Note: This story was updated July 5 to correct the name of the design studio that helped with decor.
Chattanoogans Adam and Cortney Swann are now booking guests at the former summer camp on Monteagle, which they purchased and spent the last year renovating, transforming it into a vacation destination worthy of a magazine spread.
Most of the 10 remaining cabins at the former Camp Mountain Lake, built in 1942, were primitive-style cabins — screened-in rather than air-conditioned, and with composting toilets instead of the flushing sort.
“We’ve redone a cabin before — or a yurt or a condo or whatever, but never 10 cabins at the same time,” Cortney Swann says.
The Swanns added drywall, air-conditioning, electricity and running water to the cabins, nine of which are available to rent, with the tenth cabin occupied by the property’s caretaker. Most are one-bedroom cabins, and one is a two-bedroom, which they call “the lodge,” that features a full-size kitchen, washer, dryer and shower. While all the cabins have running water, all but the lodge share a separate shower facility nearby.