Renovated Cabin Gets a New Life

In search of a reprieve from Scottsdale’s summer heat and ready for some Exploration and Relaxation, we rented a wonderful little cabin in Forest Lakes, Arizona. During our stay we came across a stack of pictures showing how Robyn and Keith Brous renovated this once dilapidated foreclosure to create their beautiful mountain retreat, Sweet October. I was so completely in awe over the transformation, I just had to know the story behind this sweet cabin and the couple that breathed new life into it.

 

My husband was randomly on Trulia and came across the property. It was a foreclosure and in deplorable shape. My husband is a General Contractor and I’m an Architect, so we just saw a sad home that wanted to come alive again. We put an offer in, site unseen. Our offer was accepted and up we went to explore it. I walked in and I loved it .

Everyone thought we were crazy to not just knock it down and start fresh. I designed it, my husband’s crew built it. They slept in the garage, in tents… we had it pretty much hanging to pour new footings.

– Robyn Brous

Kudos to Robyn and Keith for having some serious faith and vision to see this diamond in the rough. The cabin is completely renovated and is about 1900 sq ft. It has a gourmet kitchen, large dining area, full size laundry, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and a fun loft the kids will love.

 The first thing you notice when you walk in is this wonderful balance of modern, vintage and rustic. The colors are neutral and the materials very organic, it gives it the feeling of being elegant yet comfortable and inviting.

 In addition to taking on a complete gut job, Keith made use of the wood from an old chicken coop to create bases for many of the tables in the cabin. Robyn rescued a fantastically huge table from the garage and spent an entire weekend sanding off “50 years of oil and elk cleaning ick” to prepare it for it’s prominent new space in Sweet October’s family room.

Located on over an acre of forested land, Sweet October’s exterior has as much to offer as the inside. The garage is now a fantastic rec building complete with wood burning stove, a pool table, darts and an American flag that was Keith’s great grandfather’s. You can open up the big barn doors and enjoy the great outdoors while hanging out and shooting pool.

It is obvious just how much Robyn and Keith have invested in this great property; not just in finances but in time, sweat, passion and love. I was still curious though, where did the name ‘Sweet October’ come from?

We named her Sweet October because we closed on the property in October and stayed for the first time the following October. That first trip, we brought our 2 year old son and our fresh 3 week old baby and celebrated our 10 wedding anniversary – which is in October. Sweet October.

Needless to say, we have a lot of love invested into that little place.

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A big thank you to Robyn and Keith for sharing their story and pictures. For more pictures of their fantastic mountain getaway or to get booking information, click on any of the photos above and you will be directed to the Sweet October rental page on the VRBO website. 

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