I designed & built a personal office / art studio in the forest behind my home. We call it "the nook,” and it took 4 months start to finish. Want to see inside? 🧵

“Ere long, the most valuable of all arts will be the art of deriving a comfortable subsistence from the smallest area of soil. And no community whose every member possesses this art can ever be the victim of oppression in any of its forms. Such community will be alike independent

I should clarify - “furious” was an exaggeration to show just much humble pie I got served yesterday. annoyed would’ve been a better word tbh but you get the point 😄 he’s jolly as a cucumber today 🤗

to be clear - this was so so good for me. Humility comes in doses and I got to eat my words today :) thank God for kids. even when they embarrass their parents, they’re absolutely the biggest blessing in life ❤️

As a kid I was furious at screaming babies on flights As a single adult - even more. As a parent of child #1 (pretty much chill) I was indignant: “what’s wrong with all those other parents?” As a parent of child #2 who just screamed bloody murder almost the entire 2-hr

Winter is my favorite season to experience the cabin bc you have to get there on snowmobiles. About a 20 mi journey on sleds in deep power. absolutely awesome.

if you enjoyed this, you'll like my 2-min weekly newsletter on design & hospitality. ive heard from several folks recently that it's "the only newsletter they read" which is way too flattering... give it a shot: https://t.co/q3F459It2K

if you enjoyed this, you'll like my 2-min weekly newsletter on design & hospitality. ive heard from several folks recently that it's "the only newsletter they read" which is way too flattering... give it a shot:

A few evenings ago, I found myself stepping off a plane again. I was returning from another country, so I had to go through customs. It had been a while since I’d flown internationally, and I’d forgotten this part, but as I made my way through the lines and checks, past baggage

Today might just be “the right time.” And right where you are might just be “the right place.” Look for beauty in your backyard, use what you have, and share it with others. (that creek is heavenly)

I just put together a 10 min video documenting the journey and giving you a first hand tour. Check it out here: https://t.co/Y5joUUftSm

A few weeks ago, we dismantled the logs from another crumbling structure and hauled them home. They’ll become a cottage for my grandma to live in - right next to my older brother’s place.

And the real value isn’t just in dollar signs. It’s in the memories we’ve made here, the relationships that built the cabin and that were built by the cabin, and the honor of carrying the pioneers’ story forward. The work continues.

Yes, my dad was at the right place at the right time when that old homestead came up for sale. But the real opportunity was hidden behind hard work and a dream.

Now our family (grown to include several more in-laws and nearly 15 grandkids) gathers there every 4th of July. Fireworks, pancakes by the fire, tents under the stars. My parents usually sleep inside the cabin (luxury compared to tents).

And, as any good homesteaders would’ve done, we planted a few trees: aspens and ponderosa pines. Five weeks later, the cabin stood whole again. Total cost: $39,018.

We chinked the logs, timber-framed a porch, put in windows and doors. Then came the ships ladder to the loft, welded railing, wood stove, and kerosene lanterns. A few steps outside, we built an outhouse, fenced the yard, and cut a pathway to the year-round creek for water.

By week’s end, the logs were carefully washed, re-stacked on a new concrete slab, and crowned with a new roof to match the original. Each day after our regular construction jobs an hour away, my brothers and I made trips out to chip away at the project.

So we camped there, all of us - my folks, ten kids, four grandkids - Labor Day weekend. The next day, we tore off the rotten roof, unstacked the logs, marking each one, and scraped the foundation clean.

But the one-room log cabin still stood. Barely. 30 min down a gravel road. No utilities, no service. Just silence. We bought the place for $2,000/acre. The logs - each one hand-hewn by that determined family more than a century ago - still had life in them.

In 1908, the Graves family claimed this 120-ac valley under the Homestead Act. Grew beef, vegetables, & a family. But by the mid-1900s, the mine was gone & the last of the family moved away. When we found it, a few collapsing buildings were all that remained to tell their story