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The Great Indoors
On the site of a popular country swimming hole, a luxe cabin tames the wilderness.
By Amy Wimmer Schwarb
Every once in a while, when Selita Reichart is leaving her house, she spots people peering up the driveway. And she knows exactly what’s going on. “They’ll say, ‘Oh, I just wanted to come back and show so-and-so where I used to swim,’” Reichart says. “Everyone you talk to around here learned to swim or fish here.”
When her husband, Brian, first started eyeing the Madison County property, it was filled with a good number of abandoned fishing trailers and even an old concession stand. Selita couldn’t imagine living there. “Brian had a real vision,” she says. “He knew where he wanted to put the house, and I thought, ‘It won’t even fit there—it’s between a lake and a ravine.’ But he could just see it.”
Now, that ravine is a koi pond with a waterfall, the lake is an all-seasons centerpiece for the property, and the house itself is a 12,000-square-foot log cabin with five bedrooms, six baths, and an interior that pays homage to its rustic environment.
The front doors—hewn from oak—open into an entryway that is flanked by the dining room and a trophy room, which houses Brian’s extensive collection of big-game trophies from Africa. Straight ahead is the home’s focal point, the cavernous great room, with soaring ceilings and exposed log beams. A hall leads to the master suite, and in the other direction sits the updated kitchen, which connects to both a sunroom and an expansive butler’s pantry that leads back into the dining room. Upstairs, guest bedrooms are differentiated from one another with doors painted blue, green, or red.
