The recipe usually goes like this: Take a cabin, add some friends, toss in some fun times and create memories, layered with love.  State Representative Bill Haas and his wife Joenie created their own recipe: Take some friends, add in some fun times, throw in a pinch of love...and build a cabin.

Most of us dream of building memories at our cabin.  Some of us dream of building a cabin.  Few of us take that dream and do it by our selves. Bill & Joenie Haas have recently finished just such a dream.  But it didn't happen over night.

Bill is the Republican four-term State Representative (representing the Champlin/Northern Brooklyn Park area) and owner of Haas Managed Benefits, a health care and benefits consulting firm while Joenie is a group travel coordinator for Marshall Field's Travel.  Together, they set off to build their dream cabin, on their dream lake.  
 
For the Haases, the choice of lake was easy: Bill wanted a cabin nearby.  Joenie's parents had retired on Lake Mille Lacs in 1972 which made the lake feel like home. Add to that the short drive of just two hours and the Haases knew the lake on which they wanted to build. Bill adds that they "just love the lake."  After creating the list of "must haves" (sandy beach, no hill, close to the water), it only took five years to narrow the search from the right lake to the right lot.

Considering their marriage of 32 years, the Haases had what it takes to tackle building a cabin together.   Bill designed the cabin himself over a two-week span.  They decided on a two bedroom, two bath home with a loft and an open floor plan and acted as their own general contractors. The Haas' began in April, 1999 with a lake-owner's first priority: the dock.  Having succeeded in their first project, the Haases began building the home on Memorial Day. 

Leveling the lot, taking out trees, digging the foundation.  Those first days were difficult and exciting.  Shortly after starting the Haases were approached by their neighbors, Kenny & Patty Waneous who offered them the use of the loft above their garage.  The Haases graciously accepted.  Armed with a soft bed, an air conditioner and a shower, they were now able to tackle the project with a renewed vigor. 

"Once we started we were not going to stop until we were done" said Bill.

With a foundation in place, the Haases were committed.  They bought much of the lumber from Menards while the siding and floorboards were milled locally by Boyd Lumber.  "Boyd Lumber was great," said Bill. "Every Thursday night, we'd head to the cabin and a new bundle of supplies would be waiting."  Building each weekend, they soon finished the walls and flooring.  Then came the hand framing of the rafters including a 48-foot center beam.  From time to time friends would help, but most of the work was handled by the Haases themselves.  

Then came the first setback: The walls were not standing true.  The weight of the roof had caused the walls to bow.  Then came yet another setback.  While assessing the problem, Bill fell 10 feet from the loft area to the floor.  Luckily there was nothing broken, or as Bill puts it, "The lord was watching me that day."  Sore but recovering, Bill used the time to consider their problem and concluded that all he needed to do to fix the walls was to cut the rafters free and use a come-along to true up the walls.  After an intense weekend of adjustment, the Haases were back on track and the walls were perpendicular to the floor, just the way they should have been.  That was the end of September. 

October: Siding and soffits

November: Heat, insulation and plumbing

Thanksgiving: A makeshift bedroom and the first weekend in the cabin 

Christmas: A working fireplace

Winter months: Sheet-rock, electrical, and cupboards

Finishing the interior took most of the spring.  By July, the staircase was complete, another milestone in the adventure. "When Joenie walked down the stairs and exclaimed, 'we don't have to use a ladder anymore!', that was the greatest feeling" said Bill.   

Hand-hewing the handrails with a sharpened lawn mower blade and poly-coating all the woodwork took until September 2000.

Lessons Learned

As it turned out, every nail was set by the Haases (along with a few friends), every piece of siding placed by them, every window set by them.  Just a few projects were hired out: the brick work, heating, roofing and ceptic.  Five years of searching, seventeen months of building, 2,000 plus hours of effort, just a few mishaps, and a beautiful cabin later, the Haases had turned their rough drawings and ideas into a reality.  "Our dream turned out exactly how we wanted" said Bill.

After "lots of knicks, cuts, bruises and sweat equity," the Haases think they saved about 50% by building the home themselves.  Even while saving money, they gained memories and a real sense of accomplishment.  What's more, "it is also something that we did together, a commitment we made to each other."   They later named their getaway the Haas-C-Enda, in part a tribute to a Bills father who used to say that when it was time for the family to go home.
    
During the project, the Haases were able to get away for a vacation to Europe and Asia.  While on vacation and visiting some memorable locations, Bill had an idea.  Why not add a bit of history to their cabin? 

The Haases cabin on Lake Mille Lacs features the only fireplace in Minnesota with a stone from the Great Wall of China, another from the Bridge over the River Kwai, two from the Three Gorges area of China and four from ancient Greece.  One of the last stones placed was a red stone that Bill found on North Shore of Lake Superior that is shaped like a heart: fitting for a cabin hand made with love.

By Tom Henke