On The Market: A lone log cabin in Sewell with 40 years of memories
In 1974, the owners purchased a four-acre wooded lot in Sewell and spent $14,000 on a log cabin kit that included just the logs and windows.
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Stan Staszak is known for his projects.
"When he would come home and say, 'I'm gonna' do this,' I would just cringe," wife Karin Staszak said. "Because I knew it was gonna' happen."
Like the time they sold their houseboat and had immediate seller's remorse.
"Two days after we sold it, we were like, 'What'd we do that for?'" Staszak said. "So he built a houseboat."
But before there was the hand-made houseboat, or the outdoor recreation area known affectionately as "Stan Land," there was the log cabin.
After their 1974 marriage, Staszak said they decided they wanted to build a home.
They purchased a four-acre wooded lot in Sewell and spent $14,000 on a log cabin kit that included just the logs and windows.
"It comes just like Lincoln Logs," she said. "They deliver it on tractor trailers and they throw all these logs down, and they're all numbered."
Her father bought the newlyweds a pool table and friends helped them build the home around it.
"They all did it by hand," she said.
Staszak said they had originally planned for a one-bedroom home, which became a four-bedroom home as three baby girls came along.
"When we built the house, we just had a loft upstairs," she said. "Because you're young and stupid and you're not thinking about resale value."
The bedroom additions were also joined by a second full bathroom, but most of the work on the home over nearly 40 years has focused on something the family calls "Stan Land," which includes a lake that is lined for swimming and a golf course with seven approaches. The grounds also include a semi-finished cottage and a custom-built outdoor bar.
"Everything we did in here was like part of us," Staszak said.
The breadth of the property made it a perfect spot for entertaining, Staszak said.
Over the years they've been known for hosting barbeques for 200 guests at a time. One winter came without snow, and Stan Staszak used a compressor to make a blizzard for the neighborhood kids.
"It's always been an adventure," she said.
Over the intervening 40 years, the woods they once knew have given way to new townhomes. A retention pond at the edge of the development has kept the Staszak property private and maintained their view.
Staszak said they have enjoyed great relationships with their neighbors, even as the virtual menagerie at their home through the years – a goat and a pig to name a few – has occasionally gotten loose.
"We're sitting here like Grizzly Adams in the little log cabin back in the woods," Staszak laughed.
She said the property is a lot to maintain at their age.
"We don't really want to leave, but we're both in our sixties, and it's time to move on and open another chapter in our lives," she said.
The couple is considering taking some time to travel while they plan for what's next.
"I guess we'll just buy a trailer and drive all over the country till we know what we're doing," she said.
The home is currently listed by Tim Kerr with Keller Williams for $499,000.
They haven't quite worked out a plan for what to do when the property sells, but Staszak said she's not worried.
"I'm so used to it here, I don't even think about not being here even though it's for sale," she said. "Like I said, we do have the house boat."