Built by a Family.
Built for Everyone.
We're Not a Hotel Company.
We're a Family Who Built a Cabin.
We're a Columbus suburb family who drove to Hocking Hills for years before deciding to build something here instead. Those carved bears at the entrance were custom ordered. The blue and gold came from the kitchen — blue cabinets, gold hardware. It became the color of everything.
No consultant told us what to build. We just built what our family needed — and figured other families needed the same thing.
It Started with a Home Depot Shed
One place. Whole family. No splitting into two rentals, no grandparents on a pullout.
The original plan was a shed and a firepit. That lasted one conversation. The shed became a cabin, the cabin needed a pool, the pool had to be indoors. We looked up and we were building 4,000 square feet on 22 acres.
Two rules never changed: everyone gets a real bedroom, and every gather space has to earn it. The pool deck, the fire pit, the back deck, the game room — each one its own world. Quiet corner or full group, there's always somewhere to land.
Nobody planned any of it. It just kept becoming what it needed to be.
An Outdoor Pool Gets Used Four Months a Year. We Wanted Year-Round.
An outdoor pool in Ohio gets used maybe four months a year, then it sits covered for the other eight. We wanted something the whole group could actually use in February just as easily as July.
The indoor pool was the answer to that. Private heated pools inside cabins big enough for 20 people are rare in this part of Ohio — we knew that going in. The pool room ended up being the center of the whole building, and the name followed. Pool House Lodge.
Nobody Gets Left Behind
Our parents are getting older. We knew that by the time we finished building, some of them might need a wheelchair. We also knew what most "accessible" rentals actually look like: a grab bar in one bathroom and a parking space. That's not accessibility. That's a checkbox.
We put the ramps, roll-in shower, 36-inch doorways, and grab bars in the blueprints on day one. Because this cabin was built so the whole family could come. All of them. Every time.
22 Acres, Two Years, Amish Craftsmen
We found 22 acres in Hocking Hills with a ridge at the back that looks out over the hills. That view was the deciding factor. We bought the land and started drawing.
We used Amish builders and Amish suppliers throughout. The work took two years. The cabin came out bigger than anything we'd originally sketched out, which is what happens when you keep saying yes to the right things.
Once it was finished, we started renting it. Figured other families had the same problem we did. They do.
"Everyone gets a real bedroom. Nobody gets left at home. That's the whole point."— Ton, Owner · Pool House Lodge
Every Guest in a Real Bed
Seven bedrooms across three levels. The oldest grandparent and the youngest kid each get a real bed in a real room. Nobody's on the floor or the pullout.
A Pool That Works Year-Round
We don't swim. Our daughter does. An outdoor pool in Ohio works four months a year. We built an indoor one so she could use it in January. It also turned out to be something no other large cabin in this region had.
Accessibility Built In, Not Bolted On
Ramps, roll-in shower, 36-inch doorways, grab bars — all in the blueprints, not added later. Our parents were going to be guests here too. We built it so they could use the whole place, not just get through the front door.
The Details Parents Actually Care About
Night lights in every hallway. Noise machines in the queen bedrooms. Carpet pads on the stairs. Lit switches on every staircase. Every light switch in the cabin is labeled. We have a kid. We know what it's like to be in an unfamiliar place at 2am trying to figure out which switch does what.
Something for Everyone.
The swimmer. The grandparent. The kid who wants to hunt gnomes. The one who just wants a fire and a chair. Pool House Lodge is open year-round. Bring everyone.