Lover's hideaway in the mountains

Home and Garden

Profile of Gerald and Rebecca Freda's cabin near Helen, Georgia.

The size of the cabin makes it easy for the Fredas to maintain. The cedar cabin features an open floor plan with a wood-burning fireplace. Lots of windows onto the wooded lot give the interior a bright, homey feel, and a hot tub on the porch offers total privacy.

In 2006, Gerald and Rebecca Freda bought a one-bedroom cabin just four miles from Helen, Georgia. They live in Virginia, where Gerald works for CaptionMax and Rebecca works in the cardiac care unit of the Virginia Health Center.

The Fredas enjoy having convenient access to the water from their cabin in Helen.

It takes the Fredas about 16 hours to get to Helen but they find it worth the drive. Outdoor enthusiasts, they spend time at the state park, go hiking, take paddle boats out on the lake, go tubing on the area rivers and even get in a little horseback riding. They also like to spend time in Helen, enjoying the quaintness of the town with its horse-drawn buggies and its Bavarian-style architecture.

Keeping up with a property 16 hours from home isn't easy, so the Fredas use the services of Alpine Helen Mountain Rentals to manage the cabin. "Debbie has done a marvelous job," said Gerald, "and I'm really proud to have people come and stay at our cabin. It's a perfect place to enjoy yourself without any noise or interruption, but you're just four miles from Helen so you can enjoy the restaurants and arts and crafts available there."

Their one-bedroom cabin has cable and Internet access so someone could go there and work, but what the Fredas like is the feeling of isolation and getting away from the hustle and bustle of the bit city. "It's a place where you can breathe," said Gerald. "It provides a little relief for the mind." They've named the cabin "Lover's Hideaway".

A friend had some cabins in Helen and when they came to visit, the Fredas decided that investment property in the town of Helen would give them a place to get away to in the summer and fall. They bought a one-bedroom cabin in a secluded location and offered it as a rental vacation property during the times they can't be there.

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The size of the cabin makes it easy for the Fredas to maintain. The cedar cabin features an open floor plan with a wood-burning fireplace. Lots of windows onto the wooded lot give the interior a bright, homey feel, and a hot tub on the porch offers total privacy.

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