Solar Cabin: A Modern, Off-grid Retreat on 100 Acres

About Rebecca Robertson

My husband, Andy, and I are travelers at heart and have been to at least 60 countries combined. While we're raising our kids Lyrra (3 months) and Porter (2 years) and building our cabin-home here in the woods, we are more stationary than we used to be, which is why we enjoy hosting and sharing our property with guests so much. We are determined to get the kids in snorkeling gear by age 3 though! I work at Penn State as an Instructional Designer and Andy sells solar systems for Envinity, a State College-based sustainable building and solar company. We appreciate hosting a diversity of guests and welcome all ages, races, languages, sexual orientations, and religions to our home ❤️ Thank you for staying with us!

Why Rebecca Robertson chose Centre County

In 2014, Andy and I had the "brilliant" idea that, instead of renting, we would remodel his family's old hunting cabin. Andy's parents areed and Andy and I set to work tearing down the old cabin to its first floor studs. We built up and out on top of the original foundation, adding plumbing, electricity, and insulation - all of which we lived here without for about six months the first summer during the renovation. We are off-the-grid by necessity. When we first called the power company to inquire about connecting the cabin to the grid, they quoted us $90,000 to bring the power lines back here - more than our whole budget at the time! So we built an off-grid solar power system with solar panels, batteries, and a back-up generator for a fraction of the cost. You won't see any electric poles or lines within a mile of the cabin. Now, when the town's power goes out, life goes on as usual here at Love Farm :) Although we are off-the-grid, we wanted to raise our family with modern conveniences. We don't think you'll miss any comforts during your stay and we hope you'll enjoy all the little details we've built into Solar Cabin. Seven long years later, and the cabin is now finished, save for a few trim pieces here and there. Now we're more focused on renovating the property - building trails; establishing gardens and improving the soil; reclaiming the native plants and pastures from the invasive plants that had taken over in 20 years of being left to their own devices. We call this property "Love Farm" because it is a work of labor and love (and also because of all the amazing springtime rituals that go on between the forest animals around here lol). We hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

What makes this Cabin unique

This is the perfect place to unwind in total privacy, yet be only 30 minutes from a vibrant college town (State College) and 15 minutes from the quaint town of Millheim. You can't find a much more peaceful place than this! You won't hear the sound of traffic; only birds, frogs, and crickets. At night, you'll hear the occasional owl hooting or whippoorwill calling, and if you're really lucky, coyotes howling in the distance. The only lights you'll see at night are a billion stars on a clear night and lightning bugs during the summer. In season, eat fruit right off the trees or harvest ripe tomatoes off the vine from our garden. Stroll the mowed paths around the field. Let the kids catch (and release!) salamanders and frogs. Slow down to the pace of nature. This is country living at its most relaxing and peaceful.