Budget Breakdown: With $55K, They DIYed the Perfect Forest Cabin in West Virginia

When you walk through the front door of Julie Fields and Malcolm Taylor’s cabin in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, you’re greeted by a wall of windows that frame countless green treetops in spring and summer, floating red, gold, and orange leaves in autumn, and branches blanketed with bright-white snow in winter.

"We like to say the house borrows space from the forest, because it sits on a 4.5-acre lot under a canopy of mature maple, birch, and oak trees," says Malcolm. "The experience changes with the seasons. You hear wind rustling through the trees in the summer, and in the fall, you hear wolves running through fallen leaves."

Julie and Malcolm, who live in Baltimore, first visited Berkeley Springs upon the recommendation of a friend. "They told me about it in passing, describing it as a quiet, beautiful, wellness-focused artists’ community," says Julie. "Some years later, we celebrated our sixth anniversary there." The town, known for its mineral hot springs, was everything Julie’s friend had described. "It felt like an escape," she says. "We left feeling reconnected to nature and each other."