Cloud Nine Log Cabin Ready for Guests

The Suiters’ Story

by Tia Suiter

Can we get something back that we long for? Can we relive the past? There are things in life we treasure and hold close to our hearts. Family memories during childhood years are definitely among them. When our family would gather together in The Great Smoky Mountains, our cabin had warm wood colors that gave great peace and comfort as soon as you entered.

My husband and I played together as children deep in the woods enjoying nature. We became the proud parents of four children along with our beautiful grandchildren. We still act like children at times and still love the great outdoors.

Cloud 9

In 2016 we purchased a repossessed cabin in Gatlinburg Tennessee. The house was custom built by a developer out of Georgia, who purchased the property site unseen from a topographic map.

It was a flat lot on the mountain top that overlooks Ski Mountain, Ober Gatlinburg, Clingman’s Dome and Mt. LeConte along with a view of the tram. Known as Cloud 9, the house was built with some of America’s last virgin longleaf pine. The Southern Norfolk Railroad Terminal in Atlanta, Georgia, was disassembled and hauled to Tennessee up the mountain for flooring and ceiling along with more than 150 beautiful beams inside the cabin. We were informed more than 300 additional beams just burned because no one wanted them.

The Cloud 9 cabin accommodated large family gatherings, church groups and organizations. On Thanksgiving Day in 2013 the septic tank backed up with 30 people staying for the holiday. The cabin sat for more than three years after the incident until we purchased it.

A Major Commitment

It was a long and very hard year of remodeling. Ten months after completion the devastating fires swept through The Great Smoky Mountains! Cloud 9 was destroyed.

Lots of people who had gotten married at Cloud 9, shared gatherings there, made memories there questioned the city and the prior rental companies about survival of The Cloud 9 cabin. It seemed overwhelming to so many to lose the warm colors and the rich presence of beautiful wood that was felt by all. It was something that could not be replaced. Or could it?

The Mission to Rebuild

This is where our search begins for the perfect rebuild of the home. There is so much competition in the world of building. There are great people at marketing, but the product they sell is not so great. It’s difficult to be sure you’re making the right choice. Quality is a must, longevity is a must and honesty is a must when something has personal value to you in life.

Our search ended when we found Honest Abe Log Homes. Their reputation separates all others.

Our design was to remain true to the original floor plan of the home. We had no blueprints, and the foundation made the job difficult to benchmark mark off of. But Honest Abe remained faithful and worked diligently with us in achieving this goal.

Out of the Ashes

There has been a lot of construction in The Great Smoky Mountains since the fires. But unfortunately there are a lot of sad stories due to it. We did not want to be one of them, like contractors not following through on jobs or materials delivered at job sites not protected and exposed to all the elements.

The fires reached across four communities. No one could be prepared for the amount of work it would take to rebuild. Workers came from all over. Hotels were purchased just to house workers. Individuals building homes had an extremely difficult time finding honest, reliable contractors and workers.

The home was constructed of massive 6×12 D-logs. As soon as construction started it was the talk of the mountain.

Mountain Majesty Emerges from the Ashes

Honest Abe sales representative Wayne Brady worked with us building our home, but by the end had become a true friend. The team assembling our home was amazing. We all worked so well together on issues and concerns. It gave us a lot of peace knowing we made the right decision.

There were many things lost in the fire, including family heirlooms of parents and grandparents – things that cannot ever be replaced. But one thing we did manage to hold on to against all odds was the warm feeling one has upon entering into the cabin. Many people who had the privilege of visiting the cabin before the fire expressed how shocking it was to do the impossible.

It feels warm, the wood throughout is beautiful, it brings a great feeling of peace and overall it is stunning due to the experience of Honest Abe Log Homes. Praise to Honest Abe Log Homes for tradition that will live throughout generations.