See Chip Wade's Jaw-Dropping Transformation of a Georgia Lake House

From House Beautiful

Over the past year, we've been documenting the renovation of Misty Mill, a lakeside Georgia cabin. Now its owner, HGTV star Chip Wade, is ready to reveal the finished results—and, unsurprisingly, they're pretty jaw-dropping.

Originally built in 1988, the three-bedroom log cabin was in rough shape when Wade bought it: "It looked pretty much exactly like it did when it was built in the '80s, but with another 30 years of wear and tear," he tells us. But the location—on a lot with more than 400 feet of lake frontage—was so spectacular that Wade decided to purchase the property anyway.

Structurally, it was a big challenge to take on. "It's a real log cabin, not a regular house where it's easy to add a beam here and there or make the openings wider," says Wade, who began by stripping and cleaning all of the logs, getting rid of the more than 700 square feet of wood that had rotted from water damage, and replacing all of the house's HVAC systems with water filtration. "It was arguably as hard to as ripping the entire house apart and building from scratch, but I wanted to keep that nostalgic log cabin feel," he explains.

While Wade expanded the decks and reconfigured the layout, opening up the living room and moving the small kitchen to a larger room that was once designed as the garage, he opted not to add any interior square footage. "Additions are usually a last resort for me—usually these structures that were built 30 to 40 years ago have enough space; it just needs to be reallocated," he explains. "Plus, it's more efficient because you aren't adding to your heating and cooling costs."

And then there's the tricked-out boathouse. Wade turned the two boat slips into hydraulic lifts with decking, so when they're not in use, they can become extra space for entertaining, while outdoor-friendly motorized TV opens up to reveal a bar. When the Ready to relax after all that partying? Just hop on one of the hammocks for an afternoon nap.

While you'll have to wait for an invite to visit Misty Mill IRL—the Wade family is planning on keeping the house as a vacation home—you can take a virtual tour of the before and after below!

Before

After

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