Why We Named It Fjellsangin
Lee named it before there was a foundation, before there were walls or anything to stand in. That's pretty much how Lee works. He milled the alder trim for this place himself, made the headboards, designed all the landscaping, and studied traditional boatbuilding in Maine, which inspired the white V-groove paneling. The cedar wall art in the stairwell is his. The maple pieces in the loft are his. The metal print of Christine Falls hanging in the great room is a photograph he took himself — a waterfall a few minutes down the road. He's traveled a lot of the world and tends to bring things back. Fjellsangin was one of them. In Norwegian, it means mountain song, and once he said it, there wasn't really another option.
Fjellsangin is a Nordic-inspired luxury forest cabin at 31613 Mt. Tahoma Canyon Road E in Ashford, Washington, ten minutes from the Nisqually Entrance to Mt. Rainier National Park. In Norwegian, fjellsangin means "mountain song." That pairing of elevation and intention guided what we built. Here's where those decisions came from.
What Does "Fjellsangin" Mean and Why Does the Name Matter?
"Mountain song" is more specific than it first looks. Not mountain view or mountain lodge. Song implies something you can't quite hold, something that reads differently at altitude. Lee found that word in his travels. I think he understood before I did what the design required.
A name like that has no room for clutter, no room for the decorative. It asks you to strip back until what remains is right. I wouldn't have framed it that way when we started, but that's where we landed.
What Is Nordic Cabin Design?
Nordic design doesn't mean cold. That's the thing I kept pushing back on in design school, where I got serious about mid-century Scandinavian interiors. What drew me to it was the warm minimalism: mid-century nostalgia without the weight, contemporary living without the sterility. Clean lines. Materials that earn their place rather than fill space.
Our house is a timber-frame First Nations-style longhouse. Natural wood throughout, natural stain, a heaviness that suits it. Fjellsangin was always going to be something else. I wanted clean lines and light. This property gave me room to work in my own style without fighting what was already there.
Why White V-Groove Walls Instead of Dark Wood Paneling?
The walls throughout Fjellsangin are white v-groove: great room, kitchen, and both bedrooms. White, not cream. They bounce light and keep the spaces from feeling heavy, even with an old-growth forest right outside. That was the point.
The idea came from Lee. He spent time at Wooden Boat School in Maine, and that material language stayed with him — the clean profile of v-groove, the way it reads on a wall. We also wanted something that would age well. V-groove does that. It doesn't ask to be replaced or refreshed. It just gets better.
Dark wood paneling reads rustic in a way we weren't going. The v-groove reads Nordic. Simple, done with precision. It also lets the specific pieces land without the backdrop competing: the Taj Mahal quartzite countertops, the walnut cabinetry, and Lee's live-edge maple shelves. Each of those earns attention. The walls stay out of the way.
How Do You Bridge Nordic Minimalism With the Pacific Northwest?
We're ten minutes from Mount Rainier, backed up against 4,436 acres of permanently protected old-growth forest in the Nisqually Land Trust corridor. That location isn't the background. I didn't want to ignore it, and I didn't want to default to the rustic-cabin-in-the-woods look that every property in this region reaches for.
The bridge is the Pendleton. The bench cushions and toss pillows are sewn from Pendleton fabric — I made those myself. The wool throws I knit by hand. Those were done a year before construction was. That's probably the most honest thing I can tell you about how long I'd been living inside this project in my head.
Then there are smaller details: Lakrids & Bülow salted licorice in the welcome spread and the Fireside Cinema kit, the Nordic Coffee syrup from Simple Goodness Sisters in the Sparkle Bar, and the Norwegian-made Jotul gas fireplace. Each of those is also just true to where we are.
What Does "Less Is More" Look Like in Practice?
Pared back and intentional. Every selection earned its place.
The walnut cabinetry: I'd wanted it in a kitchen for years before this project existed. Fjellsangin was finally the place. The mother-of-pearl coin tile backsplash was the first thing I bought for this place. We didn't even have permits yet. The live-edge cedar headboards Lee made for both bedrooms. The "MAKE ROOM FOR SILENCE" beam in the great room. I designed the custom wallpaper behind the coffee bar.
None of it was grabbed off a shelf. That's really the whole thing.
What Do Guests Say About the Design?
People have said it's one of the most beautiful cabins they've ever been in. I don't know exactly what they're landing on, but I think it's that the space has a point of view. Not a collection of nice objects. A place that knows what it is.
Lee found that word and brought it home. I'd say we built it.
