A farmhouse cabin in the California mountains provides a cozy retreat to enjoy the fall colors—and vintage collectibles.
When you have fond memories of vacationing with your family as a kid, sometimes you just have to recreate them when you’re grown up. That was the case for blogger and Instagrammer Janice Morrow of Fig and Twigs, who decided with her husband, Bill, to build a mountain getaway in the charming vacation town of Big Bear Lake, California. “I remember being up in Big Bear with my family as a child,” Janice says. “I wanted to get back to being in the mountains.” Now their custom 6,500-square-foot cabin has ultimate farmhouse charm, perfect for hosting family during the fall.
Vision and Voice
From the start, Janice had a vision for her mountain cabin. “I told Bill, ‘I have a vision of us having a getaway to go to on the weekends, with a red pot on the stove simmering with hot soup, and us coming inside after a walk through the fall leaves.’” That year for Christmas, Janice received a big red cast-iron pot for Christmas with a note from her husband saying, “Let’s follow your dream.” That’s when they started looking at real estate.
The vintage mirror in the entryway was a surprise purchase. “We found it at the Salvation Army, and it was in this giant crate,” Janice says. “They wouldn’t let us open the crate, but we knew it was a mirror from France. We took a chance and bought it. It is hand painted and the color matched. But the mural was a picture of odd-looking cherubs that were frightening to look at, so I created the pressed floral design to replace it.”
Once they decided to build a home from scratch, it took the couple a year and a half to design the home themselves, with help from an architect. One of the priorities for the home was a light and airy design. “So many homes up here are very dark with a lot of wood, and they don’t give that same sense of peace,” Janice says. “We needed it to be really light and airy inside, so we wanted every wall white, with light wood. ” Tall, vaulted ceilings and plenty of windows were integral to the design to get that bright and relaxed feel.
“We needed it to be really light and airy inside, so we wanted every wall white, with light wood”
But light and bright farmhouse style is counterintuitive for an area that predominantly has traditional wood log cabins, as Big Bear does. “Our builder is local and had always done dark wood homes, so it was hard for him to understand the concept,” Janice says. “But now he loves it and has since built a home similar to ours on his own property.”
The living room area is a cozy mix of fall décor and relaxing seating, especially for the family dog, Daisy Rhubarb. Miniature sliding barn doors cover the TV for a clean look that also provides functionality.“I don’t like seeing an exposed TV, but my husband loves to watch sports,so this was a compromise,” Janice says.The upstairs sitting room is primarily for Janice’s grandkids. “We wanted that room to be for the grandkids to play, their space where they could just be themselves,” she says.
A Hosting Home
While Janice’s original vision was a smaller cabin for the couple to escape to on the weekends, as they started to plan, they realized they needed something a bit larger. “Once we started thinking about why we wanted to have this home, we realized it was about family,” she says. “We wanted someplace our children and grandchildren could come and gather.”
The home’s design reflects this embrace of hosting family and friends. The 6,500 square feet includes six bedrooms that can sleep a total of 16 people. The large dining room, kitchen and separate bar room also provide plenty of living space for gathered family and friends to share meals and relaxing vacation time together. “When you walk in, you feel like you can relax,” Janice says. The design, plus the gathering of people, makes this cabin in the woods a perfect retreat.
Above the kitchen hangs the American flag the Morrows received when Bill’s father died a few years ago. “He was a pilot in World War II, and our son is also in the Army,” Janice says. “We decided we wanted to honor them in a way that every time we walked in, we would see the flag and be reminded.”The dining table sits in the main living area with an open floor plan. Janice found the dining table at Habitat for Humanity for $150; she sanded it and repainted it with chalk paint. Above the table sits an old canoe-turned-light fixture, which was Bill’s idea. “We painted it white so it didn’t stand out too much; we wanted it to blend in like a ghost canoe,” Janice says. “When you do recognize it, it has that interesting feeling of whimsy to it.”Looking out the window in the loft bedroom, visitors can see the charming styled canoe above the dining table. “When you’re up above you can see it filled as if it was ready to go on an adventure,” Janice says. “We change it seasonally, like in the fall with the plaid blankets.”The kitchen features a unique element: white stones above the range hood. “We were nearing the finishing of the details, and one of the items we hadn’t ordered was something for above the range hood,” Janice says. “I was at Home Depot, and our contractor called and said the tile man was there and ready to put the tile in, and where was it? We were out of budget money for the project, and right there in front of me in the garden section were bags of white rocks. I told him I was picking up the stones right then.” The lucky idea became Janice’s favorite part of the kitchen.The bunk beds in the girls’ bedroom are built in, along with several bouquets of dried flowers added for a charming touch.This corner of Janice’s flower room features a vintage cast-iron sink she found at a flea market. “It took three men to carry it to the car,” she says. “It was so heavy that our contractor told us to be very sure of where we wanted it, because he would only move it once.” Above on the wall are several of Janice’s original floral paintings.Janice’s favorite room in the house is her flower room. “It was so gracious of Bill to let me have this room; he doesn’t even have an office up here,” she says. “This is truly my favorite room; I love every detail. It’s very me.”The bar room opens to both the dining room and entryway, and is another gathering place for visitors. “We wanted that old-school pub feeling,” Janice says. “We’re not big drinkers, but we wanted a place to gather and not be centered around the TV.” On long open shelves rests the Morrows’ stein collection they’ve gathered over the years.In the entryway stand two vintage cabinets from the 1920s. “I found them at the flea market; there was a tag on the bottom shelf with the name of the furniture shop they came from in Los Angeles and the date they were delivered,” Janice says. She now uses the cabinets to display her vintage pewter and silver vase collection.The home has two different bunk rooms: one designed with girls in mind and one for boys. This corner of the boys’ room has a custom upholstered chair, along with a rack of hanging plaid blankets, perfect for fall.The downstairs guest bedroom features 150-year-old vintage shutters from Hungary that Janice found at a flea market. “I didn’t even repaint them; they worked perfectly with the color palette,” she says.The loft bedroom has two twin beds and a window that overlooks the dining area. The fun upholstered chairs are custom designed from used chairs Janice found at the Salvation ArmyJanice and Bill worked with their builder to design this custom vanity, complete with a scalloped edge and a daisy tile backsplash. “Daisies are my favorite flower,” Janice says. They used the same tile on the downstairs powder room countertops for cohesion.The master bathroom has both a freestanding tub and a shower in a white and bright corner of the house.The downstairs area has two powder rooms, which the family have nicknamed the boy’s room and the girl’s room. “The green vessel sink was a one-of-a-kind sink sitting by itself in a tile shop. I asked my Instagram followers if I should buy it, and they all said no, so I just had to get it then!” she laughs. “I loved the color so much that I designed the rest of the bathroom around it.”In the master bedroom, two chandeliers provide a feminine touch, while custom upholstery on a vintage sofa is the star of the show. “I found the sofa at the Salvation Army and had it upholstered with soft green velvet so … it matches with the pine trees out the window,” Janice says.
Victoria is a brand advisor, marketing strategist, writer and editor. She was the editorial director of American Farmhouse Style for almost 10 years, and now enjoys writing occasional articles for the magazine and receiving the beautiful copies in the mail.
Victoria is also a wife and mom to three little ones: two on earth and one in heaven. With any (not so spare) time, she devours books, dabbles in fiction writing and works on her house. As a home décor enthusiast and DIYer herself, she knows what a little paint and patience can do for a room!
