Discovering the Charm of a Round Cabin While Connecting with Nature [SOWLE Journeys of Faith]

Have you ever seen a round cabin? We certainly never had! Of course, we had heard of Yurts and seen them before but never a round cabin! Well, one day we went for a drive around the 3 lakes community where we purchased RV Camping land and saw 2 different round cabins.

One was very dilapidated, appeared to have been neglected for years, and actually was a hexagon shape. The other round cabin we saw, however, was cute and looked very interesting to us. We both commented on how neat they looked and wondered what they were like on the inside. This is how we began discovering the charm of a unique round cabin while connecting with nature, our first of many journeys of Faith.

We did a bit of research just for fun and found that they were not as uncommon as we thought. Round cabins offer a unique approach to traditional architecture for sure, but they are quite functional with a circular design and really seem to bring nature indoors with their many windows some have. It was fun to learn about them but that was that. We had other plans to make!

 

 

Our Story of a Plan for Moving and Building a Home

Once we purchased land for RV Camping, we loved the freedom it provided for us so much that we had this crazy idea that we should sell our home in the city, build a home across the street from our Private RV Camping Community that we visit so often in the spring, summer, and fall seasons and use the home as our winter home.

Now we are not the kind of people who just do things like that. We normally spend years deciding what is best for our family. We prayed on it continuously and this is what we felt led to do. This is one of the many SOWLE Journeys of Faith!

We started packing up our home in the city we had lived in for almost 20 years and got rid of a ton of stuff. That was the winter of 2022 and then spring of 2023 we put our house on the market. We again prayed so much for it to sell without too many issues! It sold in less than a month!

As great as that was, we only had blueprints for our home to be built and our builder that we had worked with all winter (who had already begun building the garage we needed to store all our belongings until the house was built) decided it was too much for him and he just disappeared!

I won’t go into all the details of what we went through trying to find a new builder; how the house design got SO MUCH SMALLER, and the price got SO MUCH LARGER, but winter was coming very soon. We prayed for guidance on what we needed to do. We felt so lost. We began questioning ourselves and our choices (because THAT always helps-NOT!)

Can you feel another SOWLE Journey of Faith coming???

We knew we had to do something quick. We knew this was our dream, it had been for years, and we so strongly felt this is what He had led us to do, that this was what was best for our family, but it was looking so grim we just had no idea what to do next.

We have a child (Aiden) who has special medical needs and the idea of spending an entire Kansas Winter in an RV was not going to work for us. We had to ensure his safety to best of our ability! We looked at a few homes for sale in the area, but we really wanted to downsize some, and they just didn’t fit our “needs” or “wants”.

 

 

Our Experience with a Round Cabin

I JOKINGLY told Mark that the round cabin that we had seen was for sale at a good price. I could tell when I told him that, that it ever so slightly sparked an interest in him. When that happens, I usually slow down for a split second and try to see what his interest is and it kind of got me a little interested as well.

But seriously looking at the listing had me thinking otherwise quickly. It was only 707 sq. ft. We were coming from a 2,490 sq ft home not including the basement space which was huge! I know we wanted to downsize, but certainly not THAT MUCH!

 

Panic Started to Creep In

Still, we had no home. It was already October. This is the time we would normally be thinking about packing up our RV Camping trip for the year and preparing to head home. We had no home!

I started to panic.

I started questioning God what on earth He was trying to tell us? Where was he leading us? Had we mistaken what we thought He had led us to do just because of us having the dream of having lake property?

The potential for freezing cold temps, snow, and ice in this upcoming Kansas Winter and us having Aiden in an RV, who also uses a wheelchair for mobility, and snow/ice on wooden ramps did not sound like a safe plan AT ALL!

 

The Breaking Point

That was it for me! We knew our dream of building our brand-new home across the street from our RV Camping Community was out of the question at this point. We were completely deflated. But we had fought so much with trying to get a home built and had gotten nowhere in 4 months. It was time to change plans for the safety of our son.  I told Mark to make an offer of whatever he thought was appropriate for the round cabin.

 

The Blessings Began to Show

Suddenly things began to change dramatically. Yep, here comes the SOWLE Journeys of Faith! Things started going SO SMOOTHLY. The couple who owned the round cabin accepted our offer quickly, they were open to a fast closing as well!

We knew we were being led by God, as always, to do this. This was to be our new home. It is always such a relief when we finally figure out what God is telling us and we go His way! It just took us a bit longer to figure out what He was telling us.

We knew we had to completely remodel the inside of the round cabin to make it accessible and safe for Aiden. So, as soon as we closed on the round cabin, Mark began working in any spare time he could find to get this place accessible and safe for Aiden as quickly as he could. It was now the first part of November, and we were getting weather alerts for snow here and there, but nothing could have prepared us for the Historically Cold Winter we were about to get slammed with in our RV!

Thankfully we made it through it with many stories to share and the DEFINATE decision that we were NOT built to be Full-Time RVer’s in Kansas!

After the first major storm of ice and historically cold weather had come and gone, we were finally able to get moved over to the round cabin!

 

 

Renovations and Remodel of a Our Round Cabin

This round cabin was dated and needed an upgrade and renovations to fit the accessible needs of our family. Mark put in new flooring, an additional window, a sliding glass door, and completely renovated the bathroom to fit Aiden’s needs.

He used car siding on the walls that really gave it a country/nature feel that we had always wanted. It already had a heat pump with A/C, so we were solid on heating and cooling. He painted the existing cabinets white since we had no extra time to replace them as they would have to be specially made with the round back shape to them. He also replaced the countertops with a rustic wood look laminate.

Additionally, he painted the dome of the round cabin, and I could not be happier with the fact that the exterior and now some of the interior is my absolute favorite color-a beautiful, soft, buttery yellow!

There is even an additional yellow garage in the backyard that Mark intends to convert into his work office and Man Cave as well as another little shed that, you guessed it, will eventually be turned into my She Shed! I mean let’s face it, we love each other very much, but we will need our own space to get away occasionally, especially in those long winter months!

 

 

Explore Round Cabin Features

I want to be sure to inform you all about the features we love (and think you will too) in a round cabin! The innovative design, the panoramic views, safety in storms, and honestly the surprising benefits of efficiency of space and energy!

 

Innovative Design

A round cabin’s unique circular design not only offers aesthetic appeal but also enhances airflow and energy efficiency, creating a harmonious living space.

 

Panoramic Views

Some round cabins even allow you to enjoy uninterrupted 360-degree views that connect you seamlessly with the great outdoors, thanks to the innovative structure of round cabins. Our round cabin has 3’X4’ windows every 8’ which really allows us to connect with nature. We also added a 5’ sliding glass door and a smaller 2’x2’ window above the sink. This REALLY makes it feel like we are outside while being inside which is important to us in the winter months when we are stuck inside for many months.

 

Space Efficiency

The ingenious circular layout of a round cabin maximizes usable space, reducing unnecessary hallways and corners, and providing a spacious interior. Although adding our furniture that is most definitely NOT ROUND, it did pose a bit of configuration issues to get it all “just right”. We were sure pleased with the fact that we kept our theatre seating that happens to attach with side tables that create a more rounded backside.

There is plenty of room within a round cabin, even one that is only 700sqft. I really fought the idea that there would be enough room for our needs, but we have found it to be true! I also wanted to share a few photos with you all to give you an idea of what our round cabin is becoming. These are very preliminary photos and I will try to get some updated ones added soon.

 

Bedroom Space

We have a King and Twin size beds as well as 2 dressers, a large cedar chest, and a storage cabinet all in the bedroom and that includes a mini split on the wall that needs to be open to allow air to flow best.

Having space for a treadmill was very important to me. I did have to purchase a portable treadmill to replace my much older stationary treadmill but this one fits perfectly under Aiden’s bed and is super easy to pull out and use and then just as easy to put away and keep hidden!

 

Living Room Space

The living room space is plenty open for our theatre seating that seats 4 with 2 end tables attached as well as an additional rocker/recliner. We have our large TV on a Mobile TV Cart that we originally thought we would have to have in order to turn the TV so we could watch it from he bedroom, but turns out we ended up hanging a TV on the wall in the bedroom because there was room.

 

Kitchen Space

The kitchen is one of my favorite parts of this round cabin because the layout is so unique with round cabinets and countertops. We have a full kitchen with all the needed appliances such as a dishwasher, large fridge, and oven. We are somewhat limited with space for dry goods since there is no pantry however we have made it work by using one of the cabinets for that. We decided to use one of our smaller round table and 2 chairs in the kitchen just because with the 3 of us we never really used a large table anyway.

 

Coffee Bar

I REALLY wanted a small little coffee bar in our new home and had designed a space in our previous floorplan for one. We were able to find a small “dorm station” that has worked perfectly for us! It has a table top for our Keurig Machine and Coffee Pod Drawer Holder. Additionally, there is a space just perfect underneath for our Mini Fridge that holds our coffee creamers, There are 2 other built-in sections for more storage as well! The photo below is not our personal Coffee Bar obviously, but it is the same dorm station we purchased, but I just wanted you to see how things will fit on it.

 

Storage Space

Speaking of storage, that was certainly a HUGE concern for us when downsizing to this round cabin. Aiden has a lot of extra medical supplies hat we need to keep available to us at all times, plus we have been married for almost 25 years and we have ALOT of “stuff” we accumulated over the years! We planned on downsizing some and like I mentioned earlier, we did get rid of a ton of stuff, however, this was a MUCH bigger downsize than we ever had planned.

Thankfully, we do have the garage that we had built over at our RV Camping Community that we can store all of our additional furniture until we decide what we are going to do with it all and also like I mentioned earlier, this place came with 2 smaller sheds. Mark did build the bathroom with the idea of having additional storage above it for all of our “must-haves” storage items and it works well for us. You can see it behind the TV up high above the bathroom.

 

Bathroom Space

The bathroom is plenty large enough for a stackable extra large washing machine and dryer. Actually, the largest washing machine and dryer we have ever owned! The shower is handicap accessible so very large as well.

 

Office Space

The center of this round cabin is my “office” space. I have my laptop on a MagicHold Portable Desk (because I like to write from different places). We have our printer setting on the floor still just because we haven’t had time to find a smaller table or stand to set it on in all of our storage furniture. We will in time!

 

Space for Maneuvering a Wheelchair

Best of all, there is plenty of space to maneuver Aiden in his wheelchair all around in this round cabin without bumping into anything an I can always see him if he needs me for anything! It was absolutely a blessing in disguise for us and we absolutely love it!

 

 

 

Energy Efficiency of a Round Cabin

The circular shape of round cabins allows for optimal air circulation, maintaining a consistent temperature throughout the year. This natural temperature regulation means less reliance on energy-intensive heating and cooling systems, leading to lower utility bills and a smaller carbon footprint. We certainly have noticed this in our experience. It doesn’t take nearly as much energy to cool and heat this round cabin as we thought it potentially could, since it has a higher ceiling.

 

Safety in Storms with High Winds in a Round Cabin

A round cabin give a sense of security in strong windstorms. The round design allows the wind to blow around the cabin, reducing the build-up of pressure on one side. This is something that really made me happy considering we had always had a basement in our previous homes, and we do live in Kansas! I mean HELLO? “The Wizard of Oz” state?

 

 

Connecting with Nature

Living in a round cabin provides a profound connection to nature for our family. We have found this to be so very true in just the past 4 months we have lived here. The design of a round cabin, like I mentioned before, often featuring large windows and open spaces like ours, integrates the outdoors with the indoors, offering panoramic views and a sense of being part of the natural world.

The incredibly large amount of wildlife we have seen here so far is absolutely one of the largest blessings for our family. We have always LOVED Bird Watching and this place doesn’t disappoint, especially with all of the windows and the large sliding glass doors!

Funny thing…I just stopped writing for a second there to take a photo of a new bird we hadn’t seen before.

 

 

Proof that we are certainly connecting with nature here like never before! This connection promotes mental and physical well-being, enhancing the quality of life for everyone! It is absolutely a story that belongs in the SOWLE Journeys of Faith!