A letter of gratitude to my dad

Dear Dad,

Thank you for the gift of the land that you poured your heart and soul into for so many years. You truly created a special place in the woods of North Idaho, and I consider it a blessing and a privilege to be able to carry on your legacy on the property.


The kids and I just spent a week there for Thanksgiving, and it was extra special being able to invite a friend along to join us. Thank you for allowing us to have vision for the Casita nine years ago and for all the hard work you put into fixing that up and making it livable so that more than one family could enjoy the property at a time.

I wish you could see what Julie has done to the yurt space. We are considering renaming it, I hope that’s OK, but what you built up there in the garden area is really not a yurt at all and I feel like calling it that does it an injustice. It’s another one of your creative masterpieces and has so many of your special touches and quirks built-in. She has added insulation and finishing touches, and with her creative eye and cute decorative style and furniture pieces, she has really made the space quite charming. I hope you would be pleased to see that space being used and loved.

We were able to get snow plow service lined up, and it snowed a few inches the other night, so the driveways are plowed, and we are hoping for a few more bookings between now and Christmas when we return to spend another holiday there and then winterize things for the next few months.

I know you used to want to close things down in the winter, but I really feel it’s one of the most beautiful times of year in North Idaho and I hope we can find a way to keep the rentals open in future years and generate enough interest so that other people can come and enjoy the snow and the magic that happens there at the holidays.

You know, we never quite see our parents like the rest of the world sees them, and I didn’t realize how creative and innovative you really were. I think I must get a lot of my creativity and artistic vision from you, but your skills and talents go well beyond anything I could ever dream up.

It must’ve felt so rewarding to build a home to live in and provide shelter for your family with your own two hands (and I’m sure the help of many friends and equipment along the way.)

You were truly a one of a kind dad and grandpa and we miss you so much, but you left us a huge piece of yourself when you gifted us your land, and we will continue to care for it and treasure it for as long as possible.

I know you were always so proud of your Airbnb reviews, and we have a Google page set up now also where people can leave reviews as well.


To any of you reading this, if you’ve experienced the magic and beauty of the Casler Farm cabins in North Idaho, we would love if you could take time to leave us a review on Google. it would mean the world and help us share this space with more people. I will also post the Airbnb listings in case you’re interested in visiting the property yourself.



Comments

Jenica's Dad said…
The "yurt" was inspired by traditional Mongolian Yurts, which is why Ken called it that. However the structure certainly is much more than a simple yurt. It would be accurately described as a combination of "Tensile Architecture" and "Hobbit House Architecture". Call it the Hobbit House? 😁
December 4, 2025 at 8:42 PM
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