There are few activities Jennifer Hannah and Jeff Dougherty enjoy more than fishing. The couple met almost 30 years ago while fishing, and continued to break out rod and reel whenever they had time off work and weren’t busy raising two children in Ridgefield, Wash., about 20 miles north of Portland, Ore.
A few years ago, they realized they would soon have more opportunities to spend time by the water. Their children would be leaving for college. Ms. Hannah, now 55, the director of Dick Hannah Dealerships, an automotive company, planned to delegate more work. And Mr. Dougherty, now 60, had retired from a business supplying products to the agricultural industry.
The couple already owned a second home, in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Montana, but it wasn’t quite where they pictured themselves.
“We were looking for a place where we could be more on the water, and be able to fish,” Ms. Hannah said.
At first, they figured they didn’t even need a property with a cabin on it. The main priority was finding a parcel of land with private river access. But when they saw a 14-acre lot with two log cabins at the confluence of the Bitterroot River and Nez Perce Creek near Darby, Mont., they welcomed the opportunity for bonus living space. They bought the property for $1.5 million in June 2022.
From the outside, the cabins “weren’t anything special,” Ms. Hannah said, noting that they were built in the 1980s. One measured about 1,725 square feet, the other was about 770 square feet, and surrounding trees largely obscured the structures.
That suited the couple just fine. “We didn’t want a river palace,” Ms. Hannah said.
The interiors needed updating, but in the first year, there were bigger issues to address. They had to replace a private bridge into the property, and the septic system needed to be upgraded.
The next spring, they began working on the renovations. While the couple weren’t interested in all-out luxury, they did want the cabins to feel warm and inviting. Looking at homes on Instagram, Ms. Hannah found the work of Heidi Caillier, an interior designer based in Seattle.
“I could see how she was different, as far as her ability to put together colors and patterns to keep things interesting without being overwhelming,” Ms. Hannah said. “It all seemed very comfortable.”
When she contacted Ms. Caillier about the job, Ms. Hannah told the designer she didn’t want anything too polished, frilly or decorative. She still wanted the structures to remain rustic cabins.
Ms. Caillier was up for the challenge. “The landscape is very rugged, and they’re just really simple log structures that sit right next to the roaring river,” Ms. Caillier said. “We wanted the décor to be able to stand up to that, so it was about simplicity and ruggedness, and using furniture that felt a little bit worn-in, with textiles that are a little hardier.”
First, they replaced the flooring in both cabins, changing it with reclaimed oak planks. In the larger cabin, which Ms. Hannah and Mr. Dougherty planned to use as the primary living space, Ms. Caillier designed a new kitchen with green cabinetry featuring small cutouts inspired by woodwork she had seen in Swiss chalets. For the adjacent dining area, she chose vintage Danish chairs by Henning Kjaernulf with a chunky, handcrafted look.
In the living area, Ms. Caillier placed low-slung vintage Brazilian lounge chairs by Percival Lafer next to the existing stone fireplace, on top of layered rugs. The chairs would typically have leather cushions, she said, but she wanted cozier upholstery. “I thought it would be interesting to cover them in this very thick, woolen burgundy fabric instead,” she said.
In the two bedrooms, Ms. Caillier had a similar focus on material warmth. In the primary bedroom, she painted the ceiling forest green, added full-length patterned drapery around the windows and brought in accessories like a fluffy sheepskin rug and a vibrantly patterned purple wool blanket from the Welsh company Melin Tregwynt.
In the primary bathroom, she painted the ceiling, walls and trim forest green. “We wanted it to feel earthy, moody, dark, cozy,” she said.
For the smaller cabin, which also has two bedrooms, and which Ms. Hannah and Mr. Dougherty planned to use as a guesthouse, Ms. Caillier employed similar ideas but adjusted the details. The kitchen cabinetry has cutouts, but in a different pattern, and is painted blue. The bathroom is monochromatic, but covered in glossy reddish-orange tile instead of green paint.
The renovations were completed last December, and the total cost to update the property was about $650,000.
Even though the couple weren’t looking for log cabins in the beginning, they have thoroughly embraced them. “I love how unassuming they are from the outside, but then you walk in and they’re just beautiful,” Ms. Hannah said. “To be ensconced in this really pretty world, both inside and outside, is definitely a source of therapy.”
Of course, the couple are also continually soothed by one other thought: Great fishing awaits, just a few steps away.
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