About Us

Our family lived in the log house from 1989-2005, when we moved into the house we built a few hundred yards away. Our daughters Sophia and Ida were born and grew up in the cabin.

Daniel is co-owner-operator of HomeTown Taxi in Decorah, a sweet little company that’s been in business for 36 years. He works there part-time, and spends the rest of the time working around our place gardening, building, and fixing.  I worked for 25 years at Oneota Community Co-op, and now am self-employed as a song leader, community organizer, and homemaker. I like to write stories about this place. Want to get married in Decorah? I am also a wedding officiant Sophie is a massage and medical Qigong therapist, pilates instructor, and potter. Ida lives nearby and runs Red Oak Outdoor School, offering nature connection classes and camps for kids and families. Both of these young women love to do the things they grew up with: gardening, building, being outside, making food. Our family likes to make music - we sing and play a bit of guitar, violin, mandolin, banjo, and piano. 

We know that the future is uncertain, and that the variety of efforts we make on behalf of the planet may be insignificant. We like doing them anyway. We like consuming less, growing and making and fixing things, and taking time to get to know people and do things in our community. It’s a nice way to live. We learn from our neighbors, townmates, and guests almost every time we get together: ideas about gardening and eating; events to support, locally or globally; new skills for creating stuff; and on and on.

We look forward to meeting you. Whether you are looking for solitary time or you want to be involved a bit in the workings of this place, whatever you do here will be graciously known and remembered.  Come, be part of the history of the log house.

This is a picture of our family in about 1996. 

Liz, Daniel, and Nelly. 

“Can we rely on it that a ‘turning around’ can be accomplished by enough people quickly enough to save the modern world? This question is so often asked, but no matter what the answer, it will mislead. The answer ‘yes’ can lead to complacency; the answer ‘no’ to despair. It is better to leave these questions behind and simply get down to work.”

~E.F. Schumacher