A Patriotic Haven, The Murray Cottage, Yellow Creek Lake

story and photos by Sue Pais

Handmade

In The USA

by a veteran’s hands + couple’s love

Custom-built. Constructed with love. And quite literally, handmade.

So it is with this unique A-frame roof lake home on Yellow Creek Lake. And the hands that crafted the work belong to a special husband-andwife team, married 41 years, parents to three daughters, and grandparents to one granddaughter.

Meet Darrell and Kathy Murray.

Darrell, a US Navy veteran who served during the Vietnam era also happens to be a highly skilled craftsman at (literally) all trades involved in home construction. Wife Kathy served patients for more than 40 years as an RN in labor and delivery, as well as treating the developmentally disabled and physically handicapped. But Kathy can also drive a hammer like nobody’s business.

An overnight project it was not. In fact, it took nearly 15 years to rebuild— constructing during holidays and vacations, and progressing only as fast as was allowed by two former busy careers, Kathy’s breast cancer diagnosis, and Darrell’s developed lung disability. Yes, the pathway to completion slowed when needed, but the journey persevered nevertheless.

This shed, too, was handcrafted by the couple. It serves as convenient storage, and a peaceful spot to sit and watch the water.

In fact, one might say that Darrell and Kathy’s lake home was crafted with the same qualities that have propelled their 41-year marriage through both life’s blessings and its curveballs: a handy dose of skill, powered by perseverance, and upheld by faith.

In 2009 the home was complete. The goal of a hand-built, uniquely-theirs and crafted-tofit-the-environment A-frame roof home now stands strong— constructed with a steady foundation, strong walls, and a steel roof to deflect any storm weathered, both literally and figuratively.

Together as a team the Murrays rather epitomize perseverance and strength. After their home construction, and after Kathy beat a cancer from which doctors questioned if she would survive, then came Thanksgiving 2020. Both with already-compromised lungs, Darrell and Kathy caught COVID. “We ran a fever for 14 days and thought our time was through,” Kathy said. “We could not be seen by doctors, and we laid together and just knew the good Lord was calling us home.” But other plans were at work. They beat COVID. “Each thing thrown at me, I’ll fight through and rebound,” Kathy said. “We fought through (COVID); but really, it’s all about what the Lord wants anyways.”

And today, their lake home is a quiet respite for the now-retired couple; a home away from their other homes. It’s a lake where Darrell has been coming for 64 years. “I’ve been coming here since I was eight years old,” Darrell said. “There used to be cottages for rent here, church camp, and a sandbar,” he smiled, “lots of memories.”

So it made sense to purchase the original structure in 1994, when he saw the property for sale. Renovations began in 1997 and completed in 2009. “It seemed to take forever, and a diagnosis of breast cancer slowed things way down,” Kathy said. “Darrell originally saw the picture of this home in a magazine and that was the beginning… he had worked construction previous to (working as an electrician for) GM and had built many homes in and around the Elwood area.”

The first step to the massive renovation was removing the original structure’s second floor, reframing, and roofing.

The favorite area of the home is here… in the second floor master bedroom. “It has a seating area to watch tv and enjoy the view through the balcony doors of the lake,” Kathy said. The tongue and groove car siding was stained with one coat of silver metallic automotive lacquer. “We had to wear respirators doing the staining,” Kathy said.

The home’s entire interior walls and ceilings are solid pine.”

Even this boat table was built by Darrell— complete with boat name etched into its stern. And the name? Why, she’s named after his wife.

Then came the first floor. “The first floor exterior was done in sections... rewiring, insulating, and new outside walls,” Kathy said. “The plans were altered a few times by adding the balconies, stairs, deck, and the step-down roofs.” Yet when the exterior was completed, Kathy felt the roof looked too plain and flat. “Darrell wasn't happy, but he tore back into the new roof and added four dormers,” she chuckled.

And it wasn’t only Darrell who worked on the building. Kathy, too, learned a great deal about construction. “I was told you hit the nail three times and it better be in,” she said. “It took me a while, but finally I could master that. Darrell tells people, ‘I taught her how to drive a nail, now she tells me how to build a home,’" she smiled.

Today, at sight of the lake home one thing is clear: you are, indeed, stepping on proud Americans’ soil. From the US Navy emblem to the American flags to the plethora of year-round patriotic décor within the home’s hand-built walls, you know you’re in the home of a proud American couple. “We are glad to be Americans, enjoy our freedom, and would never want to live in any other country,” Kathy said. “I am proud Darrell served our country during the Vietnam era, even though he now has a service-connected disability… I admire all the talents the Lord blessed Darrell with. I have always felt the Lord put us together,” she said. “That is how our lives have been, always doing everything ourselves together.” This year-round home, which Darrell and Kathy visit frequently, is, indeed, a very special haven and one they cherish with pride. Pride in their craftsmanship. Pride in relishing their history on Yellow Creek Lake. Pride in the hurdles and odds that, together, this couple has overcome. Pride in the life they, together, have quite literally built by hand.

The original home had a set of homemade slider doors that were repurposed in this downstairs bedroom. “Darrell's professionalism and craftsmanship are evident everywhere in the home,” Kathy said. “If he feels it's not exactly what he wants, he will redo until it is what he wants.”