We are so excited to welcome you to our newest space in Joshua Tree—The Cabin—which is now available for guest stays!
The Cabin is a remote 1958 original homestead cabin that is off-grid and solar powered. It’s located 20 mins from the west entrance of Joshua Tree National Park and about 15 minutes to downtown Joshua Tree, CA. This tiny home is 400 square feet, which includes a Queen size bedroom nook, full bathroom, fully stocked kitchen, and a living room with a wood burning fireplace. The cabin is perfect for a couple, two friends, or a small family utilizing the built-in sofa as a bed for one to two small children. Outside the cabin you’ll find a cowboy pool, a small gas fire-pit, a covered dining area, and views looking towards Joshua Tree National Park.
History
Driving through Joshua Tree, small abandoned homesteads scatter the landscape. We love to imagine what kind of stories those cabins hold about the bold personalities who built them in search of a simple life.
In 1938, the Small Tract act was passed, incentivizing homesteaders to prove up the land by building a small structure (at least 12’ x 6’) in order to be deeded a five acre tract. It was a chance to live with few possessions, and an open horizon. The harsh climate of the desert proved too tough for many in the end, leaving many of these cabins abandoned (including our homestead cabin).
Remodel Journey
We got the Cabin in 2018 (the same year we purchased JTH Tucson), but we didn’t begin work on remodeling it until 2020 once the inn was open. Going from designing on a massive scale for the inn (which is close to 10,000 square ft) to fitting a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and a living room into a 400 square foot footprint was a fun creative challenge—we had to be extremely efficient with every inch of space.
The cabin had been renovated in the 1980’s and 90’s and was missing most of its original components aside from the stone fireplace when we purchased it. We chose to turn that fireplace into the focal point of the space to honor some of Joshua Tree’s homestead history while adding modern day amenities (ie we added a bathroom vs the original outhouse, electricity, heating and cooling etc).
To bring the original stone fireplace back to life we cleaned the stone (which appears to have been collected from the surrounding area) and over-grouted them to brighten it up even more. We also completely tiled over the concrete floors with Fireclay tile—this includes our new front porch, which is now the perfect spot to watch the sun set.
Logistically, there were so many challenges to figure out on this design as we converted it from a recreational cabin to a single family residence (aka added a real bathroom vs. just an outhouse!). Also, since the cabin is off grid we had to figure out how to go fully solar. Once we neared completion there was permitting to wait through that caused us to lose momentum.
Though it’s our smallest project to date in square footage, it took us the longest. All said and done, we’ve been working on the cabin for about three years now—finally opening our doors is a very exciting moment!
Shop the Cabin
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