I travel to little Richland Center, Wisconsin, a good bit for business. It’s in the southwest corner of the state — a little-known area of the ancient Ocooch Mountain range, which are now forested rocky hills cut through by streams. The area is more technically known as the Driftless Region (referring to its getting a pass from glaciation in the last ice age), and it’s a beautiful spot.
Usually I stay in the quirky little Ramada Inn right in town. Also called the White House, it sports a capital dome, pictures of all the presidents in the lobby, and rooms named for the states. But if was full this week, as was the only other decent motel in town.
So I searched for B&Bs and instead came across Candlewood Cabins. The pictures of their “Glass House” intrigued me, so I called on my drive down and booked it.
It’s appropriately named. Made of 4×4 posts and a tin roof, pretty much the rest of it is double-pane glass panels salvaged, according to the proprietor and builder of the place, from a bunch of sliders from a single house.
It’s glorified camping. There’s electricity, but no TV, no phone, no Internet, and (for AT&T, anyway) no cell phone service. The little house behind it is the bathhouse, reached by a short outdoor bridge. There’s electric heat that didn’t quite keep up the one night I was there, when it dipped into the high 30s. Air conditioning is also known as a ceiling fan and a portable fan tucked away next to the futon — oh, and all those upper hinged transom windows and two screen doors.
But it’s quiet and cozy and hidden away almost out of sight of the other two cabins, there in the thick woods. I think I’ll be back.