Our Story
Alternate title: Everything is Figureoutable.
It all started with with a tiny seed of an idea back in 2018.
But wait — let’s back up another decade.
This one time, at boys’ camp…
It’s 2008, early June: A rain-soaked Tuesday at Camp Nebagamon, a traditional boys’ summer camp in Northwest Wisconsin. New staff members are rolling in for Camp orientation, their back seats bursting with bug repellant and quick-dry pants.
Enter Bailey, who took the leap & thought “Why the heck not? Let’s teach darkroom photography at a summer camp this year!”
Upon entering Camp for the first time, a confident blonde Brit strode up to her, the first friendly face of Camp.
“Hi, I’m Hutch!”
And though his accent was at times indecipherable, she said “Sure!” when he offered hot cocoa, fresh from the camp kitchen stovetop.
And thus begins our analog love story: Free of digital distraction, heavy on the friendship bracelets + bonfires.
After meeting at Camp in 2008, we discovered a shared love for big adventures. Together we navigated three years of overseas long distance (equal to four billion Skype hours), a six-month backpacking adventure through Nepal and Southeast Asia, tying the knot, figuring out the oh-so-delightful U.S. immigration process, exploring countless countries together, collecting large dogs, conquering ambitious DIY projects, and generally dreaming big.
So, what sparked the idea for Cedar Bound?
After traveling to Hawaii in 2018, we felt a collective tug to shake things up & do something BIG. What if we could create an incredible place for people to stay in the Minnesota northwoods, a haven of adventure + rest + (dis)connection? What would that look like?
For Hutch, the idea truly took shape during summer 2018 when he was laid up after ACL surgery. He insisted that wherever we did this, the accommodation had to be two-story tents (let’s be real: it took awhile for Bailey to come around to this crazy idea, assuming it was just the post-op narcotics talking).
And so we dreamed: Crafted a 40-page business plan. Secured financing. Found a magical piece of forest in Northern Minnesota full of old-growth cedars. The stars were aligning, and our plans seemed to be coming together.
And then, the big pivot.
After many months of careful planning & discussion with the county, our project ran into some unexpected red tape, and we were faced with a difficult decision.
Do we continue to push on a door that felt as if it was slammed shut? Or do we listen to our instincts, the inner voice that said, “There’s more to your story”?
The thing is, our Cedar Bound location was always just a small part of our overall vision for the brand. Ultimately, we wanted to turn our innovative glamping structures into buildable kits & help others create their own unique havens.
We thought to ourselves: What if we leap-frogged this initial phase? And what if maybe — just maybe — this was meant to be our path all along?
So we took the leap.
And here we are.
After The Big Pivot, we got to work building our prototype structure, which we lovingly call “Cedar One.” We gave ourselves plenty of time + space to work out the kinks & figure out what our buildable kit options would look like. And in May 2020, we officially launched Cedar Bound as you see it today.
We’re starting simple, so that we can scale sustainably, all while serving our customers with an incredible experience. We have big plans up our sleeves, and this is only the beginning. We can’t wait to share what’s next & see the path unfold!
Wanna get to know us better? Stay tuned for upcoming blog posts where you’ll get to know Bailey, Hutch, and our two giant lap dogs even better!
