"When I first saw this place, I wasn't thrilled - the house was dark and cold, and the first thing you saw when you opened the front door was the refrigerator," says Kara Berr, 39, a registered nurse who works with severely challenged children.
Changes had to be made, the Berrs knew, and they committed themselves to preserving as much of the original log construction as they could.
Working with Holliday Architects in Medford, the couple planned a two-story addition in 2010.
It was completed in November 2011.
The Berrs moved out of the cabin, staying with her parents for six months while Holliday and Carlin Contractors, also of Medford, transformed the interior and exterior spaces.
The major change was a two-story addition across the back.
Crucial to the plan was a desire to maximize one of the home's greatest assets. Just beyond its back deck is beautiful, tree-lined Lake Pine, and now the views are spectacular from most of the living spaces.
By adding 898 square feet, relocating the kitchen to the center in an open design, and placing a new step-down gathering room at the back, they transformed the house's look and feel - and its practicality and comfort.
A new heating and air-conditioning system and extensive replacement of windows and doors raised the comfort level while significantly lowering energy bills.
Other elements of the plan included total redesign of what had been a "ship's ladder" staircase, addition of a second-floor master suite overlooking Lake Pine with its own private master bath, and addition of a second-floor hall bath.
A charming second-floor deck with a fire pit also allows for breathtaking lake views.
"The first overnight here, I told Adam I felt like I was at a resort. I just couldn't believe how we were transported to this place," Kara says.
And the logs? They're still a show-stopping feature of this cabin, newly polished and glowing in the dining room, in a first-floor archway, on the handsome staircase, and in two original upstairs bedrooms. The chinking between the logs has been cleaned and painted.
Even original logs from the outdoors that were sidelined in the construction project were brought indoors for use as moldings.
Still determined to bring the 21st century into their log cabin, the Berrs chose an eclectic mix of the old - logs throughout the cabin, family antiques like Adam's grandfather's Asian-style desk and game table, the original fireplace in the dining room - juxtaposed with stainless-steel kitchen appliances, striking modern lighting fixtures, and contemporary furnishings in many areas.
A brown leather sectional sofa invites daydreaming and lake-gazing in the great room, and, just beyond, a bar-height modern dining table sits before the wood-burning fireplace.
"Kara also did a wonderful job of selecting our flooring," Adam says. A warm expanse of honey-colored birch wood runs throughout the downstairs, working perfectly to unite old and new.
But it might be Madison Berr, a spirited and charming 3-year-old, who has the best digs of all.
Her two-room second-floor "suite" has walls clad in the original 1930s logs, and her impressive collection of Disney memorabilia (Minnie Mouse is her favorite) occupies shelves and surfaces.
Madison also has her own playroom adjacent to her bedroom, and an outdoor heaven of playhouses and replica cabins in the property's side yard.
Lakefront family lounging is a hallmark of life in this log cabin, where fishing poles are at the ready at the side door, and Mama, Papa and Baby Bear chairs are lined up facing the lake.
"I grew up in Voorhees, which is a lovely community," says Kara. "But when I look out of our windows here and see the lake and the trees, I know that I'm living in paradise."
