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Published: Sunday, January 24 2021 14:44

Written by David A. Fuess

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Our cottage in the North Woods finally got its winter coat on. This winter 2020-2021 has, until now (late January), been quite mild with almost no snow to speak of. Unlike previous years when the lakes were 90+ percent frozen over there is very little ice to support the ice fishermen. Here's a little history of the house.

The house was built by Charles Larson Sr., Natasha's grandfather, in 1914. The foundation is made from stones collected in the Rock area and is a trademark of Charles Larson Sr.'s construction. It has, with one exception, been continuously owned by a member of the Larson family. Unfortunately, many of the interior walls and doors had been altered by the non-Larsons so only a few of the original lath and plaster walls remain intact. After extensive restoration the interior has been restored to the original layout and is kept in original condition to the extent possible. This and Natasha's Swedish cooking made Vårt Älskade Hem a favorite bed and breakfast destination for visitors to Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

During the late 1800's and early 1900's one did not go to a lumber yard to purchase construction supplies. All of the wood used in the construction of the home had to be cut from the surrounding forest and hand milled. Except for the modern materials used in the restoration, all of the timbers in the house are original (thus a 2x4 was actually 2" by 4"!). During this period the second floor was devoted to boarding Charles' logging crew and Bertha (Natasha's grandmother) made the meals and pies on her cast iron wood stove. She also made numerous apple pies daily using apples from their apple orchard out back to sell in the Larson Store in downtown Rock. While the apple orchard along with the barn and shop was demolished in a tornado, we still have 25+ producing apple trees scattered among the pines at the forest edge. Of course, eventually the UP grew up and so did the Larsons. With logging on the decline and the need for schools arising, Charles built two churches and a school in Rock (among many, many other buildings and homes). Natasha's father, Charles Larson Jr., and his many brothers attended the Rock School and the Larson house became the boarding house for Rock's school teachers. (Elsewhere on this web site you will find Charles Jr."s description of what it was like to grow up in this house.)

While the restoration is essentially complete, we still undertake yearly projects to replace some of the older elements (windows, doors, etc.) with newer always taking care not to introduce modern technology when we can find "like original" components. I did, however, build a complete wood shop onto the back of the garage to facilitate the manufacture of decorative pieces (Swedish door lintels, moldings, etc) used  throughout the house.