The Ultimate Weekend Retreat

While it certainly wouldn't suck to have a gargantuan country estate to retreat to on the weekends, oftentimes all you really need to clear your mind is to get the hell out of the city. And that's precisely what The Shack at Hinkle Farm is for.

Designed as a weekend retreat for a Washington, D.C. family, the structure sits on a 27-acre plot about three hours from the capital in West Virginia, overlooking the rolling hills at the edge of Virginia. Its only real neighbors are an old (allegedly haunted) abandoned farmhouse and a small family cemetery.

Amplifying the serenity of the setting is the fact that there's no electricity, with light provided only by oil lamps and heat from a small wood stove, which is also used to heat water that flows into the "kitchen" sink. Going off the grid has never been so quaint.

Need to rinse off after a sweaty hike? Feel free to wash up under the built-in outdoor shower system, which collects rain water from the roof. And while the stilted foundation is obviously necessary to keep it level on the hilly terrain, it serves a dual purpose: as a barrier to rodents/snakes/the occasional bear.

On especially sunny or rainy days, there's a removable canvas awning that allows you to take advantage of the extended living space provided by the cantilevered deck. Although considering the aforementioned curious bear situation, rolling the glass garage door down before passing out at night is probably a wise move.


Joe McGauley is a senior editor at Supercompressor. Bears are cool. Snakes suck.