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See How This Historic Tennessee Log Cabin Was Transformed Into a Modern Family Retreat
Three Words: Breezy. Bunk. Room.
When Jamie Pfeffer leaves Nashville and heads southwest to his family’s weekend home in Summertown, Tennessee, the busy architect, husband, and father of four is still in full work mode for the first 30 minutes of the hour-and-15-minute drive. But as the roads start winding and Music City moves to the rearview mirror, he stops thinking of building codes and begins to really relax. “It’s enough distance that you start to get out of the city mentally,” he says.
But it’s not until Jamie turns his vehicle onto the long gravel drive leading to his farm’s cluster of buildings that he finally fully shakes off the city. “There’s just something about the crunch of the gravel,” he says. “Then you start to see the cattle on the horizon and the sweeping fields and pastures.”
When Jamie and his wife, Laura, a veterinarian, bought their property almost a decade ago, the land wasn’t quite the pastoral utopia it is today. There was no lake, no tree house, no zipline. But there was a dilapidated circa-1860 cabin built with rare American chestnut logs. Long abandoned, it was uninhabitable, but Jamie, a principal of architecture firm Pfeffer Torode, had a plan to make it not only livable, but also undeniably lovable.
Through it all, he preserved the home's original logs. He also kept the cabin on the small side at 1,600 square feet, opting instead for more room to room—250 acres, to be specific. “The idea was to let the kids explore and experience the land and all the discoveries that come with that,” says Jamie.
Keep reading to take a tour of the house and property.
A Porch for Lingering
The front porch faces west, looking out toward the lake, making it a great place to watch the sunset. “As it goes to dusk, it’s a really striking spot,” Jamie says. The custom swing matches the swings on the screened porch.
A Hardworking Hallway
The cabin’s hallway functions as both an entry hall and mudroom. The antique hooks and vintage 46-star American flag in the nearby kitchen were flea-market finds.
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A Barefoot-Friendly Kitchen
Because the cabin plays host to so many extended family members on any given weekend, the Pfeffers wanted to make sure their guests always felt at home. In the kitchen, stained oak floors stay true to the cabin vernacular and welcome wet feet and muddy paws. Thin steel floating shelves keep help-yourself dishes fully displayed without blocking window views. The black honed granite countertops and custom painted poplar cabinets are in keeping with the warm tones of the original logs.
Jamie modified the sconces found on Etsy with a light-lowering pulley system so they could be hung high enough to avoid carving electrical outlets into the original logs.
A Lodge-Like Living Room
“We were trying to pack in the seating, but we were also trying to go for a cozy cabin kind of feel,” Jamie says of the fit-for-a-crowd living room, which features a wool sofa, leather chairs, and reclaimed wood-and-steel coffee table. Adding to the coziness is the original wood-burning fireplace with a Tennessee fieldstone surround. The Pfeffers feathered in some additional stone pieces for the new section on top and made a mantel from a salvaged chestnut log that was cut for a new window opening.
A Multipurpose Porch
A screened-in porch added onto the back of the cabin created the ultimate space for hanging out on long summer days. The big antique table provides plenty of room for meals and board games, and the custom oak-and-rope swings are ideal for sleeping and reading. Because the cabin sits on a bluff overlooking the Buffalo River, the room also gets a nice breeze. “Summertime is always five degrees cooler here than in Nashville,” Jamie says, “but hanging out on the bluff, on the river, you really get that cooling effect.”
A Breezy Bunk Room
The cabin’s gut renovation included adding a second-story bunk room. Thanks to the new upstairs space lined with five built-in beds, the small cabin now comfortably sleeps nine. The industrial sconces make reference to the cabin’s farmland locale and play off the red stripes of the wool throws and vintage grain sack pillows. Artwork collected over the years outfits the walls alongside artifacts such as a cowbell and a group of nautical flags, another salute to Jamie’s father, who served in the Coast Guard.
A Collected Bedroom
A cowbell found on the property and a collection of prints and paintings of old barns and houses adorn the wall in one of the cabin bedrooms. The wall’s semi-transparent white stain shows off a bit of the wood grain of the tongue-and-groove pine.
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A Year-Round Party Pavilion
The new shingled structure on the dock is home base for days filled with swimming, diving, fishing, kayaking, and paddleboarding. A dual-sided fireplace offers warmth on the interior and a place for cooking on an open-flame parrilla (grill) on the exterior, a tradition the family embraced from their time living in Uruguay. An old whiskey barrel serves as Jamie’s grilling table, where he stores cooking tools and serving platters.
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A Room With Views
The lake pavilion is wrapped in screened windows that stretch from floor to ceiling. “The kids live in the water in the summertime,” says Jamie. “We wanted a place where we could be in the middle of everything and watch them.” The exposed cedar shakes on the ceiling bring a little bit of the outdoors in. The iron swing is custom.
A Tree House Dreams Are Made Of
The kids’ tree house—designed by Dad and clad in waney-edge poplar siding—doubles as a play space and a mini-museum filled with arrowhead collections, discarded turtle shells, and other found treasures Mom won’t allow in the main house.
An Outdoor Shower
The outdoor shower in the trees is just tall enough to maintain privacy while still allowing a view of the river.
Riverside Fun
When they’re on the farm, the Pfeffer kids spend most of their days outside exploring, discovering, and splashing around in the cool river.
It's All in a Name
As a nod to Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, a region beloved by his father, Jamie named the property Shenandoah Farms. The Pfeffers painted the existing hay barn red and added the Shenandoah Farms logo, which they designed.
A Gather 'Round Porch
The casement window on the front porch opens to the kitchen, which means Jamie and Laura can open the window, ring the dinner bell they found on the property, and let the kids know it’s time to eat. If the children are messy from playing outside, or they just want to grab a Popsicle, they can picnic at the shelf tucked just below the window. “It’s our little drive-through window,” Jamie says.
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Meet the Pfeffers
Tennessee homeowners Jamie and Laura Pfeffer with their children
Tour More Summer Getaways!
Want to explore more idyllic family escapes on the water? Check out...
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Rhonda Reinhart is a Dallas-based writer and editor with 20 years of experience covering home design across the country. Previously, she was the editor-in-chief of Modern Luxury Interiors Texas and the managing editor of D Home. Her work has appeared in Country Living, Mountain Living, D Magazine, Cowboys & Indians, and other publications.
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