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There are plenty of cabins not associated with a body of water that people use for hunting or just being a hermit. You can have a cabin on the lake, a cabin on the river, a cabin on the creek, a cabin in the woods. I think the cabin feel is part of it, too, so having a ranch house with painted drywall on the inside is not the same as a cabin. It's a house.
 
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In Wisconsin, where I go fishing every year, it's pretty easily stated and well known up there. A cabin, weather on a lake or in the woods is usually meant to be a log cabin or at least a dwelling built mostly of wood. They have what they call cottages, which is meant as a dwelling, built like a normal house, but usually meant for 3 seasons as they are built on a raised foundation and usually don't have the means to heat the water supply during the winter. Then there is a lake house. These are your typical homes, built on a lake.

At the very least, if you call something a cabin, it should definitely have that woodsy, "cabin" feel. Other than that, it's just a lake house. I have a friend who's family have both a cottage and a cabin. They call the one a cabin and the other the cottage, because the cabin is an original log cabin from the early 1900s built as part of a resort, the cottage is just that, a house on a raised foundation they close down during the winter.
 
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For me it is cabin water access or not and Lake home- Posh house with water access, jet skis, boats and beach-
 
My parents have a lake house on Lake Panorama.

My grandparents have a cabin on a lake in Wisconsin.
 
Not sure but the preference is a small cabin on a lake that's miles from much else and no other developments.
 
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For whatever reason, I think mountains when I think cabin. Roughing it, kind of a blue collar type of deal.

Lake house seems swanky and more of a party type of stay. I'd definitely think of a traditional house.

A place down by the river (not a van) also seems more cabiny to me.
 
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Yeah, someone said they had a cabin on Lake Okoboji and I thought... a house 12 feet form the next one on a busy lake is not a cabin.
I think what we really have here is an issue with what the defining features of a "cabin" are. Structure of the building or surrounding conditions.
 
A buddy and I were talking about living on a lake vs having a cabin, and I think having a cabin is not just about lake access, it's about the woodsy-decor, trees, a bit more rural, etc. He thinks living on a lake is the same thing that makes a cabin a cabin.

He said there's no difference between a brand new ranch house with lake access vs a cabin in the woods. I said part of going to a cabin is the touristy-stuff like antique shops, ice cream stores etc, not just the lake.

What say you? What is better? What would you rather have?
Whichever is furthest away from people, so probably the cabin.
 
I can afford a van down by the river. But in traditional CF way, I’d want to pay cash for the van.
I've heard you can get this one cheap.
free-candy.jpg

Previous owner deals in cartons of cigs since that is the 'coin of the realm' where he is.
 

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