Trout River Log Cabin

This hand-hewn log cabin is on its third life. After serving as a school and a residence, it fell into disrepair. The present owner has restored the small cabin, preserving a piece of Midwest history, and now uses it as a vacation rental.

According to the owner, the log cabin was built in the 1850s as a schoolhouse by Norwegian-Lutheran settlers. A few decades later, the school was turned into a home by a Norwegian immigrant. First though, he had to disassemble the structure, haul the pieces across a field, and rebuild it. It remained in use as a residence until the late 1970s, after which it sat empty for three decades.

Like the immigrant settler a hundred years before, the new owner had to take the cabin apart and move it to his farm just outside Decorah, Iowa. He salvaged as much as possible, right down to the foundation stones. Then began a three-year process of putting it all back together on its new site, a bluff with views of the Trout River valley.

Entering the small cabin from the front porch, the living/dining area is to the left. To the right, the stairs are in the front corner and the kitchen is in the back corner. In between is a two-piece bathroom. The cabin does have a shower too, but that is upstairs in the bedroom.

If you’d like to vacation in a historic cabin and maybe get in some trout fishing, please see the Trout River Log Cabin website. Enjoy the photos!

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Photographs courtesy of Trout River Log Cabin.

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