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Cottage Crashing: Rustic Rassawek

Ack, sorry for the late post – technical difficulties.

We’re excited to share the cottage that we mentioned on Friday, especially since a bunch of you seemed anxious for us to spill all the beans (and a lot more photos). So here’s the deal: it’s about 45 minutes west of Richmond in Columbia, Virginia, it’s called Rassawek, and it’s a bonafide log cabin from 1910. It was actually moved to this location by the family who owns Rassawek (which is also a vineyard) and there were all sorts of other fun out-buildings nearby (many of which were moved as well) along with the coolest treehouse we’ve ever seen. So let’s get this tour started…

Rassawek Exterior Full

John’s sister was actually the one who found it and suggested it as a way for the entire family (nearly two dozen of us, with 8 kids running around) to come together for a nice Christmas meal together at one big table, followed by a s’more roast and a big ol’ sleepover. We all jumped at the chance to shirk hosting duties in favor of gathering at a cabin in the woods for a pot-luck Christmas adventure, and although we had no idea it would be “crash worthy” as soon as we got there we were like… uh, yeah – this is the coolest place ever.

Rassawek Sign

We already shared a sneak peek of one of my favorite shots in Friday’s post. See how those amazingly graphic walls look like they’re black and white painted stripes?

Rassawek Inteior Diagonal Door

They’re actually dark stained logs with white plaster around them! I love how irregular and textural they are. And everything from the exposed rafters to the antique radiators and even the dark hardware on that cool white diagonally-slatted door stole my heart. Suddenly I want interior door knockers and doors that lock with skeleton keys.

That was one of the only rooms with an extra-dark stained log wall like that, so the main living area had them in a more mid-toned color, just like all of the beams overhead.

Rassawek Interior Main Side

The background of the shot above was actually the kitchen, which was really open and integrated into the dining and living area. If we move a little closer you can see the sweet old stove on the right side of that back wall.

Rassawk Inteior Stove

There were lots of cool pulleys with old rope and chunky iron hardware everywhere, which really added to the rustic cabin feeling. Like this old metal utensil holder dangling over the stove…

Rassawek Detail Pulley Rack

On the other side of the kitchen was this amazingly chunky butcher block along with what looked like a metal chest with brass hardware… but upon closer inspection we realized that was the refrigerator/freezer! Each of those doors was a different compartment, and some were colder (freezer-cold) thanks to big bags of ice inside.

Rasswek Interior Fridge

If you spin around with your back to that wall, you’ll find yourself facing the fireplace, which is on the living room side of the space.

Rassawek Interior Fire Side

We pretty much had a giant fire burning the entire time we were there, and we all fought to sit in those chairs and on that sofa since they were the coziest spots in the house. You’ll notice from the shot above that there was no TV over the fireplace, but this drop-down projector screen could be lowered for movie viewing (and the projector itself was hidden in one of the overhead beams).

Rassawek Fireplace Olivia

Oh and see those wooden doors on either side of the fireplace in the shot above? Those led directly to outside cubbies full of firewood. Flinging them open was chilly, but it was so convenient to access the firewood without putting on shoes.

Rassawek Christmas Tree

Here’s the projector in action (Elf, anyone?), with John toasting up some marshmallows for the kids.

Rassawek Smores

Behind that big great room were the bedrooms, but it was impossible to shoot them for you guys since we had a million family members (and bags) back there. There were two big rooms full of beds (bunks, etc) and one small bedroom that was more private as well (with a full sized bed). Some of our family members left after dinner, but 16 of us slept over – although we’re a family full of kids in sleeping bags and pack & plays, so there were probably beds for around a dozen people assuming that two slept in the doubles/fulls and one slept in the twin beds/top bunks.

That big living room in the front of the cabin was a really great space for everyone to gather, but that table in the middle of the room wasn’t where we had Christmas dinner. That was outside in this greenhouse. It was AMAZING. Apparently some people get married here, and as soon as we pulled up, I could totally see why. This giant glass room was sunny and bright with the coolest features (heated floors, a big stone fireplace, one giant table for everyone, etc).

Rassawek Exterior Green House

So this is where our giant group chowed down. We never thought we’d all end up at the same table (none of our houses would have accommodated that) so it was really fun to see everyone without being spread out into different rooms.

Rassawek Exterior Green House Inside

There were some other really cool features outside like this bench, which was an old tree they just sliced through the middle and turned into a bench).

Rassawek Split Log Bench

And here’s an outside shot of those two doors on either side of the fireplace that open to provide firewood access. It was pretty cold but nice and sunny, so we logged a bunch of outside time with the kids.

Rassawek Exterior Fireplace

 We also trekked down to this cool old barn, where some wedding receptions take place.

Rassawek Barn

It was currently housing an old red truck that the kids all took turns posing with. There were also wall shelves full of fun vintage items like old decander bottles, buckets, and Coca cola crates.

Rassawek Barn Truck

And last but not least, was the tree house. It was all made from old trees and lumber from the property, and there was access through that little door in the trunk as well as the long wooden ramp that you see in the back left of this photo. So the bigger kids could “take the trunk up” while the little ones and grown ups could take the ramp.

Rassawek Tree House Far

Clara was in love.

Rassawek Tree House Detail

And let’s just duck back inside since we forgot to share this tiny bed that Burger got to get cozy on (hooray for dog-friendly cabins).

Rassawek Burger Bed

There was also this sweet black and white bathroom, complete with vintage tile and an old clawfoot tub.

Rassawek Interior Bathroom

So there’s our little tour of Rassawek. I hope you guys are all inspired to build a log cabin now. You think I’m joking, but it’s now on my bucket list. Maybe when we retire we’ll build one for all of our future grandkids to gather for the holidays. A gal can dream…

Comments

  1. Anele @ Success Along the Weighn says

    Pardon me whilst I drag my jaw from the floor.

    Too much awesome to comment on but the highlights for me other than the amazing everything…ladder in the treehouse trunk, that bathroom (dreamy!!) and Burger bed! So lucky! I hope you enjoyed it for all of us! :)

    Reply

  4. Wendy @ New Moms Talk says

    Thanks for sharing this!

    We have begun to slowly redo our close-to-the-ocean home and Rassawek has many elements that are similar to our place. I’m not sure our greenhouse will ever have heated floors, but we definitely have plans for redoing it and adding a seating area to it.

    The tree bench is awesome! On New Years Eve we were driving along the beach and found amazing pieces of driftwood that we plan on using for a table and “chairs” – more like stools. (It was like Craigs Listing for free… Beach Thrifting?)

    I have hopes of scavengering more driftwood for a few projects as we transform our home- maybe driftwood picture frames or a random sculpture.. possibly a bookshelf in the sunroom, too. It’s about embracing the elements and reality of where we live: under a mile from the ocean, with tall pines, on the Washington coast. Might as well bring nature in a bit!

    Reply

  5. Nicki says

    That place is gorgeous! Our family is looking for a cabin to go to in July, and this looks perfect! We have three families who will be going. One thing, the link you provide is for a wine festival, I don’t see any information about actually booking the cabin to stay in. Can you give any further information about how to actually book this cabin?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Behind that big great room were the bedrooms. It was impossible to shoot them since we had a million family members (and bags) back there, but there were two big rooms full of beds (bunks, etc) and one small bedroom that was more private as well (with one full sized bed). We had 22 family members there for the meal, and 16 slept over, but we’re a family full of kids in sleeping bags and pack & plays, so there were probably beds for around a dozen people (assuming two slept in the doubles and one slept in the twin beds and top bunks, which were also twins.

      xo
      s

  12. Alissa says

    Lovely! I’m trying to figure out where the bedrooms were. Those interior photos show windows on all sides, and the exterior photo makes it look like it was just that one big room. Am I missing an angle? Where did everybody sleep?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Behind that big greatroom were the bedrooms. It was impossible to shoot them since we had a million family members (and bags) back there, but there were two big rooms full of beds (bunks, etc) and one small bedroom that was more private as well.

      xo
      s

  15. Megan Steele says

    My grandfather and his brothers work here maintaining the land and doing little jobs as a hobby. He actually helped build the treehouse! We’ve celebrated a lot of birthdays here and grew up riding four wheelers around the property. It’s such a cool place, glad you enjoyed it! (:

    Reply

  16. Melissa@TheChicDream says

    Wow! What a great place for everyone to gather. The kids will always remember getting together at the amazing log cabin. I live in Virginia as well and I may have to check them out. I love the black and white wall too, very log cabin chic.

    Reply

  17. Erin says

    Amazing! I’m a city girl at heart but I could def cozy up in a cabin like this. When you rented the house, did you have sole access to the greenhouse where you had dinner or was that more of a communial space for anyone who was on property?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We were the only family renting over Christmas, so we had full run of the place! There was another cabin on the property that was vacant though, so we might have had to stagger our eating times if we were splitting the greenhouse with them I think!

      xo
      s

  18. Isabel says

    Wow, what an amazing place! And what a great idea for a family gathering! I will definitely make not of that for the next big family gathering. Hopefully, this will become a new family tradition for you all. I loved those cubbyholes for the fireplace logs, brilliant! We can’t seem to ever have enough handy. And as for your log cabin, I say dream on, you guys would do an amazing job. It could be YHL’s version of “Blog Cabin” ;-)

    Reply

  19. Heidi says

    Shut the front door! I can’t pick up my jaw from looking at these photos and it’s impossible to pick a favorite feature because the next photo rolls along and then BAM! New favorite feature.

    My aunt and uncle have a large farmhouse and they have a table big enough to seat 25 people. It truly is wonderful when everyone can gather together at one table for Christmas dinner. My sister hosted 32 people this year and we were split up among three tables, but all in the same room. That was still nice, but I wish we could have fit in an area like that greenhouse. Absolutely STUNNING!

    Reply

  20. Lesley says

    Thrilled to see this! As I mentioned on your post hinting that this crash was coming, we recently decided to move to the country and bought a log home (Panabode; cedar timbers without the chinks… those lines where wool/hay would be stuffed between the logs and mudded/mortared in).

    Having a love of all things natural, apparently related to being a Virgo, I have a tonne of wood furniture already to bring that element into our city home. Now that I will need to move it to a home made of wood, I worried I would need to pain it all so we weren’t left sitting among a sea of lumber. It appears that this home layers various wood tones beautifully – that gives me hope!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oh yeah, just sitting in there with all the wood beams and flooring and walls and tables, it was amazing how it all layered in and seemed to “go” no matter if there were variations or not!

      xo
      s

    • heather m says

      I live in Goochland too! : ) I’ve been by Rassawek several times but just thought it was a winery…didn’t know it had cabins and such. Too cool!

  24. Danielle says

    Wow.
    And it’s attached to a winery too?
    I don’t know what was cooler, the cabin or the treehouse.
    Thank you so much for crashing this cabin. I’m going to have to get down there and check it out!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      I think it’s technically attached to a vineyard (where they grow the grapes) but not an actual winery if that makes sense! It was so scenic to see all those lines of vines though!

      xo
      s

  25. Rachel Laree says

    I love how simple the living was back then, and yet it looks like you could easily be entertained for hours there. LOVE

    Reply

  26. StephanieS says

    That big refrigerator/freezer, called an icebox for obvious reasons, is like the one that we grew up with! It was actually a “commercial size” icebox that the original owners put in. We even had an outside little door that connected to the back of the icebox where ice used to be delivered. While I was growing up in the late 60s/70s, it ran on a freon system powered by a belt that ran from the downstairs basement. Such a fun memory to see that in your cabin!

    Reply

  27. Annette says

    What an awesome place! I love the look on Burger’s face: “Just so you are aware, I am never leaving this place.” (Burger sounds like Antonio Banderas in my head. Thanks, Taco Bell.)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Dang, didn’t even think of that! Although the family who owns it said some years they stay there themselves, so it might not always be available… which made us soak up every second this year in case we couldn’t get it next year!

      xo
      s

  29. Bethany Ann says

    I can’t even explain how badly I want to climb up that ladder inside the tree. Is it child-sized only or could an average sized 27 year old fit? It might be embarrassing if the fire department needed to be called to pull me out…

    Reply

  30. Leigh says

    *clunk*
    i just fell over… that is such an awesome place!!! gracious me. thx for the pics & review!
    i live in NC & would LOVE to rent this – i went to their site and scoured google but cannot find the info for that… i checked the link you provided in a comment above, but it was “unavailable”… phooey.
    {by the way, love your blog & congrats on the budding fam!}

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      So sorry Leigh! I think their site (or parts of their site) might be down, but I hope that link that I shared in that other comment starts working again soon! John’s sister Emily booked it all through a girl named Jenny and she was super sweet.

      xo
      s

  31. Tania @ Run To Radiance says

    I love this place! Such a fun idea to pick a cabin for Christmas! We did this one year-but we all traveled from various places (us from Texas, others from Georgia) to Asheville. It was so fun!!! I am obsessed with that graphic-y dark wood stained/white plaster wall…it would look stupid in our ranch house but I still love it. :)

    Reply

  32. Sarah K says

    OH! I am in love with that cabin. What a fun family adventure! (8 kids + sleepover = adventure) We were thinking about doing something similar for next Christmas with the fam.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Of course! We were so shocked when we pulled up. We had no idea it was going to be so cool, and the whole time I was saying to John “thank goodness we brought the good camera!”

      xo
      s

  34. Alicia says

    Oh wow, this place looks amazing! I live up in Fredericksburg, so this place wouldn’t be too far from me either. I think we may need to check it out sometime! I always love when you post things going on locally, gives me ideas of places to check out!

    Reply

  35. harma says

    OOPS- we crashed the site : )

    Service Temporarily Unavailable

    The server is temporarily unable to service your request due to maintenance downtime or capacity problems. Please try again later.

    Apache Server at rassawek.com Port 80

    Reply

  36. Heather says

    I’m swooning for that greenhouse, for actual greenhouse usage purposes. Absolutely positively stunning.

    Also, the very first word of the post “ACK!” made me laugh, and immediately think of Andy Samberg playing the cartoon Cathy on SNL. Just look it up for a laugh.

    Reply

  37. Nicole says

    It looks like an amazing place, but I had to laugh. That stove looks pretty close to ours! Did you use it? Was it half gas and half wood-burning?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      So funny, now that you mention it, it totally reminds me of yours! I don’t think we fired it up once (we used the built-in wall oven in the pantry/hallway leading to that cute bathroom) – although maybe we made tea on the stove? I think that part was gas…

      xo
      s

  38. sarina says

    Oh.. that makes me want to get back to work on our cabin. I WANT a woodstove or fireplace.. We didn’t put it in first.. saving money.. and figure we could always do it later.

    We also want to do a log cabin in the future too though. This site has amazing prices on the shell kits.http://wpmloghomes.com/index.html. I’ve thought about it for a long time and in fact, we almost did it on our 65 acres instead of the stick built but they do have their own issues .. like extra maintenance and insurability issues that a more conventional home doesn’t.

    I love that greenhouse too.. whish I had it to grow plants in.. I can see myself now.. palm trees year round!

    Reply

  40. Gabby (Cookie Cutter Unique) says

    This place filled me with nostalgia; I grew up in Alaska and my aunt had a log cabin that looked a lot like this one. We spent almost every weekend and holiday there and even lived there for a few months before we moved down to the states (AKA lower 48 to us Alaskans). I love log cabins, this place is gorgeous!

    Reply

  42. Jenny M says

    Wow, what an amazing place! Thank you so much for sharing it, not hoarding…I’d love to find a way to stay there at some point!

    Reply

  45. Laura says

    Love the cabin crash. The treehouse was really neat with the inside tree trunk ladder. Question… you haven’t done any thrift store posts or random store visit posts in a while, do you still do them?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We love store crashing, and we drove by some awesome antiques stores, but since it was the day of Christmas (and the day after) they were all closed! We definitely still do those, and love to share any cool finds as we come across them!

      xo
      s

  46. Laurie says

    What a fantastic place! I may not be happy until I have a treehouse that is secretly accessed up through the tree. That puts me one step closer to my dream of living in Rivendell. (I’m a nerd).

    Reply

  47. Emily says

    What a great looking place! It has a lot of character! I love rentals like that and they always make me want my own. But then you’d have to go to the same place all the time, so I’ll keep renting for now! That treehouse is marvelous! I WANT that.

    Reply

  49. Jess says

    We have an 8 year old log cabin that we purchased last year. I have had trouble decorating it since I had always envisioned living in a home with drywall to paint! Maybe one day you can dream and post how you’d decorate your future cabin! :)

    Reply

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