Little Did We Know

The keys were finally ours after weeks of imagining what it would feel like to walk in and begin to make it our own.  It was our very first visit over the first weekend in October.  We would have to camp at the nearby State Park as we spent the weekend gutting the place.  I arranged for a porta-potty to be delivered to our worksite.  I also took the opportunity to arrange for meetings with a well drilling company, septic company and our local propane company over that same weekend.  I should mention that the cabin hadn’t had electrical service since 2009 so in order to get the service reinstated, we were required to have an electrical inspection performed.  We would also have to get an official address as the address that was currently on file was given to the owners by the power company, therefore it was never made official in the eyes of the county and the township.  Despite jumping through all of the hoops with plenty of time to spare, we arrived to no power.  The phone call to the power company would require me to stand and not move in the one spot where my cell phone could connect.  After 30 minutes we were told that someone was dispatched to connect us to the grid.

Armed with dust masks, gloves and crow bars we entered the cabin and began to haul out the carpet and the mismatched pieces of paneling, OSB, Styrofoam and fiberglass insulation.  The cabin definitely smelled like a musty old cabin.  It needed love and we were there to give it just that!

Between the rain and the 40 degree temperatures, our spirits remained high and optimistic with the vision of a tiny little paradise where the forest meets the beach.  As we were working away, our first inquisitive neighbor approached.  His name was Dan and he was extremely welcoming and excited to know that someone was finally doing something with this forgotten cabin.  After chatting about the local fauna and learning that black bear and bobcat had been sighted on our property, Dan offered his support of our project and advised us not to let people try to tell us that we can’t do what we hope to do with this cabin.  Little did we know that Dan’s advice was foreshadowing an obstacle in our path.

As the weekend went on, we met a few other people including those that would provide services for us.  We were overwhelmed with the welcome and the niceness of everyone until Sunday when the vibe was altered by our last visitor, the chairman of the Architectural Committee.  Everyone else greeted us with a friendly wave and a hello.  This guy rolled up on his bicycle yelling “Whoa, whoa, whoa, what is going on here?”  I immediately approached him extending my hand.  He was only interested to know what our intentions were with the property.  I explained that we weren’t quite sure but for now it would remain the same, but fixed up and brought to code.  He advised us that we were required to bring our proposed changes to the Architectural Committee.  Tim approached from inside of the cabin as I was explaining to our visitor that we were unlikely to do so as we had no intention right now of changing the footprint of the cabin.  He told us that what we were doing was against the by-laws of the association, and that I had better check with the township about the minimum size requirements.  He insisted again that it was 1200 square feet and that we should familiarize ourselves with the by-laws.

To be honest, Tim and I both struggled to shake the conversation.  Even when we should have felt some sort of accomplishment with all of the work we had done, the dark cloud of negativity continued to hover overhead all of the way home and over the next few days.