‘Cabin Porn’ Creator Selling the Structure That Inspired It All for $2M

The cabin that inspired the “Cabin Porn” movement and book is for sale.

Known as Beaver Brook, the compound offers a five-bedroom, three-bathroom main house called the Bunkhouse, which sits on 53 acres in Highland, NY.

Listed for $1,975,000, the compound also includes the cabin on the cover of the book “Cabin Porn” and several other structures. The popular Cabin Porn blog showcasing photogenic images of the rustic escapes became a bestselling book.

“The buyers we’re fielding calls from are coming from two directions,” says listing agent Annabel Taylor. “One is from the prominence of Cabin Porn, which draws its own crowd, and it was like a built-in buyer pool of people who were obsessed with this book and this movement and cabins in general. Then there’s also the other buyers who just see this beautiful house with these super cool cabins and in a very up-and-coming hot area and want to get in.”

In fact, the property has already found a buyer after less than two weeks on the market. The listing is now in contingent status.

Cabin Porn is a way to fantasize about a quiet life in the woods. Tech entrepreneur Zach Klein started a blog that led to a book, which led to quite a following. Klein is the CEO of Dwell and co-founder of Vimeo and DIY.org.

“My client, the seller, put together kind of like a catalog of the sexiest cabins all over the world. And his fascination led him to this property Beaver Brook, where there was one cabin currently on the property. And he built several more over the years and even held cabin-building workshops,” Taylor explains.

The off-the-grid cabin featured on the book cover is called Scott’s Cabin and has a slanted roof.

After Klein bought the property in 2010, he fixed up the post-and-beam cabin but kept it off-grid.

“A fashion designer [Scott Newkirk] from New York had built it and lived in it off-grid in the summers for years. My clients tweaked it a little bit, but that is what was there and that’s kind of what inspired the rest of the property,” Taylor says.

To keep the woodsy feel, but add modern amenities like radiant concrete floors and fiber internet, Klein built the four-story main house, which can sleep a couple of dozen people.

Klein “designed every inch of it and then brought it to a design-build firm to build it. He really knew what he wanted to do with this house,” Taylor explains.

The home offers 3,200 square feet of living space, with a timber frame from an antique dairy barn that was taken down from another location and moved here.

“He built this house with the idea that this was a property that he and his friends would visit together, where they’d be off-grid and in nature enjoying one another’s company,” Taylor says.  “The Bunkhouse was a place where, at the end of the day, they’d all come together and cook a big meal and sit around the table together.”

To facilitate that, the indoor fireplace stands at waist height for easy cooking over an open flame. There’s also an outdoor fireplace.

For the more traditional chef, the large kitchen includes brand-new appliances.

The open living space features visible beams. The lower level features glass accordion doors that open outside to a sauna, a deck, and the great outdoors.

“It’s so unique. There is such a vibe there. The woods themselves are beautiful, there is 600 feet of creek frontage on Beaver Brook, and you just feel like you’ve been transported into another world that is so peaceful and so beautiful, and you kind of just forget that the rest of the world exists,” Taylor says.

For the brave, a suspension bridge spans the creek.

“It’s really cool. It’s kind of shaky, so the first time I walked across that I was a little nervous, but I got used to it,” Taylor says. “It’s great to stand right in the center of it where you can look in both directions down Beaver Brook.”

In addition to the Bunkhouse and Scott’s Cabin, there’s also the angular Half Tree House, which looks like it’s suspended midair.

Jacobschang Architecture designed that off-grid cabin using steel and glass with huge doors that open up.

Another smaller cabin is also on the property, with no electricity or plumbing.

So the Bunkhouse serves as a gathering spot and wash area, with a huge bathroom downstairs for those staying in the cabins to access.

Klein is selling the property because he and his family have moved to California.

“We’ve had a great run, [Beaver Brook] gave us some of the best times (and friends) of our lives and we’re happy to see another group enjoy it to its fullest,” the owner posted on Twitter.

Taylor says she received multiple offers, and the final selling price will be significantly over the list price.

“We don’t get homes like the Bunkhouse very often, and so people looking for something turnkey and something really special are drawn to it,” Taylor says. “And we certainly don’t get properties with multiple super sexy cabins on them that often.”