VACATION RENTAL: The Hodgepodge Lodge
Published On: August 13, 2016 Posted by: Jeremy Peterson
We recently came home from a family vacation in Island Park, Idaho. We had a great time as a family. However, I couldn’t help but laugh at some of the work done in the cabin. For $450/night, this is what we encountered.
The cabin itself was a series of several addons. I estimated that there were probably four separate times the home was ‘amended’. And don’t be fooled by the faux log exterior. Those are just milled sheets of log-looking wood to tie all the various addons together.
Structural supports are always important. Here we have a stump coming out of the ground which is supporting the leaning concrete pillar which is supporting the big deck above. I wonder how long this arrangement will last.
And that stick doohickey in the wires isn’t inspiring any more confidence.
So the property is plumbed with a septic tank. That is great, its always better than an outhouse. Except that the stack vent for the tank was cut to allow the addition of the other roof line. Why is that a problem? Because the upstairs bedrooms are ventilated via a window fan (right of picture) and we filled our bedrooms with pungent swamp gas at night. It’s really hard to sleep when you are breathing dog toots.
Nevermind those seams. Some rope will cover those up.
If you don’t have time to get a real door, a big sheet of plywood cut to the right size will do the trick.
We always like our bathroom lights left-of-center.
This boat dock also serves as a garden space.
Confidence inspiring electrical work.
This platform looks safe to me. What could possibly go wrong?
Like I mentioned, in the end we had a great time and all had a good laugh at some of these oddities. Its just interesting to me to see how some homes tell a story of thriftiness and improvisation. This home made some memories for us!
