She Bought the 1959 A-Frame She Once Rented - And Calls It Her "Cosmic Cabin"

A 1959 A-frame cabin located in the San Bernardino Mountains between Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear Lake was first experienced through an Airbnb rental during the pandemic. The stay created a strong sense of connection to the home and surrounding land. Later, an Instagram post revealed the same cabin for sale, prompting an immediate offer attempt. Although another buyer outbid her and the deal did not proceed, she eventually purchased the cabin and spent three and a half years learning its history. The cabin was built by a maître d’ from the Brown Derby and has been held by only a couple families since 1959. The property includes distinctive design details such as local stone in the fireplace and butterfly motifs on exterior stones near the entrance.

"Nestled between Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear Lake in the San Bernardino Mountains, she had rented the Airbnb during the pandemic for an escape from Los Angeles. But the cabin stuck with her. "I felt so connected to the home and land, and never forgot about it," Alex writes."

"Some time later, and while on a trip abroad, she saw an Instagram post showing the very same cabin for sale. "My heart stopped! I immediately contacted my friend's real estate agent and put in an offer from a cabin in the Cotswolds," she says. "I wrote a heartfelt letter to the owner with a picture from my stay, and while someone outbid me, the offer fell through. It felt truly meant to be!""

"In the three-and-a-half years that Alex has owned the space, she's dug into the cabin's history. "I love that it was built by a maître d of a famous Hollywood restaurant (the Brown Derby) and only held by a couple families since it was built in 1959," she writes of the A-frame that sits on half an acre of land."

"Charm oozes out of every inch. "There are some special sweet little touches like local stone used in the fireplace and placed in little butterfly designs on the outside stones near the entrance," she writes."

Read at Apartment Therapy