orioles are seen. Sunrises and sunsets can be awesome.
Parker especially likes "eating hot dogs, playing in the loft, playing with Drake in the fort they built in the trees, fishing in the summer, and grilling the fish."
"Whatever we do, the cabin gives you a feeling of getting away," says Scott.
Construction of the get-away spot wasn't without obstacles. Much dirt work was done at the site before the 12-foot x 20-foot granary could be moved, and electricity was provided by a generator run by a tractor.
Over the old granary frame, the Schmids applied insulation, log siding, and a new roof. One large window catches afternoon rays. "The windows are leftovers from another job," says Scott. "We stained the log siding outside and the knotty pine inside."
The multipurpose room inside houses a couch, table and chairs, and the wood burner, and the loft provides a sleeping area. Decorations include netting, wooden fish crafted by Maureen, and an old rod and reel used by Dennis as a child.
With no electricity -- though wired for it -- and no plumbing, the rustic cabin offers a simpler life. "We use gas lanterns and candles for lighting and we light the wood burner for heat and fixing food," Scott says.
The "simpler life" the Schmids enjoy at their cabin and pond is an echo of the feelings of Henry David Thoreau, writer and pacifist, who built his cabin away from his hometown of Concord, Mass., on the shores of Walden Pond. Of the pond, he said, "It is glorious to behold this ribbon of water sparkling in the sun, the bare face of the pond full of glee and youth, as if it spoke the joy of the fishes within it, and of the sands on its shore."
Dennis has his own way of saying it. "We love the outdoors -- we just like being outside. I've always enjoyed the water; it attracts me more than anything so, so that's why we put the cabin as close to the water as possible."
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