A PERFECT CITY BREAK
There’s no doubt that vacation home aesthetics leveled up significantly over the last decade thanks to visual home-sharing apps Airbnb and VRBO. Gone are the days of musty cottages furnished with Grandma’s legacy effects. Today’s standard is fresh and artful, with hotel-quality bedding and a hipster turntable. So what sets some apart? For us, a confluence of setting, design, and soul.
A semi-secluded modern farmhouse, Wandering Soul Cabin is part of a small collection of homes that share breezy natural surroundings, community gardens, trails, and a sweet, canoe-worthy pond. Conceived by creative team Andrew Pipkelejs and Gina Mazzia, the intent was to create a retreat from the city after decades of day-tripping to their beloved Lake Michigan shore.
Andrew, a naturalist and landscape architect, set out to transform the property into a lush, biodiverse oasis as treasured by people as the pollinators who sustain it. While Gina applied her graceful, nurturing aesthetic to the home’s interior. Inspired by a community they’d grown to love, Wandering Soul became much more than the sum of its parts for the couple. A place to create and collaborate—to rest, realign, and be at peace. And ultimately, a place they felt they should share.
Which brings us to the soul part. Through this love of place and the joy of making something wonderful together, Wandering Soul conveys an undeniable spirit of caring. Thoughtful design, for sure, but as you move through the home, countless touches slowly reveal themselves. Eggs fresh from a local farm, a gifted notebook, even something as small as a temporary tattoo present gentle reminders that this time is special, essential, and meant to be savored slowly. ‘What brings you here?’ is all the intel your hosts need to curate a stay so personal and comforting you’ll look for angels in the atmosphere.
Wandering Soul Cabin offers 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, a fireplace, screened porch, and a truly magical backyard.
Local Tip: True to their ‘find your gift and give it away’ nature, Gina and Andrew reserve two weeks each year to share Wandering Soul at no charge. Follow along on Instagram for nomination announcements.
words Collette DiJohn Kemper
images Dan Kelleghan + Katrina Hoernig
