In the winter of 2013, our family bought a 28 foot RV, with dreams of driving across the country to all of the national parks. However, after a comparatively short 650 mile trip to Acadia National Park in Maine, it became clear that towing a 28 foot trailer in a truck with four people and dogs for 12 hours a day was neither fun nor economical. The truck averaged 7 mpg and campsites were between $60 and $110 a night. By late summer, after camping all around upstate New York and northwestern Pennsylvania, we began to understand the appeal of having a seasonal site at an RV resort. While we would not be traveling the country, we would at least have an affordable summer getaway.

And so, at the end of the season in 2013 we had settled on leasing a spot at a KOA near Chautauqua Lake. We enjoyed the area, it was a reasonable 2.25 hour drive from our home, and it gave us the opportunity to boat, fish, and tube nearly every weekend. For three seasons we leased a spot at that KOA and grew to love the region. RV seasonal spots are not terribly expensive, but they are a few thousand dollars a year, the spots are fairly close to each other, and there are limitations to what you can do with your site. By 2016, we were itching to buy some land so we could have our own private camp.

The challenge was to find not just raw land – there is plenty of that in Chautauqua County – but land that was road accessible, had access to electric power, and had a potable well and septic system. After a few months of looking, we found a property with a dilapidated house on it. The house could not be saved, but it had a fairly new septic system, a well, power, and road access.

In August 2016, we closed on the property, and Champswood was born. In the fall of 2016 we had to clear an acre of tall, thick brush that had overtaken what had been a front yard on the property. We had a concrete pad poured for the RV, installed electric service to a new panel, ran a line for the RV power and a new line for the barn, patched up the barn (the front was essentially missing), installed a shallow well pump, ran a water line for the RV, and by October had our very own RV campsite set up. We also patched up an old dog shelter, and fenced in a run so that dogs would have their very own space.

In 2017 we meticulously, piece by piece, dissembled the old house. We were able to reclaim about 70% of the materials, including trusses, lumber, decking, concrete blocks, doors, windows, electrical wiring, etc. We built the small pump house cabin over the well head. We also started building the second cabin from the shell of two rooms we were able to save more or less intact from the old house.

In 2018 we finished the second cabin, which has a bedroom and bathroom. That year we also purchased a brand new 20-foot pontoon boat to replace our old boat, which we use to cruise, swim, tube, and fish Chautauqua Lake.

In 2019 we continued clearing out overgrowth in the wooded acres, chipping it, and using that to serve as fill for the crawlspace hole that was under the old house. We carved some trails in the backwoods behind the pond, and build a 20-foot long footbridge over the area where the pond overflows during snow melt and heavy rains. That fall we also installed a small stage that is used as a deck by the pond most of the time, but is intended to be a performance platform for bands.

In 2020 we repurposed the small stage to serve as an extension of the deck of the second cabin. We installed a better hot water heater in the bathroom of the second cabin and additional electric heating for the coldest days. We finished filling in the hole from the crawl space of the old house with top soil and seeded it with grass. Efforts to extend the trails progressed, with a trail all the way around the pond and another small footbridge over a swampy low spot in that new trail.

In 2021 and 2022 we continued to expand the trail network, finally clearing one to the very back of the property. We made minor improvements to cabins as well.

In 2023 we focused mainly on maintenance of the existing buildings and trails.

Champswood is an ongoing, life-long project. The long-term plans also include new cabins and storage buildings, and eventually (budget permitting) a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom log home (which we will have done by a professional builder – that is one project we will not do ourselves). Our goal is that Champswood serves as our personal retreat for family and friends for generations to come!