Introduction - How I became the owner of a vaction rental

The view of Lake Pend Oreille from my grandparents' cabin in northern Idaho

Learning to drive a boat with my grandfather on Lake Pend Oreielle

I always wanted to have a cabin on a lake because I have wonderful childhood memories of time spent at my grandparents's cabin on Lake Pend Oreille in northern Idaho. The view from the cabin, which sat at the top of a 50 foot cliff looking west over a deep blue lake toward 10,000 foot peaks, was incredible. Even as a child I could sit on the steps at the top of the cliff and watch the lake for hours. At that cabin I developed my love of being on water and the rejuvenating power of nature. It was where I learned to fish, drive a boat and water ski. The water was frigid so I learned to water ski by jumping off the dock while the tow boat was pulling away and ski onto the rocky beach to minimize the amount of contact with the frigid water. If all went well, only my ankles got wet. The

Fishing with my uncle and grandfather

temperature of the water provided a strong incentive to learn quickly. However, I was a slow learner and swam back to the dock to try again over and over until my lips turned blue.

My memories of the cabin and even the smells associated with the cabin (the scent of the tall pines around the cabin, the musty interior of the cabin, and the dry lumber smell of the boat house) never fail to trigger strong feelings of well being. I could never really understand why my parents and grandparents didn't seem to have quite the same affection for the cabin as I did although today I vaguely recall that my grandfather always seemed to spend a lot of time trying to get the boat motor working and that my father spent a lot of time repairing things instead of enjoying the crisp mountain air or pristine lake water.

My parents, my brother and I at the cabin on Lake Pend Orielle

I always hoped that someday I might be able to own my grandparents' cabin, or at least something similar. My grandparents eventually sold the cabin, but I was able to purchase my own little cabin on Lake Norman in 1996. It wasn't much. We referred to it as "the lake shack" because of its tacky decor (three varieties of 60s-era fake paneling in one room), peeling linoleum and leaking roof. The lake shack had started as a one-room cabin and was added to (somewhat haphazardly) over the years.

Although our lake shack did not have a view of mountain peaks, it did have a pleasant view across a large cove and although the water was not as crystal clear as Lake Pend Oreille, the water of Lake Norman was warmer and a lot more pleasant for learning how to water ski. I hoped that the lake shack might become as beloved a spot for my children and grandchildren as my grandparents' cabin was for me.

Inspecting water damage at the shack on Lake Norman

For a few golden years, the lake shack was our family's favorite place to be on a summer weekend. My children caught their first fish, learned to drive a boat, and learned the joy of floating around on the water like Tom Sawyer on Lake Norman. Of course, like my grandfather, I would have to sneak up to the lake and spend many hours working to get the boat motors working, charge the batteries, cut the

My son learns to fish on Lake Norman

My son learns the joy of building your own raft

grass, evict the spiders, minimize the musty odor, repair rotted wood and generally clean things up as much as possible before anybody visited. I began to understand why my grandfather and father groaned when I told them that I wanted to go to the cabin. 

Unfortunately, despite my efforts and the efforts of multiple roofers and plumbers, our lake shack became more decrepit every year. The water stains in the ceiling grew bigger until my wife and children refused to go there until I made major improvements. The band-aid approach to home repair was not working. Something more drastic, such as a bulldozer, was needed if I was going to be able to have my grandchildren spend time at the lake.

After giving serious consideration to bulldozing the lake shack, we decided that its small size and haphazard layout had a certain charm so we hired a contractor to take the house down to the studs, install new drywall, roof, flooring and appliances, including a modern heating and air conditioning system. The result was exactly what we wanted. It still felt like a small lake cabin, but it was clean and had the modern conveniences. It was no longer referred to as the "lake shack" but had become the "lake house."

My grandson learns to kayak

Once again the family looked forward to visiting the lake, including a new generation of grandchildren. Even our friends wanted to spend time at the lake house. In fact, people were willing to pay good money to rent it from us.  At the suggestion of our friends, we created a listing on the internet. We thought that we might be able to make enough money to cover the taxes and some of the expenses, but the popularity of the house surprised us. And so, we became vacation property landlords.  Due to its popularity (which limited our personal use of the lake house) and the quickly growing size of the family, we bought a second nearby house in 2017, so that nobody would have to sleep on the floor during family gatherings which now included 18 people.  Once again, we listed the new lake house as a vacation rental to help pay the bills.  In theory, two vacation rentals in close proximity would not create twice as much work, but things don't always turn out as theory predicts.