Rustic cabin in Scott County’s Deer Lake community provides perfect family retreat

Carol and Haywood Smith love being near water and nature.

Although they enjoyed having a houseboat on Laurel Lake in Eastern Kentucky, the Lexington couple were looking for a weekend house.

They considered property on Dale Hollow near Burkesville, Ky., but were intrigued when friends suggested they buy a lot on Deer Lake near Sadieville in northern Scott County.

There, they built a mountain-style cabin on a cove lot and found a bit of paradise not too far from their house in the Hartland neighborhood.

“We came up here to escape,” Haywood said. “It’s like a state park on a golden pond.”

Haywood, a pediatric dentist, and Carol, a general dentist, built their weekend home in 2003. Even before they retired in 2011, they sold their Lexington house and made the Deer Lake cabin their primary home.

The couple bought a four-wheel drive vehicle and never missed a snowy day of work. In recent years, they have spent six months a year there, while spending the other half of the year at their house in Sarasota, Fla.

Family cabin

When they built the cabin, the Smiths had looked forward to sharing it with their only child, Steve, and his family. However, Steve and wife Buffy later moved to Bradenton, Fla., a beach town on the Gulf of Mexico.

Now, Haywood and Carol want to live in nearby Sarasota year-round, to spend more time with their grandchildren, Grace, 10, Ashlyn, 8, and T.J., 3.

“That’s how the best-laid plans of parents go,” Haywood said, with a laugh. The couple have put the lake house on the market, but they will treasure their remaining time there. A few weeks ago, their son’s family came for a last visit.

The Smiths’ house is one of 26 in the 570-acre Deer Lake community. Each home has six to eight acres of land as well as a private dock. The Smiths were drawn to their 5.8-acre cove lot because they didn’t have to clear as many trees to gain a lake view.

They call their back yard “Dogwood Cove.” The property featured several dogwood trees when they purchased it, but Haywood has planted many more. He protects young trees from deer with deer fencing; once the trees grow to shoulder height, the deer lose interest in them.

“You can always see deer and wild turkeys,” Haywood said. “We saw an osprey and an eagle this morning. We also have turtles, rabbits, squirrels, raccoons, otter and beaver.”

Deer Lake has two lakes for its residents to enjoy with swimming, kayaking, canoeing, paddle-boarding and fishing. The community restricts motors on the lake to 9.9 horsepower, so a lot of boaters use electric trolling motors, keeping the water quiet.

Much of the flooded timber in the lake was left there intentionally to create habitat for fish, which include bass, crappie, catfish, bluegill; grass carp have been added to help with weed control around the lake. Homeowners have cleared walking/running trails throughout the lake property.

The Smiths found a log home plan they liked, but they ultimately decided not to build the house with logs.

Instead, they purchased a timber frame package from North Carolina and had Georgetown builder John Shirley put it together. The exterior of their house features maintenance-free HardiPlank siding.

Rustic décor

The 1 ½-story home has 3,710 square feet of finished living space, including a walk-out basement. The house has four bedrooms and three baths.

One of the bedrooms is part of the upstairs loft, which also houses the couple’s office space. Granddaughters Grace and Ashlyn slept in the loft during their monthlong Smith Camp each summer. Grandson T.J. made his first Smith Camp stay in 2015.

An 18-foot-high cathedral ceiling and a stone fireplace with a log mantel make a dramatic great room with a multilevel Palladian window that provide stunning lake views.

The open kitchen features a large island with granite countertops, blue pine cabinetry crafted from wood harvested in Montana, a wood backsplash, a pantry and a utility closet.

The adjacent dining area has tile flooring and wood posts between each window. The space steps out onto the open deck, where the couple and their guests enjoy “dining in the trees.”

A walkway from the deck leads to the large screened porch, which can be accessed from the great room and the owners’ suite.

Friends and family are drawn to the porch, Carol said. With its 18-foot-high ceiling and a fireplace for making s’mores, it’s a cozy place for hanging out.

The lower level features a family room with a stone fireplace, a bar, a dining area and a large bedroom and bath. A sliding barn door can make the guest space more private.

“We tried to fit our love of rustic things into the house,” Carol said. “We had fun shopping on trips to Montana and North Carolina. It’s been more fun to decorate this place than a city home.”

As they prepare to sell their lake home, the Smiths treasure the scrapbook they have filled with pictures of family and fun times there.

They will remember the Smith Camps, when they taught their grandchildren to catch fish, to watch the different kinds of birds visiting the feeders and to count the number of deer they saw while driving to the front gate.

“We were at their beck and call for a solid month here each summer,” Carol said. “They regret that their camp is going away.”

This story was originally published April 10, 2016 at 2:00 AM with the headline "Rustic cabin in Scott County’s Deer Lake community provides perfect family retreat."