House guide

This is what you need to know to use the cabin. It is written for someone who has never been before; if you grew up going down there, skip to whatever you have forgotten. A few things have changed.

Last checked September 2026. If anything here is wrong, tell us and we'll fix it.

In this guide: Arriving · Heat and water · The beach · Before you leave · In an emergency

Getting here

The cabin is at 4040 Mina Avenue, Lincoln Beach. The postal address uses Depoe Bay.

From Highway 101, turn onto Willow toward the ocean. Go a couple of blocks, then turn north onto Mina.

What you are looking for: a gray-and-cream two-story cabin with a steep gable and a glass-railed balcony carried on two enormous weathered posts, which are recycled telephone poles. There is a big picture window at ground level, a low wooden deck in front with a sign on it reading 4040 MINA AVE, and a gravel drive up the right-hand side. The log cabin directly north of you is 4025 Mina. The empty lot on the south side, next door, is 4030 Mina, and it belongs to the family too.

Chester's Markets — the supermarket two blocks away, until recently the Thriftway — is the answer to almost every errand.

Park in the gravel drive. If you are bringing more than one car, ask Barb where the second one goes.

Getting in

The lockbox is beside the front door, on the left. We will send you the code privately before your stay.

The Wi-Fi password is written down inside the cabin.

The front door is reached across the front porch. Look at the cedar trim around it before you go in: Wes carved the cabin's motto into it — May cares be left without and caring brought within. That is the whole idea of the place.

The back door is beside the desk that holds the Wi-Fi router.

Around the house

Pets, smoking, candles and extra guests are all fine — just tell Barb how many people are coming.

The upstairs stairs are steep. Take your time and use the handrail. Watch for changes in floor level as you move between the original cabin and the addition.

Two things worth knowing about both of those:

• The stairs to the loft. Wes could only work out 45-degree angles, so the risers are as tall as the treads, and the top step is short because the run did not come out even.

• The step up into the original cabin. The family room floor at the back came out about an inch and a half low, so you walk uphill through that doorway. Everyone catches a toe on it once.

Warming the cabin

There are two heat pumps: one in the living room and one in the downstairs main bedroom. Use their controls to adjust the heat or cooling. There are also portable electric heaters for extra warmth.

Use the heat pumps to warm the cabin when you arrive.

Plug a portable heater straight into a wall outlet, never into an extension cord or a power strip, and keep it well away from bedding, curtains and anything else that can burn.

From December through March, leave the heat pumps running on low when you go, not off; Barb will tell you the setting when she confirms your dates. The cabin no longer needs the old winterizing routine, and the water stays on.

Water

The main water shutoff is at the street. The shutoff tool is in the entryway just inside the front door. It is about two feet long and is used to open the meter box and turn the water on or off. You will not need it; leave the water on when you leave.

The 40-gallon water heater is in the coat closet off the living room. If you have no hot water, contact us.

The kitchen

The kitchen was rebuilt in 2012 — granite counters, new cabinets, a dishwasher, a disposal, a bigger refrigerator, a microwave over the range, and the breakfast bar that was Barb's idea. The basic gear is all there, including a toaster, a coffee maker and a waffle iron.

The kitchen range

The range is electric and there is nothing odd about it. Turn it off when you are finished.

The wood stove

There is no fireplace. The brick fireplace Wes hired a mason to build in 1947 came out in 1981, and its bricks were re-used for the hearth and the wall behind the small wood stove that replaced it — which is why the stove looks as though it is standing in a fireplace. The whole story is on the Fireplace-1981 page.

Please don't use the wood stove. It has no grate and no tools and is out of service for now. The heat pumps warm the cabin.

Electrical panels

The main service panel is on the living-room front wall; there is a second, older panel above the kitchen counter. The underground service was put in in 2008.

TV and music

The TV and music have changed since the older printed guide was written; ask Barb what is there now.

A quiet day

You do not have to go anywhere in particular. There is time to read, rest and look out toward the ocean. The old photographs are worth a look on a rainy afternoon.

The beach

Walk north to the end of Mina Avenue and the road takes you down onto the sand — a few hundred feet from the front door, and a few minutes on foot.

Watch the ocean, keep children close, and stay away from logs in the surf. Cold water, currents and unexpected waves can be dangerous even when the beach looks quiet. Check current conditions before heading out. A tide prediction is not a safety forecast.

The family has its own version of that warning, on the Fun at the Beach page: "Always keep your eyes on the waves if walking on the beach or nearby headland rocks. One of our guests, while fishing, was washed off one rock and, by the grace of God, washed up on another rock."

A campfire on the sand is the best meal at Lincoln Beach. Hot dogs and buns from Chester's, roasting sticks cut from the salal bushes in the back yard, driftwood off the beach, s'mores afterwards.

There is no tide chart in the cabin. Look the day's highs and lows up before you go: NOAA tide predictions for Depoe Bay, the nearest station (checked September 2026).

For the weather and the state of the surf, the National Weather Service has coastal conditions and alerts for the Oregon coast and its own beach safety advice (both checked September 2026).

Grandfather's secret for a windy day, and the rest of the family's beach notes, are on the Fun at the Beach page.

Nearby

Check that a place is still open before you drive there. These are the family's own landmarks, not a current guide.

Chester's Markets (until recently Chester's Thriftway), two blocks away, is groceries, barbecue supplies, hot dogs and firewood bundles. It stands where George Betts's tiny store used to be.

• Fogarty Creek — a state park just south, and the place to be when the wind is from the north.

• Depoe Bay — three miles south, with the smallest harbor in the world: about five acres of water joined to the Pacific by a channel 65 feet wide. Ainslee's Salt Water Taffy is the stop.

• Gleneden Beach and Salishan — about two miles north, and the first landmarks on the long beach walk. The Side Door Cafe is at Gleneden.

• Lincoln City — further north, and where the errands are. Barnacle Bill's for fresh crab to crack at the cabin, NorthWest Winds for a cheap kite, Mo's for chowder.

• Newport — south over the Yaquina Bay bridge, for the Oregon Coast Aquarium.

Dave and Barb's own list of places to eat, in order, starts with a campfire on the beach and the barbecue in the back yard, and then: the Side Door Cafe at Gleneden Beach (pricey, book ahead on a busy weekend); Tidal Raves in Depoe Bay (pricey, very good seafood, extraordinary view); The Hill Buffet & Grill in Newport (buffet, cheap, big views of the beach — it took over from Izzy's, same people and the same good food); and Mo's in Lincoln City for a family-size tub of clam chowder and garlic cheese bread.

Hardware and a pharmacy. Both are in Lincoln City, to the north. Mills Ace Hardware is at 4910 SE Highway 101, 541-996-2131, for whatever you have broken; the Safeway pharmacy at 4101 NW Logan Road, 541-994-2500, is the nearest place to fill a prescription.

Trash

The cans are outside and easy to get at. Trash goes into the can before you drive away. Anything that will not fit, take with you. The hauler is North Lincoln Sanitary Service, out of Lincoln City.

Barb will tell you which day the cans go out.

Before you leave

Please leave the cabin ready for the next family.

1. Wash the sheets and other linens you used, and put things away.

2. Clean up the kitchen and put things back where you found them.

3. Put trash in the outside can.

4. Check for belongings in the rooms, on the porch and around the barbecue.

5. Turn off the range and lights. Unplug portable heaters.

6. Heat pumps: from December through March, leave them on low, not off. In other months, do whatever Barb told you when she confirmed your dates.

7. Lock the front and back doors.

Tell us if something needs attention. Thank you for looking after the place.

In an emergency

Call 911 and give the address: 4040 Mina Avenue, Lincoln Beach, near Depoe Bay, Oregon.

The cabin phone is no longer in service. Do not rely on it to make a call.

For a problem with the cabin, call Dave: 541-791-6470.

Hospitals (checked September 2026). Both have an emergency department open around the clock.

• Samaritan North Lincoln Hospital — 3043 NE 28th Street, Lincoln City, 541-994-3661. North, and the closer of the two.

• Samaritan Pacific Communities Hospital — 930 SW Abbey Street, Newport, 541-265-2244. South, over the Yaquina Bay bridge.

Utilities (checked September 2026).

• Power is Central Lincoln PUD. Report an outage on 877-265-3211.

• Water and sewer are the Kernville–Gleneden Beach–Lincoln Beach Water District (K-GB-LB) and the Gleneden Sanitary District, which share an office at 6595 Gleneden Beach Loop, Gleneden Beach: 541-764-2475. The sanitary district's after-hours emergency number is 541-994-3878.