Who We Are
We are Steve and Jody Belkowski. You may be wondering why there are only six cabins available on our website. The reason is because each of the cabins you see here are either owned by us personally or by our family and friends. That means, unlike the large rental companies, if you have a question you will never be speaking to a person who never stepped one foot in the property. You’ll be talking directly to the people who have poured their hearts and souls into making our properties a special place. Our goal, above all else, is that you have a wonderful experience and make incredible memories to last a lifetime.
Our Beginnings
We had our first trip to the area in 2010 and fell in love with it. Two years later, we returned with a big group of our family and friends to be married in the Smoky Mountains National Park. Due to our marriage, we had recently went from two households down to one. During our wedding trip, we had the idea to reinvest the equity from the home sale into a vacation rental. Two weeks later, we were back to search for a cabin.
We instantly fell in love with the first cabin we went to see. Every other cabin we looked at on that trip was compared to the first but none of them were nearly as nice. The issue was, while most cabins came furnished with the sale, the first one had been a foreclosure and it had no furniture included. We were scared. How could we furnish a five bedroom cabin when we didn’t live nearby? We both worked full time and had limited vacation time. Eventually, we convinced ourselves that we could make it work with extensive pre-planning. In September of 2012, we closed on The Bigfoot Lodge and got busy furnishing it, making small repairs and getting it into ideal rental condition.
Honestly, we underestimated how much there was to do. If not for the help of Steve’s parents and his aunt and uncle, I don’t know how we could have completed everything. We had to go back home, back to the kids and to our jobs while Steve’s family stayed for the finishing touches.
In addition to the help from family, we were able to find wonderful cleaners and maintenance people to cover all the needs of our guests. We still have the same cleaners, now cleaning all of our cabins, all these years later!
Growing Our Business
The Bigfoot Lodge was a great success! We decided to grow our business and reinvest our income into two new properties in 2013 and 2014. Each property was a little more ambitious than the last. Bigfoot Crossing was in great condition but we decided that we wanted to convert a bedroom into a theater room. We added privacy and weather proofing to the decks and replaced most of the furniture. Sasquatch Ridge was very outdated and didn’t have the rustic mountain vibe that we wanted – so we completely renovated it.
Family and Friends Fell in Love, Too!
Steve and I decided that we were maxed out. We couldn’t possibly take on any more in our lives. That’s when Steve’s parents decided they’d like a Pigeon Forge cabin of their own, and they’d like us to rent it for them when they weren’t using it. They were retired and in a stage of life where they traveled quite a bit. They found a gorgeous cabin down the street from The Bigfoot Lodge. They took what was already a very nice cabin and replaced the majority of the furniture and added upscale décor – giving it the “Wow Factor” we go for in our own cabins. We figured out ways to automate more tasks and then welcomed Yeti’s Retreat to our offerings in 2015.
Next, while we were vacationing with our best friends at Bigfoot Crossing, a cabin in our resort went up for sale. Our friends fell in love with it and put in an offer. They also asked for our help, as they would be unable to quickly answer inquiries or respond to the needs of guests due to their hands-on jobs as a Chiropractor and Police Sargent. They also took an already great cabin and refurnished and redecorated it with luxury touches. They named it Hoedown Hideaway, because the two of them met at a country music festival called The Downtown Hoedown.
The next cabin that we added to The Bigfoot Cabins family is Southern Comfort. Southern Comfort is in Brookstone Village resort, along with Bigfoot Crossing, Sasquatch Ridge and Hoedown Hideaway. Betty is our neighbor who owns the cabin. Betty had a beautiful cabin that wasn’t renting quite as well as it could have been – mostly due to some outdated photos that didn’t show all the improvements Betty had made to the cabin, along with some missing information on the listings that’s important to guests who are choosing where to stay. We offered to help get the word out about Betty’s awesome cabin. Southern Comfort is the only cabin that we only help with the marketing on. Betty handles her cleaners and maintenance directly. If you rent Southern Comfort, you’ll have the ease of booking through Bigfoot Cabins and the advantage of direct communication with the owner, Betty, if you need assistance with the cabin itself.
New Exciting Properties in 2024
Back in 2020, while we were in the middle of the pandemic and decompressing for a week at Bigfoot Crossing on our own vacation, Jody ran across a listing for an amazing new community that would be built called The Forgotten Forest. She was totally excited about it because it had a fantasy theme. Though we thought we were done purchasing properties, we were just too excited about this. We ended up selling Sasquatch Ridge and signing a contract to build a new, Magical House property in The Forgotten Forest. We fell in love with the exterior design that is reminiscent of a Hogsmeade shop, complete with a crooked chimney and all. We loved the entire idea of a fantasy themed neighborhood with interesting things to see while exploring the community.
Ultimately, it ended up taking 3 1/2 years to complete! Within that time, we were very focused on finding the perfect furniture and decor. We decided to call it Three Wizards and have the three bedrooms themed after three different wizards from literary acclaim. From the original wizard, along with Gandalf and Harry Potter, we celebrate all things magical in this new property. We are so very excited to be adding Three Wizards to our offerings!
Keep watching!! Our friends that own Hoedown Hideaway have a burrow home coming soon that will give you serious hobbit vibes!
Southern Comfort
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