Escape to the serene beauty of Four-Season Cottage, a haven for couples and families alike. With its large commercial-grade kitchen, relax and enjoy gourmet dining or serve a family reunion crowd. Unwind by the exterior gas fireplace or at the lake's edge with loons as your companions.
Reviews
1010 out of 10
Exceptional
Entire home
4 bedrooms2 bathroomsSleeps 102200 sq ft
Popular amenities
Kitchen
Washing machine
Dryer
Free Wi-Fi
Air-conditioning
Add dates for prices
About this property
Entire place
You'll have the entire cottage to yourself and will only share it with other guests in your party.
Our Cottage is Small Enough to be Romantic and Large Enough for a Family.
Four seasons. Great value year around. Try it. You will like it!
September and October are my own absolute favorite times of the year!!
Special winter rates are implemented for many non-holiday weekends/periods between mid-October and mid-May each year.
Read-away vacations are newly popular. Take a trip centered around reading, relaxation, and quality time with loved ones. I suspect that we may have the best in-home library of any VRBO rental.
This professionally designed beautiful 3 bedroom - 2 bath cottage is available year around. Our cottage was newly constructed in the spring of 2013. The cottage is well maintained. The interior is clean, uncluttered, and bright with natural light. New or improved features are added to the interior and/or to the property exterior each year. We installed entirely new living-room furniture in 2026.
Added new this year: We installed entirely new living-room furniture in 2026
Whole Home is dedicated to the guest. Non-contact self-check-in. No shared interior spaces or facilities. This is rural MN lake country at it's best.
Cooking for family and friends in a commercial quality and professionally designed kitchen
The installed internet service will support work simultaneous with remote education. Bring your family for a week or two away. The service was updated again in the spring of 2025 to triple the overall internet speed.
Cleaning charge will always be applied. Extra charge for more than six people. Extra charge for one pet.
Typical Repeat Visitors: multi-generation family vacation; weekend or week getaway for a couple; Thanksgiving, New Year day, or Christmas family celebration; extended family groups; hobby groups; craft groups; women's weekend away groups; small group reunions; church groups; quilting groups; wedding groups; special anniversaries; engagement proposal weekends; honeymoon cottage; snowmobiling groups; ice fishing groups; XC skiing groups; winter weekend getaways; waterskiing groups; wakeboard groups; wake-surfing groups; fishing opener groups; hunting groups; and more......
DATES IN MID-SUMMER ARE GENERALLY RESERVED THREE OR MORE YEARS IN ADVANCE. Dates in mid-October to mid- May will often be reserved 6 months to 1 year, or more, in advance. Reserve now to acquire a week in the spring, summer or fall of 2026 and the winter of 2027/2026
Grand piano is provided for your enjoyment.
Two tiled bathrooms and full separate laundry area
Exterior fire pit, exterior gas and charcoal grills, interior gas grill and griddle, and interior gas fireplace.
Relaxing recreational location
Large commercial grade kitchen for family special meal prep and relaxed gourmet dining or just serving a family reunion crowd. Please see the pictures.
Nearby access to Paul Bunyan and Heartland trails for great bicycling, inline skating, and X-C skiing.
Great bass fishing (1/2 lb to 5 lb) from dock. Good walleye and northern when trolling lake shallows and sand bars
Quiet, calm, incredibly clear, and nearly weed free lake good for fishing, canoeing, kayaking, water skiing, and recreational boating. Ultra-clear and clean spring fed lake with a sandy bottom
Loons live here. You should see/hear adults and offspring every day/night in spring, summer, and fall. Variety of other animal life is almost endless. A keen wild-life observer might well see: Hawks, eagles, owls, otters, beavers, bears, raccoons, ground hogs, deer, coyote, pelicans, egret, herons, ducks, geese, swans, common and rarer songbirds, various squirrels, chipmunks, skunks, possums, and more.
Docks: Semi-private dock will be, installed in and removed from, the lake as seasonal weather permits. Exact installation dates in spring and exact removal dates in the fall are affected by weather and availability of the dock vendors, the ice out in the spring, and very low air temperature and/or prospect of early ice on in the fall. Docks are often in by late April. and often out before mid-October. Sometimes the docks are not in by late May. Sometimes docks come out in September. There are two 3000 lb boat lifts. One is for the owner's boat and one is for the guest's boat, if any. The owner, or owner's family members, may sometimes be present and use the dock and the owners boat lift. Guests have shared use of the dock, and access for use of (1st of 2) 3000 lb boat lift/canopy cover. Owner will access dock, 2nd lift, and store owner's boat on one of the two lifts (2nd of 2)
Boats: Supplied with 17' Old Town canoe, 15' Lund fishing boat, two paddle boards, and two kayaks. Outboard motor(s) not supplied but available for rent at limited regional commercial locations. Best option is to buy a well maintained used outboard motor, or trolling motor, and bring it with you. The cost of a used motor will likely be less than one week's rental cost if you find a local rental.
Property has multiple exterior video cameras and monitored interior house/ and garage security sensors. Video systems include (24 hr X 365 day) exterior video surveillance and recording. There is no video interior to the occupied sections of the house (basement is monitored).
CAN SLEEP UP TO TEN PERSONS IN A LARGE FAMILY. THIS MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR 8, 9, OR 10 ADULTS EACH REQUIRING PRIVACY. BEST SUITED FOR 3 OR FEWER ADULT COUPLES OR AN ADULT COUPLE AND THEIR CHILDREN. EXTRA CHARGES FOR MORE THAN SIX PERSONS. See bedrooms discussion in website AMENITIES section for further explanation/clarification.
Not fully handicap accessible: Most of the house is on one level. One step up to the exterior front porch. One step up at the entrance from the porch. The kitchen, dining room, both bathrooms, both first floor bedrooms, the sunroom, and a portion of the living room are all on the entry level. One step down between most of the house first floor and just a portion of the living room. 10 steps down (or gentle sloped walk on grass) to lake in front of house. The interior doors are generally 30 in. width. No ramps are provided. The lawn is gently sloped to the lake shore. Lake can be accessed from the lawn easily as well as the steps. The lake sandy bottom is also gently sloped and ideal for handicapped entry, teaching swimming, and monitored child's play.
Pets: Please let me know the breed, weight, and temperament of the pet as soon as you know that you want a pet to be part of your reserved stay. I need to approve any pet in-advance of your stay. There is an extra charge for a pet.
If/when a pet is approved you will need to always keep the pet on leash when outside; you will not leave the pet outside off-leash, unattended, or barking; you will not leave the pet in the house unattended without placing and retaining the pet in a portable kennel; and you will pick up and dispose of pet waste bagged separately within the trash, not leave same in the yard. In addition, I charge a $150 pet fee per pet that covers added cleaning that is needed (pet dander, pet hair, pet odor and etc), and damage that pets cause to flooring in the house no matter how well behaved (wood floors which I have had to refinish every two to three years). That extra fee does not cover damage such as a pet scratching or chewing on a piece of furniture, or scratching/ruining a door or a piece of trim. Your job is to prevent that, and/or to personally cover the costs of that sort of damage if it occurs. Depending on how extensive such damage might be it may not be totally covered under the limited insurance policy.
Owner may often not be present during a portion of guest stay. Guests do not have access to the owner's boat, the lift supporting owner's boat, the house basement, or the garage at any time. Owner retains access to the house basement, the garage, and one of two boat lifts on the dock at all times. All non-guest spaces will frequently be locked. Owner will store one boat on a lift (2nd of the 2) at the dock. Owner may routinely access those areas. Owner will be considerate of time of day and guests needs if/when accessing the dock or the basement. Owner/family sometimes work from and may infrequently spend an extended period in the two-story garage. Windows are carefully offset between the house and the garage so that persons in the garage do not have a view into the house interior, and vice versa.
Exterior of house and all property have full recorded video surveillance at all times. Interior of house ground level, and second floor upper level have extensive security sensors BUT DO NOT include ANY video cameras or audio receivers, except glass breakage sensors. Interior of the garage has extensive security sensors and video/audio recording as well. Basement has extensive security sensors and recorded video, but no audio sensors.
The entire rest of the property has extensive security sensors but in addition includes extensive recorded video surveillance. Any access to the garage or basement will immediately initiate automatic notification of owner and recorded video surveillance. The house ground level and upper-level security alarms will be disabled when guests are present. The garage and house basement security alarms may not be disabled unless owner or owner's family are present. If an alarm occurs other than immediately after guests enter the main house, it is likely the garage system. If officials arrive to investigate an alarm, direct them to the garage first, unless the alarm occurred promptly upon initially attempting to access the main house for the first time, or upon entering the house basement.
Cottage features, furniture, and facilities are improved every year. A portion of each rental is set aside for improvements and maintenance of the home. I try to keep it interesting and in like-new condition. There are many antique pieces of furniture in the cottage. Antiques are obviously not, and should not be, new. Those too may evolve year to year.
Property amenities
Beach
On the beach
Beach loungers
Ski
Cross-country skiing nearby
Snowboarding nearby
Internet
Available in the cottage: Free WiFi
Parking and transport
Car required
Onsite parking options include a garage
Kitchen
Blender
Coffee grinder
Coffee/tea maker
Cookware, dishware, and utensils
Dishwasher
Electric kettle
Hob
Ice maker
Kitchen island
Lobster/crab pot
Microwave
Oven
Refrigerator
Spices
Toaster
Dining
Dining table
Bedrooms
4 bedrooms
Bedsheets provided
Sofa bed
Bathroom
2 bathrooms
Bathtub
Hair dryer
Shower
Toilet paper
Towels provided
Living spaces
Dining table
Fireplace
Living room
Separate dining area
Entertainment
Books
DVD player
Games
Music library
Smart TV with cable/satellite channels
Stereo
Video library
Outdoor areas
Balcony
Charcoal grill
Firepit
Garden
Outdoor furniture
Laundry
Laundry facilities
Washing machine
Work spaces
Desk
Desk chair
Comfort
Air conditioning
Heating
Pets
Pet friendly
Welcoming dogs only
Up to 23 kg per pet
Suitability/Accessibility
If you have requests for specific accessibility needs, please contact the property using the information on the reservation confirmation received after booking.
Hardwood flooring in public areas
Upper floors accessible by stairs only
Smoke-free property
Note from host: 24 X 365 recorded video of property exterior
Services and conveniences
Iron/ironing board
Phone
Location highlights
In a rural location
Near a hospital
Near an outlet shopping centre
Near the bay
On a lake
On the waterfront
Things to do
Boat
Golf
Kayak
Snow sports gear
Water sports equipment
Birdwatching nearby
Casino nearby
Fishing nearby
Golfing nearby
Hiking/biking trails nearby
Hunting nearby
Ice skating nearby
Jet skiing nearby
Kayaking nearby
Motor boating nearby
Mountain biking nearby
Scuba diving nearby
Sledding nearby
Snorkelling nearby
Snowmobiling nearby
Swimming nearby
Theme park nearby
Water skiing nearby
Water tubing nearby
Wildlife walks nearby
Safety features
Carbon monoxide detector (host has indicated there is a carbon monoxide detector on the property)
Smoke detector (host has indicated there is a smoke detector on the property)
You will receive an email from the host with check-in and check-out instructions
Information provided by the property may be translated using automated translation tools
Rules
No vaping/similar in the house. No campfires near the beach. No campfires near the house or the garage. Keep grills away from house.
No camper, motorhome, RV, or travel trailer
Must arrive after arrival time & depart before departure time.
Changes only with owner permission.
Do not remove any book outside of the house. Leave all of owners books at the cottage upon departure.
No party inside or outside of the house
Pets
Pets are allowed
Service animals are welcome, and are exempt from fees
Welcoming dogs only
1 total (up to 23 kg per pet)
Note from host: Owner permission. Pet fee of $150.
Children and extra beds
Children are welcome
Note from host: Loft stairs not suitable for young children.
Events
No events allowed
Families?-Yes. Frat/graduation/event parties?-No!
Smoking
Smoking is not permitted
24 X 365 recorded video of property exterior
Important information
You need to know
This property is managed by a private host (a party not acting within their trade, business or profession). EU consumer law, including the right of withdrawal, will not apply to your booking. The cancellation policy set by the private host will cover your booking.
Extra-person charges may apply and vary depending on property policy
Government-issued photo identification and a credit card, debit card or cash deposit may be required at check-in for incidental charges
Special requests are subject to availability upon check-in and may incur additional charges; special requests cannot be guaranteed
On-site parties or group events are strictly prohibited
Note from host: Families?-Yes. Frat/graduation/event parties?-No!
Host has indicated that there is a carbon monoxide detector on the property
Host has indicated that there is a smoke detector on the property
Safety features at this property include a fire extinguisher, a first aid kit and a deadlock
This property is managed through our partner, Vrbo. You will receive an email from Vrbo with a link to a Vrbo account, where you can change or cancel your reservation
We should mention
This property does not have any lifts
A car is required for transport to and from this property
About the area
Located in Backus, this cottage is in a rural area and on the beach. While the natural beauty of Deep Portage Conservation Reserve and Mule Lake Wildlife Management Area can be enjoyed by anyone, those looking for an activity can head to Black Bear Golf Complex. Take in the nearby slopes with cross-country skiing and snowboarding, or try out other outdoor activities such as ice skating and sledging. Visit our Backus travel guide
Is Our Cottage is Small Enough to be Romantic and Large Enough for a Family. pet-friendly?
Yes, this property allows dogs (limit 1 total) with a maximum weight of up to 23 kg per pet.
How much is parking at Our Cottage is Small Enough to be Romantic and Large Enough for a Family.?
On-site parking is available at the property.
What time is check-in at Our Cottage is Small Enough to be Romantic and Large Enough for a Family.?
Check-in begins at 3:00 PM.
What time is check-out at Our Cottage is Small Enough to be Romantic and Large Enough for a Family.?
Checkout is at 10:00 AM.
Where is Our Cottage is Small Enough to be Romantic and Large Enough for a Family. located?
Nestled on the beach, this Backus cottage is within 1 mi (2 km) of Horseshoe Lake and Lindsey Lake. Sanborn Lake and Rainy Lake are also within 3 miles (5 km).
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Our Cottage is Small Enough to be Romantic and Large Enough for a Family. Reviews
Reviews
Exceptional
All reviews shown are from real guest experiences. Only travellers who have booked a stay with us can submit a review. We verify reviews according to our guidelines and publish all reviews, positive or negative.
After a two-week stay, we found it very difficult to drive away. We had been blessed with beautiful weather but the remarkable thing was the peace and quiet against the beauty of the lake. The entire place was so well stocked and felt safe, comfy and cozy. This one will be on our list for a return visit.
This is my second time staying here with my parents over Thanksgiving, and it's the perfect place to have a quiet holiday with family and just enjoy being together. Everything at the property is always well kept, I highly recommend you try a family holiday! You won't be disappointed!
Beautiful property, pictures don’t do it justice! We enjoyed the fireplace and the views of the lake. Beds were very comfortable and kitchen was well stocked with everything you could ever need. Bathrooms were gorgeous and we enjoyed games around the dining table. We had a great stay!
Beautiful setting, lovely cabin with state of the art kitchen. Lovely rooms, but bathrooms could use new grouting in showers and attention to toilet in 2nd bathroom. Overall a lovely stay - everyone enjoyed the weekend.
Beautiful home, quiet solitude, wonderful kitchen w/everything you need, and had fun fishing. Fortunate to have met Host/Wife while there. Thank you for sharing your paradise with us,we’d love to come back!
It's a beautiful home, decorated in a cabin style with a truely gourmet kitchen. Our second stay for Tgiving knowing we could make our feast there we went all out. A lovely stay. Cold clear nights so we could really see the stars. And so quiet. Delightful.
We enjoyed our stay at this rental property. If you like to cook this place is for you! The kitchen was amazing with high end appliances and well stocked for everything you need. The place was very comfortable for watching movies and playing games. Everything was clean and well kept. I would stay here again, it was very nice.
Beautiful cabin with craftsmanship surprises around every corner. We didn’t use the kitchen a whole lot, but just sitting in the space made me happy. Thanks for the quiet, peaceful stay.
We really enjoyed our stay near Backus Minnesota for the month of September 2023. The house was great. The garage was unavailable for our use but there was plenty of room to park in the driveway. The view from the back patio was beautiful. The dock below the house was available for our use. It was nice to enjoy the lake and to have a coffee out there in the morning. There were other houses nearby but we were never bothered. All the appliances worked well. The kitchen area is quite large with high end finishes and appliances. There was a good-sized smart TV in the living area. Cable was available but we also brought our own firestick to access our online subscriptions. This was a working vacation for my husband. The internet was okay and adequate for our use with access issues occasionally. The master bedroom is on the first level at the back of the house. The queen bed is comfortable but quite high. Master bath is attached with a large walk-in shower and large tub. There is a small walk-in closet in the master and ample drawer space available in two dressers. There is a second bathroom on the main level accessed off the hallway. A second bedroom is on the main level. It is not directly attached to the second bathroom. The washer and dryer were in a separate laundry room off the hallway on the main level. The owner’s communication was prompt and complete. We would rent this property again if we return to the area.
We very much enjoyed our stay on Horseshoe Lake. The lake was quiet and peaceful. The weather wasn’t great, but we found plenty to do in the area. Everyone enjoyed cooking in the chef’s kitchen and playing tabletop games on the dining room table. Thank you for sharing your home with us!
We had the loveliest week at this cabin! The views took our breath away, and we especially loved sitting on the dock fishing, reading, and relaxing. The kitchen is exceptional, and the extra touches like a grand piano, plenty of fridge and freezer space, and Kleenex boxes everywhere were so appreciated. John was an excellent host and communicated quickly and with all the necessary information and answers. We did not want to leave, and will cherish the memories made here!