Jake and Meghan Zoesch never imagined they’d end up building one of Minnesota’s most memorable and talked-about cabin experiences. For years, their lives moved along familiar tracks – Meghan reporting and anchoring the news at KARE, CBS58, NBC15, and KAAL, and Jake working in Milwaukee in his family’s auto body shop with the expectation that he’d someday take it over. Yet something about weekend escapes up north tugged at both of them. Meghan grew up spending summers at Minnesota lakes, and when her parents bought a cabin in Crosby, she urged Jake to join her. She hoped he’d fall in love with the rituals she cherished: long evenings by the water, quiet mornings in the trees, that sense of “getting away” that wraps around you the moment you turn off the highway.
Jake was excited. He even brought his mountain bike one weekend, tried the Cuyuna trails, and returned electrified. “Meg,” he said, “this is the mountain biking destination in Minnesota.” That moment reshaped everything. Soon the couple found themselves driving north every chance they could, working late into Friday evenings before heading to Crosby to pour sweat and imagination into a long-neglected miner’s house they had purchased. They gutted it, renovated it room by room, and listed it on Airbnb with a mix of excitement and nerves. When the bookings began steadily arriving, they realized they had stumbled into something bigger than a side project. They had found the beginnings of their new future.
What started with one house quickly grew into Cuyuna Cabin Collection, founded officially in 2022. Since then, they’ve founded five unique retreats across the region each intentionally designed, each immersed in nature. They built two cabins, Cuyler and Una, named after Cuyler Adams and his dog, Una, tied to the area’s iron mining history. Then came Little Rabbit Retreat, a tiny house tucked into two acres of woods, and Sunny Point, a six-bedroom lake property on Rabbit Lake. The collection became known for its thoughtful touches, quiet locations, and attentive hospitality. Yet the idea that would define their most ambitious project arrived in the most unexpected place: on their honeymoon.
The newlyweds had chosen a road-trip honeymoon, drifting through states in a wide U-shaped loop. Along the way, they booked a stay in a mirrored cabin in Tennessee. Walking into that small, reflective structure was transformative. The space expanded emotionally, if not physically. Surrounded by mirrored walls that dissolved into the forest, they felt as if they were still outside, wrapped in the landscape. Meghan remembers the moment vividly: “It took my breath away.” Jake looked around in awe and said what she was thinking: “We need one of these in Minnesota.”
Back home, they didn’t waste time. They purchased a mirrored structure before they even found land – an exhilarating leap of faith. The search for the right property turned into its own odyssey. Jake called 100 landowners, explaining their dream of creating a one-of-a-kind couples retreat – private, peaceful, immersive. Most people turned him down, attached to their land or skeptical of selling. But finally, someone said yes.
When they walked the five-acre parcel – dense, quiet woods opening onto a secluded mine lake – they knew instantly it was the place. Meghan could feel it. Jake could see it. They positioned the cabin as close to the shore as county rules allowed, preserving nearly every tree. They wanted the building to disappear into the scenery, its mirrored façade reflecting sky, pines, and water. It worked. The Mirror Cabin officially opened to guests in August 2025 and became Minnesota’s first mirror cabin getaway, a landmark within the state’s growing world of nature-driven retreats.
By day, the exterior acts like camouflage – you can’t see inside. By night, floor-to-ceiling blinds provide complete privacy. Inside, the cabin is tailored for two: a queen bed, rainfall shower, indoor projector, air conditioning, high-speed WiFi, a kitchenette with multiple coffee options, and the feeling of being suspended between modern comfort and wilderness calm.
Outside, the experience becomes something even more remarkable. The property includes a private beach with a clear kayak and two paddleboards, a lakeside lounge with Adirondack chairs and a hammock, a little free library tucked beneath the trees, and a custom mural by Minnesota artist Dani Liana – a whimsical backdrop that says “Love you to the lake and back.” There’s a hot tub, a sauna, an outdoor shower (seasonal), a spa bucket plunge (also seasonal), and a stargazing net strewn just above the shoreline. A Solo Stove firepit sits ready with firewood and starters, encouraging long evenings under the stars.
In winter, the Mirror Cabin transforms. Snow mutes the forest, turning every window into a living postcard. The lake freezes into a moonlit sheet, and steam billows off the hot tub. The sauna glows warm beside the wellness deck, offering a ritual that feels both Nordic and deeply Minnesotan. Guests snowshoe through the woods, winter mountain bike the Cuyuna trails just two miles away, or wander the Portage Lake Trail nearby. Others choose not to leave the cabin at all – opting instead for movies projected onto the wall, books read by firelight, coffee brewed slowly, mornings that stretch luxuriously long.
The stories left behind in the guestbook are the ones that move Jake and Meghan most. A solo traveler healing after heartbreak wrote that she finally slept through the night. A mother who came alone to breathe said she felt, for the first time in months, that no one needed anything from her. Couples come to reconnect. Friends come to rest. One guest wrote, “This might be the closest thing to heaven.”
Those words, Meghan says, are the greatest reward of all. “We pour our hearts into these places,” she explains. Whether it’s Jake delivering a lighter within minutes after a guest reports theirs ran out, or Meghan curating the smallest details to make a stay seamless, their commitment runs deep. “When someone rebooks, or leaves feeling restored,” she says, “that’s the biggest compliment we can get.”
Cuyuna Cabin Collection isn’t just a business for Jake and Meghan. It’s their life. Their passion. Their place in the world. And with the Mirror Cabin shimmering quietly between the trees, they’ve created something rare in Minnesota – a retreat where nature isn’t just the backdrop, but the entire experience. A place that feels like it’s waiting for you, just beyond the pines.
To book your next stay, visit cuyunacabins.com.