It all started with an A-Frame Fisher-Price Little People House that I got when I was about 4 or 5 years old.
I’ve been obsessed with A-frames ever since. There was just something about that shape that felt SO cozy to me (cue the “I want to go to there” line from 30 Rock), and staying in one has been on my bucket list for as long as I can remember.
A few summers ago, after Bean started middle school, it REALLY hit me that time was way too short and we would never start ticking off the things on our bucket lists unless we made a point to do it. Someday would never come, unless we made it.
So we started a little tradition: One “Someday” Every Summer!
Every summer, we finally do one thing we’ve always wanted to do but, for whatever reason, just never have.
Last summer, we stayed at a house overlooking the Tioga Mine Pit, and I completely fell in love with the Grand Rapids area.
So when I found an A-frame, on a lake, in Grand Rapids?
I was sold.
The Minnesota A-Frame We Stayed In
I did a little Google search for “a frame cabin minnesota” and up popped the A-Frame on Bass Lake.
We wanted to stay within 3-4 hours of where we live, and we didn’t need it to be huge or sleep a lot of people since it was just us 3.
A lot of the A-frames in Minnesota or neighboring Wisconsin were either way bigger than we needed (and due to that more expensive) or already booked through the summer when we got the itch to pull the trigger on this “someday” adventure.
And then I found this one.
It was lakefront. It was beautiful. It had two bedrooms. And then I started reading the amenity list…
Hot tub. Sauna. Firepit. Multiple outdoor living areas. Arcade games. Private dock.
Basically, it had enough going on that we could make the cabin itself the vacation.
Why I Chose This One Even Though It Was Expensive
Bre Pea has given our family some extra income over the years, and I had money saved that allowed us to splurge on something like this. I feel incredibly lucky that this little corner of the internet has helped us make memories like these.
But I’m not going to lie. Between all of those amenities and visiting during peak Minnesota cabin season, it cost a pretty penny.
But this was one of those times when I decided I was ok with spending more. And the older Bean gets, the easier that decision becomes.
These summers are flying by. Before we know it, she’ll have her own exciting young-adult life and probably won’t be quite as available to drop everything and go stay in a quirky triangle-shaped house with her dear old Mom and Dad.
So…we booked the expensive A-frame.
And after staying there, I can say one thing. I couldn’t find another A-frame in the area that combined everything this one had: lakefront property, a hot tub, sauna, firepit, outdoor living space, an arcade area, and enough separate sleeping space for the three of us.
One thing we learned after booking through Airbnb is that the owners also accept direct reservations through their own website, which can save you some of the fees charged by the larger booking platforms. If we stay again, that’s definitely how I’d look at booking it.
What the A-Frame Was Actually Like
When we first pulled up, I was instantly in love with the place.
The owners did a fantastic job updating it. The decor was warm and inviting, the wood paneled walls and ceiling made it feel so cozy, and the layout was super comfortable and convenient.
And the beds were comfortable, which is VERY important information coming from me because I am basically the Princess and the Pea when it comes to sleeping somewhere new.
Plus there were so many fun little touches throughout the house. The loft has a little play area for kids. There’s an arcade corner with a few fun games that we decided to do a little family tournament on.
The layout also worked really well for us. With us just being a family of 3, we were spoiled and able to split everyone up into their own sleeping areas. My husband and myself each had a bedroom upstairs and Bean got the downstairs bed all to herself.
The upstairs main bedroom had a private deck with chairs for enjoying the gorgeous view of the lake.
But one of my favorite surprises about the entire trip had nothing to do with the amenities.
I knew I was obsessed with A-frames.
What I didn’t know was that Bean apparently was too.
We surprised her with this fairly spur-of-the-moment trip, and she was ridiculously excited when we told her where we were staying. Then we walked through the door for the first time and she was every bit as smitten with the place as I was.
Apparently the A-frame obsession is genetic.
Things I’d Want to Know Before Booking This A-Frame
There were a few things I would want to know if I were considering booking it.
First, the A-frame shares the larger property with the owners’ cabin. You can see their cabin on the right in this photo.
We learned from the information provided at check-in that the A-frame is part of their family’s retirement plan, which I thought was so cute.
Even with the owners nearby, though, the A-frame still felt very private. At no point did we feel like someone was watching us hang out in the hot tub or silently judging our ping-pong skills. 😉
There was also a super cute spiral staircase that, I’ll be honest, took a little bit of getting used to! But it all added to the charm and look of the interior.
And then there were those gorgeous A-frame windows. They are beautiful.
They also let in ALL OF THE SUNLIGHT the second the sun comes up.
I normally sleep in what can only be described as a cave with blackout curtains and a Vornado fan that sounds like a jet engine taking off, so I struggled a little with that. That one was mostly on me, I should have prepared better. If you’re also a person who also requires complete darkness to sleep, bring a sleep mask. Future Me absolutely will.
What We Loved Most
Because we knew we were splurging on this trip, our plan was to actually enjoy the place we paid for. We planned to eat every meal at the cabin and spend basically all of our time there.
Naturally, Minnesota weather had other ideas.
It had been sunny and around 80-85 degrees for a giant stretch of time leading up to our trip. Then our one full day at the cabin rolled around and brought cooler temperatures and drizzle. Typical.
We had planned to use the kayaks provided at the cabin, and we’d even brought our paddle board. That didn’t happen.
Instead, we spent a good chunk of the day bouncing between the hot tub, sauna, arcade and all of the different outdoor spaces whenever the raindrops allowed it. Not a bad Plan B.
And because we stayed put, we really used the kitchen, too. It was stocked with pretty much everything we needed. We cooked both dinners at the cabin and grilled out our 2nd night.
I actually loved not feeling like we needed to run around doing things.
The Lake + Outdoor Amenities
I think my favorite part of the entire property was what I coined the “outdoor living room”.
It had comfy chairs, an outdoor sofa, plus a bar area with a tv. Bean was going through a Dance Moms phase at the time so we just had to stream a few episodes while we ate our lunch.
But that was just one outdoor space.
There was also the traditional firepit area with comfy adirondack chairs, and a separate platform area by the lake with rocking chairs, propane firepit, and a hammock. Plus a private dock. SO MUCH OUTDOOR LIVING SPACE.
We stayed Monday through Wednesday in mid-July and Bass Lake was super quiet. Although we didn’t spend as much time in the lake like we thought we would, it added to the scenery and was gorgeous to look out on as we enjoyed all the amenities.
Was This Minnesota A-Frame Worth the Money?
For me? 100% yes.
I definitely had sticker shock when I booked it. But once we were there, I understood what we were paying for.
We weren’t just renting somewhere to sleep while we spent our days somewhere else. The A-frame itself was the experience.
We used the hot tub. We used the sauna. We played arcade games and ping-pong. We cooked together. We sat outside. We watched the lake. We wandered from one cozy little spot to another.
Could we have stayed somewhere cheaper? Absolutely. But cheaper wasn’t really the point of this particular trip.
The point was that I had wanted to stay in an A-frame for years, and this was our summer to finally stop saying “someday.”
Our “Someday” Summer Thing
I think that’s why this trip ended up meaning more to me than just spending a couple of nights at a pretty cabin.
When Bean started middle school, something shifted in my brain. Suddenly I could see how few of these summers we actually get. That stupid commercial (you know the one, “You only get 18 summers with your kids”) GOT to me.
And I’m realizing that if there’s something we’ve always wanted to do, I don’t want to keep waiting around for some magical future year when the timing is perfect. Someday doesn’t really exist unless you put it on the calendar.
Summer 2026’s Someday was staying in an A-frame. And it was every bit as cozy as Little-People-house-obsessed younger me hoped it would be.
Now I have approximately nine months to figure out what we’re finally doing next summer…
