Rustic Hand-Crafted Forest Cabin Rental near Orlando Florida
The Story of a Dream Realized!
Grasshopper Lodge was built by Dave Greenberg between 2003 and 2007. A native of Seattle, Washington, Dave and his family moved to Central Florida in 1986, where his wife teaches at Rollins College in Winter Park. An electrical engineer by training, Dave worked in product development at the Boeing Company in Seattle, and for Lockheed Electronics in Orlando before leaving aerospace for the computer field. After several years of consulting and developing software for medical groups, he founded Avio Corporation in 1991, a venture-capital-backed startup. Avio was the first company to deploy a large-scale Electronic Medical Record built entirely on the Microsoft Windows platform. Avio grew to be among the ten largest software companies in Central Florida before being acquired by Siemens in 1999.
Dave had long harbored the romantic dream of building a log cabin in the mountains and forests of the Pacific Northwest. The problem was, his wife couldn’t stand the gray skies and rainy weather there, so she encouraged him to find a place near Orlando where the dream could be realized. Setting out on a search in the Ocala National Forest, Dave drove up, down, and around the entire area, stopping at every realtor’s office along the way saying “I’m looking for the perfect secluded getaway at the end of a long windy road in the forest where I can build my dream cabin”. A few months later, a call came in from Don Oliver, a realtor in Eustis: “I think I may have found what you’re looking for.”
And there it was – a mile and a half down a winding Forest Service Road, deep in the heart of the Ocala National Forest, was a most unusual property. An acre and a half of privately owned land with an old cabin built in the 1930’s and long since abandoned. It was situated on the corner of a 40 acre “island” of private land that had been left out of the federally owned Ocala National Forest when it was established. The property’s boundary was right on the edge of Big Grasshopper Lake, one of a chain of lakes entirely within the Ocala National Forest (no other houses exist on the entire chain, and never will!).
After purchasing the property, the real excitement began. The old cabin was in pretty bad shape – the floors were uneven, the roof was collapsing, the plumbing and wiring were rotting, and many exotic creatures had taken up residence. The original structure of about 400 square feet was divided into 2 tiny bedrooms, a kitchen, a bathroom, and a tiny living room. It had low ceilings, and soft pressboard interior walls. But, having been built in the 1930’s, the core structure was built from rock-hard heart pine, and seemed redeemable.
So, the decision was made to rebuild it from the ground up and the roof down, add on to it, and make it new again. After clearing the trees and bushes that had overgrown the place, Dave called the power company and told them to turn on the power. They said “It hasn’t been turned on for 19 years – are you sure?” Sure enough, it came on and there was light! Thus began a three and a half year construction project!
It turned out that one of the neighbors (that 40 acre parcel is divided into 5 other properties, two of which have full-time residents) runs a sawmill where he cuts up local timber into beautiful lumber, and on top of that, the guy is a brilliant carpenter, wood carver, and pool player. Thus began an apprenticeship with Dave’s friend and neighbor Ted Hokannen, who over the next few years taught him a gazillion lessons and tricks of the woodsman’s trade, supplied most of the wood used to build the cabin, and turned Dave into a decent pool player along the way.
Over the next few years, Dave completely rebuilt the cabin, working mostly by himself, with an occasional hand (and constant supervision) from Ted. The foundation was re-leveled, the bad floor joists replaced, and the original tin roof removed and replaced. New cypress siding, interior sand pine paneling on all the walls and ceilings, and cypress floors were installed. Next came new doors and windows, new plumbing (including well and septic systems), as well as new wiring and central heat and air conditioning. A slate hearth was built and a woodstove with a glass door was brought in. A new bathroom was built, and then a kitchen built entirely from cedar.
By now, the cabin had been opened up to be one big great-room, with a bathroom off to the side. It was time to add on for the bedroom. Dave bought an old log cabin (on eBay, of course!) that had been used as a display in a children’s museum in New Jersey, and trailered the disassembled pieces 950 miles to the cabin site. It was then reassembled as a 3-sided addition to the main cabin. A porch running the full length of the now-enlarged cabin was added, and screened in to create a pleasant outdoor sitting area.
All the final trim was handcrafted from cedar and cypress, then all the wood was sanded and sealed with polyurethane to give the whole cabin a rich warm woody glow. All that was needed now was a good king-size bed, some comfortable furnishings, and Voila! – The dream had been realized.
Dave’s other neighbor’s, Herb and Doris Macintyre, had been renting out their guest cottage on Little Grasshopper Lake for many years, and it seemed like a good idea to do the same with Grasshopper Lodge. Since 2008, Herb and Doris have managed the property, acting as fine hosts for our many guests. So, come and enjoy your stay at this little piece of heaven!
Dave had long harbored the romantic dream of building a log cabin in the mountains and forests of the Pacific Northwest. The problem was, his wife couldn’t stand the gray skies and rainy weather there, so she encouraged him to find a place near Orlando where the dream could be realized. Setting out on a search in the Ocala National Forest, Dave drove up, down, and around the entire area, stopping at every realtor’s office along the way saying “I’m looking for the perfect secluded getaway at the end of a long windy road in the forest where I can build my dream cabin”. A few months later, a call came in from Don Oliver, a realtor in Eustis: “I think I may have found what you’re looking for.”
And there it was – a mile and a half down a winding Forest Service Road, deep in the heart of the Ocala National Forest, was a most unusual property. An acre and a half of privately owned land with an old cabin built in the 1930’s and long since abandoned. It was situated on the corner of a 40 acre “island” of private land that had been left out of the federally owned Ocala National Forest when it was established. The property’s boundary was right on the edge of Big Grasshopper Lake, one of a chain of lakes entirely within the Ocala National Forest (no other houses exist on the entire chain, and never will!).
After purchasing the property, the real excitement began. The old cabin was in pretty bad shape – the floors were uneven, the roof was collapsing, the plumbing and wiring were rotting, and many exotic creatures had taken up residence. The original structure of about 400 square feet was divided into 2 tiny bedrooms, a kitchen, a bathroom, and a tiny living room. It had low ceilings, and soft pressboard interior walls. But, having been built in the 1930’s, the core structure was built from rock-hard heart pine, and seemed redeemable.
So, the decision was made to rebuild it from the ground up and the roof down, add on to it, and make it new again. After clearing the trees and bushes that had overgrown the place, Dave called the power company and told them to turn on the power. They said “It hasn’t been turned on for 19 years – are you sure?” Sure enough, it came on and there was light! Thus began a three and a half year construction project!
It turned out that one of the neighbors (that 40 acre parcel is divided into 5 other properties, two of which have full-time residents) runs a sawmill where he cuts up local timber into beautiful lumber, and on top of that, the guy is a brilliant carpenter, wood carver, and pool player. Thus began an apprenticeship with Dave’s friend and neighbor Ted Hokannen, who over the next few years taught him a gazillion lessons and tricks of the woodsman’s trade, supplied most of the wood used to build the cabin, and turned Dave into a decent pool player along the way.
Over the next few years, Dave completely rebuilt the cabin, working mostly by himself, with an occasional hand (and constant supervision) from Ted. The foundation was re-leveled, the bad floor joists replaced, and the original tin roof removed and replaced. New cypress siding, interior sand pine paneling on all the walls and ceilings, and cypress floors were installed. Next came new doors and windows, new plumbing (including well and septic systems), as well as new wiring and central heat and air conditioning. A slate hearth was built and a woodstove with a glass door was brought in. A new bathroom was built, and then a kitchen built entirely from cedar.
By now, the cabin had been opened up to be one big great-room, with a bathroom off to the side. It was time to add on for the bedroom. Dave bought an old log cabin (on eBay, of course!) that had been used as a display in a children’s museum in New Jersey, and trailered the disassembled pieces 950 miles to the cabin site. It was then reassembled as a 3-sided addition to the main cabin. A porch running the full length of the now-enlarged cabin was added, and screened in to create a pleasant outdoor sitting area.
All the final trim was handcrafted from cedar and cypress, then all the wood was sanded and sealed with polyurethane to give the whole cabin a rich warm woody glow. All that was needed now was a good king-size bed, some comfortable furnishings, and Voila! – The dream had been realized.
Dave’s other neighbor’s, Herb and Doris Macintyre, had been renting out their guest cottage on Little Grasshopper Lake for many years, and it seemed like a good idea to do the same with Grasshopper Lodge. Since 2008, Herb and Doris have managed the property, acting as fine hosts for our many guests. So, come and enjoy your stay at this little piece of heaven!
The "Original" Cabin