Centennial Cabin Honors Family’s Memories

Visitors to McCormick’s Creek State Park near Spencer, Indiana, have the chance to stay in Centennial Cabin created by Honest Abe Log Homes thanks to the generosity of a family with a 70-year tradition of vacationing there. 

Centennial Cabin was the idea of brothers Jim, Glenn and Maurie Luetkemeier, who together provided much of the funding. The brothers wanted to honor their late parents, Oscar and Louise Luetkemeier, of West Lafayette, Indiana. McCormick’s Creek, which opened in 1916, was the state’s first park. Oscar and Louise spent their first vacation as a married couple at the park in 1948, and the vacation became an annual tradition spanning four generations. 

The cabin is called “Centennial Cabin” in recognition of the recent 100th anniversary of Indiana’s system of state parks. 

The 1,458-square-foot, two-story log cabin, which was a project headed up by Honest Abe Log Homes Independent Dealer Randall Gasper, owner of White Eagle Building Systems in Borden, Indiana, is surrounded by forest and overlooks McCormick’s Cove Nature Preserve.

Based on Honest Abe’s Frontier Plan, the 8″ x 8″ D-log cabin sleeps eight, features a fully accessible entrance and 768-square-foot first floor, an 8′ x 32′ front porch and a 14′ x 16′ screened-in rear porch. Logs are 8″ x 8″ D-logs, a 690-square-foot heavy timber second floor and a rafter roof system.

The final plans were executed by Honest Abe’s award-winning designer, Michael Hix. The Honest Abe construction crew managed by Brian Ritter traveled to Indiana to Indiana to complete the dry-in.

“It was my honor to work with the Luetkemeier family to honor their family’s legacy,” said Gasper. “I am pleased to know that Honest Abe and White Eagle will be help make memories for generations to come.”