Firsthand Reports: Log Cabin Retirement

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James and Doris Baggett and their pet dog enjoy the front porch of their restored, 140-year-old log cabin.
James and Doris Baggett and their pet dog enjoy the front porch of their restored, 140-year-old log cabin.
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Every year, Doris and James plant a arge vegetable garden and preserve much of their harvest for the winter. With a garden and orchard, a pond for fishing and woods for hunting, the couple rarely needs to purchase food.
Every year, Doris and James plant a arge vegetable garden and preserve much of their harvest for the winter. With a garden and orchard, a pond for fishing and woods for hunting, the couple rarely needs to purchase food.
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Every fall, James and Doris use this restored press to make sweet cider from the trees in their apple orchard.
Every fall, James and Doris use this restored press to make sweet cider from the trees in their apple orchard.
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James' whittling hobby has expanded to full-scale woodworking.
James' whittling hobby has expanded to full-scale woodworking.
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This handmade tiller helps James keep up with his gardening.
This handmade tiller helps James keep up with his gardening.
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The Baggetts' Tennessee homestead.
The Baggetts' Tennessee homestead.
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A few carvings of James'.
A few carvings of James'.

For many years, my wife, Doris, and I lived in a five-bedroom house in eastern Tennessee. I built the house, and that’s where we raised our five children, who have now all moved on and earned college degrees. When the last of our children left home, we decided to build the secluded cabin of our dreams. After all, why continue to struggle with the high cost of the mortgage, upkeep and utilities? We were ready for a smaller house and a slower lifestyle. To us, the hills and rocks of the upper Cumberlands — between Nashville and Knoxville — are the most beautiful part of Tennessee. When we began our search for the perfect property, we knew we did not want to go far, so we started looking right in this area.

After a long search, we saw an ad in a local paper for a log cabin with 50 acres about 15 miles away, near Monterey, Tenn. I had been a carpenter/contractor for years, and I was planning to build our new house, but when we found this old cabin beside a small pond at the end of a pleasant, shady lane, we just fell in love with it. Within a week, we had closed the deal. We purchased the property for about $25,000 in 1985 and have been here ever since.

Rebuilding the Cabin

  • Published on Oct 1, 2004
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