Original subtitles

[music playing]

KAREN NEPACENA: When we arrive to the cabin,

you kind of know you're here.

We start to roll down the windows

the moment we get into the neighborhood.

We turn the radio off.

And then you just kind of hear the rustle of the trees.

You start to smell the scent of the pine come into the car.

And everyone in the car just kind of-- like,

everyone rolls down their windows.

MILES: It's like a fresh new smell.

And all the fresh trees come in the air, and it smells so good.

KAREN NEPACENA: We can usually hear a little bit of noise

from the beach of people having fun.

So we discovered Arnold a few years ago.

We were on summer vacation.

We really fell in love because there's more

than just one thing to do that we looked at each other

and thought, this is kind of a magical little spot.

Why hadn't we ever been here with our kids before?

JOHN SHUM: We mainly enter through the sliding

door right here off the deck in the middle of the dining room,

living room.

From there, we have a kitchen.

KAREN NEPACENA: We have one bedroom downstairs.

Upstairs, we have one big queen bed

and then a set of bunk beds.

You have to have a pretty strong relationship

to survive a renovation.

And it is survival.

But we love the satisfaction after you

put your love and your blood, and sweat, and tears, and time

into renovation, because you can transform

a place from somebody else's home to your own

with your own spin.

And because this is a '70s cabin home,

we are pretty mindful about how we restored it and renovated

it, not just for looks but just to be

able to keep up with the weather up here,

keep up with a busy family.

And for us, it was about making memories for our family

and future generation, and having our friends and family

make memories here too.

So that that's all kind of worth it to us.

SEBASTIAN: Right now, we're in our cabin

in Arnold, California.

Alpine modern, I think, is what my parents call it.

It was cool seeing the place change.

It was fun also being able to pitch in to work and kind

of make your own room like the way

you wanted it to be or like how your parents wanted it to be,

which was really cool.

One thing that was hard about changing up the cabin

was seeing the bigger picture, not

knowing what it turned into.

Eventually, once you got flooring in,

or a room changed, or wall was different,

it was like it was something new, which is exciting to see.

JOHN SHUM: The kids were not always excited

about heading up to the cabin.

The first couple of weeks is always fun.

Right.

The novelty is there.

But after weeks of hard work, they're just like, oh,

we're going to the cabin again?

KAREN NEPACENA: I think it's been a great experience,

I hope, for them to see what we've done

and what they've helped us to do.

And as the renovation went month over month

and they would see the transformation of what they

would help us do, you could tell they were kind of excited

too just like, oh man, that looks so different than before.

And it's cute when we have friends and family

up here who have never been.

They walk them all around and they

show them all the different things they helped to do.

It's really a proud moment for us as parents.

JOHN SHUM: We enjoy the modern aesthetics

but we just wanted to keep that cabin coziness available.

I'm an interior designer for trade

so I really was trying to get the vision together.

We started with the kitchen.

We went with a kitchen that's made out of recycled materials.

And then we put in some recycled material hardwood floor.

We wanted materials that are going

to survive winters, and muddy paw prints, and muddy boots.

The loft is one of our favorite.

We really didn't have to do much up there just because it

kind of speaks for itself.

It's high ceilings, natural wood, these kind

of old school windows.

This is the perfect place.

And this is the way I think both of us

grew up where, when there isn't anything to do

and a kid's bored, you tell them go outside.

And so there was a lot of exploring

for them while we were busy.

SEBASTIAN: I really like to--

during the winter, I like to ski and then paddleboard

and fish in the summer.

And sometimes I like to hike up and it's

like lemongrass or something.

- Sour grass. - Sour grass.

Sour grass.

One of my favorite things is fishing,

paddleboarding in the lake.

SEBASTIAN: Being up in nature is kind of uncommon for me

so I got to be around it more, which helped me learn something

new every single day, whether it be how to help bring

a paddleboard all the way down the lake

or help start a fire for the fireplace for the night.

One of the things I learned on this project

was cutting up wood was a little difficult

and then collecting all the little things

that fall off from trees and put them in the campfire.

KAREN NEPACENA: Our normal weekend

when we come up to the cabin, it's really about cooking

at home, barbecuing.

I have the plan of like all the meals I'm going to cook,

all the slow cooking I'm going to do,

crafts, reading, just stuff I don't have time,

sadly, to do at home.

I love to fish, so I'm up and out early.

A lot about fishing is being in harmony with nature.

It's been eye-opening for them to realize how the rest

of the world and nature works.

Our dog Velvet, she seems to really like it here.

She could lay out on the deck all day.

She comes out to the lake with us.

And she'll do a little doggy paddling out there.

I think we lucked out with a furry family

member that likes the nature, likes to be out here.

SEBASTIAN: Everything kind of pauses when you're up here.

You're kind of in your own kind of state.

Every day is always something new so that's pretty cool.

MILES: You would walk and maybe see something different

than you'd usually see.

Maybe see fish or birds fighting each other.

It's just a huge, different environment

to compare to the city.

SEBASTIAN: Like family dinners is something that only really

happens around here, or making like cookies, or steak,

or something like that.

You always have this nice feeling when you're up here.

It's almost like you never want it

to end or anything like that.

You definitely feel a lot calmer just kind of in your own state

of mind up here.

JOHN SHUM: I hope that they pick up the same cravings

for the outdoors that I have.

The diversity that we've been able to offer our kids in terms

of activities, the balance between work, school,

and just getting away, getting out.

KAREN NEPACENA: Our weekends up here feel nice

and long versus the weekends at home are just so fast.

Everybody's running around.

It's a chance for us to kind of disconnect,

and kick back, and just let things go for a little bit.

It's so rewarding to just have your own sort of hide out.

Your place to escape to is an incredible experience.