Scenic St. Croix Scrapbooking Retreat and Summer Vacation Spot!!

• Lovely....

  Lovely....

  • Guest Chessie
  • Date of stay 08/04/12
  • Review Submitted 10/05/12
  This is a lovely vacation spot and we spent some very relaxing days there.The 1400 sq. foot deck has lots of seating/tables/umbrellas and has a beautiful view of the St. Croix river area (down 72 steep steps). We saw bald eagles and lots of Sand Hill cranes and herons. The owner, Sandy, is a peach and very willing to do whatever he can to make your stay pleasurable. In the interest of full disclosure: This house is not in Rice Lake, it's on Rice Lake Rd. outside of Somerset, WI. The two "queen" beds are actually double beds. The built in pool, while very nice, is NOT heated and too cold for our kids to swim in. If you like to cook, bring your own sharp knives and a decent pot and pan. Otherwise, everything was great, roomy, comfy, and fun. The location makes it easy to make a quick trip to the Twin Cities or down the Great River Road to view the St. Croix/Mississippi.

  Recommended for: Girls getaway, age 55+, sightseeing, families with young children.

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• Ideal Family Vacation

  Ideal Family Vacation

  • Guest TonnaFam
  • Date of stay 06/29/12
  • Review Submitted 07/09/12
  We have four young children and just returned from a very hot week (90-100 degress each day) at this location. Thanks to the pool and the A/C, this was an amazing trip. My children are still talking about how much they miss the vacation house and we will definitely return for a repeat trip sometime soon. Everything was just as it is advertised and the owner is very polite/helpful. We were there for a full week and he stopped by twice to take care of the pool (short visits and he was very cautious about the house being yours that week-->privacy). I did not know if I would use the boat much with four little children, but I did get a couple short rides and the one with the kids was very enjoyable as they were constantly pointing at things (birds, jumping fish, knocked downed trees, islands, etc...). There was even one bald eagle we saw. The boat and river location are very valuable if you have the time/ability to be on them much. For us though, the trip was almost completely about the pool. This is a very nice and well-kept up pool that the children loved playing in. It is hard to describe the convenience of a private pool until you have it for a week, but since its right there, with an overlooking deck...there were tons of options. For example, if one child was still napping then one of us could be on the deck (within ear-shot of crying) while still being with the rest of the family. The shallow end of the pool is only a small portion and then it gets deep quickly. This can be good and bad, but we liked that it meant the deep end was enough to dive in (I would guess 8 feet). Couple other things of note: the TV is huge (50"???) which impressed us, but as it turned out, we rarely used it; the three bedrooms are all on the same level (nice benefit for a family); the gas grill is VERY nice with three burners; the deck is enormous wrap-around; there are a lot of tree frogs, but they mostly only came out at night for us due to the heat and the kids liked playing with the ones they did find; there is a four-horse carousel in the front yard that the children spent a lot of time on as well; we had a very nice day trip to Stillwater just a short drive away. I do think this location is good for various groups, but clearly my review speaks to the fun a family with children can have in this setting. There is no doubt this is the owners HOME, not just a cabin and you can tell he keeps it that way...with pride. Thanks for sharing it with us Sandy!!!

  Recommended for: Girls getaway, romantic getaway, sightseeing, families with young children, families with teenagers.

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• Great place on the river

  Great place on the river

  • Guest JC
  • Date of stay 06/16/12
  • Review Submitted 06/20/12
  Really enjoyed a few days at this cabin recently with friends. Sandy, the owner, is great and was very helpful. He was even polite enough to call before hand when he needed to come pick up his lawn mower, a classy touch. The open plan main room is very sunny and comfortable. The grill is nice, the deck is where we spent most of our time. Great seating areas and view of the river. The birds and tree frogs sang to us. The house is well appointed.. AC, 3 bathrooms, dishwasher. Modern tv, fridge. The pool is older and the tree frogs wanted to go for a dip each day, but it was a welcome way to cool off on a hot day. Sandy built a firepit which we didn't get to use. But it's nice. Bring mosquito spray. Other notes: I have AT&T and all of us got great cell reception despite it being very rural. No wifi but I came to appreciate that! Plenty of room to park a boat trailer. Bring trash bags. There is a cd player stereo in the main room but no iPod dock. It does have RCA connectors in back if you have an iPod-to-RCA adaptor. There is sattelite tv. My favorite thing was the tiki thatch type umbrellas on deck. Oh and the best thing about this place is the price. It might not be a manicured riverfront mansion, but it is comfortable, nestled in a beautiful location and has all the comforts of home! For a fair price.

  Recommended for: Girls getaway, age 55+, adventure seekers, romantic getaway, sightseeing, families with young children, families with teenagers.

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 4/4

Additional information about rental rates

$150 deposit is required to hold your dates. A $400 cash security deposit is required at check in and will be refunded at check-out. Payable by money order or personal check. Full balance is due no later than 5 days prior to check in.