We’re Janice and Sean - Welcome!
Back in 2014, I (Janice) was running a startup and had moved out to San Francisco to join an accelerator. It just so happened the founders of Airbnb had gone through our sister accelerator a couple years prior, and that’s when I first started learning a lot about Airbnb.
When I moved back to NC I decided to kick out my roommate in order to try out the whole ‘Airbnb’ thing. I had renovated a 100-year old mill house several years before, and decided the guest room was a great spot to start. Originally, I was looking for more flexibility and additional income, but it didn’t take long to learn that my favorite part was actually meeting and getting to know all the guests that we got to host.
Fast forward to 2016, and after my Mom died I decided to use the money she left me to buy a foreclosed cabin in the mountains of North Carolina. I spent only one month furnishing and decorating, and this is when I first started hosting guests at a second home. My family thought I was crazy. I remember the strongly-worded email I got from my Grandma telling me what a bad idea this was.
Four years later in 2020, it was time to chase a different dream: building a small, intimate cabin close to my family in Maine. At this point I was dating Sean, and it turns out he also thought I was crazy when I made an offer on three acres of land sight unseen. I decided to start a little Instagram account to document the build, and met a whole lot of new friends along the way.
This COVID project turned into something much bigger, and in 2021, three months after launching Cozy Rock we made an offer on a lake house further north in Maine; this time with my sister and brother-in-law on our team. Guess I’m not that crazy after all. Four months after that we opened Cozy Camp to guests, and have been hosting guests there ever since.
In the summer of 2025 we decided it was time for a big change to help us consolidate our time, energy and travels. We sold both of our rental properties in North Carolina and went all in on Maine, closing on Cozy Coast in August. This triplex, built in 1830 and only one block from the ocean, not only lets us spend all of our free time in Maine but also gives us a lot of options and flexibility for the future. While we LOVE hosting guests on vacation, we also deeply value long term housing options in the towns we love, and recognize the negative impact it can have buying property and turning it into short term rentals. This house gives us the option of doing both, and bringing life (and style) back into a classic beauty. Plus, you can’t beat the location. We’ve just begun renovations, and hope to hose our first guests in 2026!
The Cabin Culture Podcast was born out of all these cabin adventures; the cabin community has become such an unexpectedly wonderful part of our experience. Now I get to have great conversations weekly with other cabin lovers, builders, designers, and owners and it is a TREAT.
Interested in booking a Cabin Consultation?
I have to be honest, the early stages of a build or AirBNB are my FAVORITE. All the dreaming, planning, imagining… it’s truly the best. But I also know intimately the overwhelm that can come with it, so if you’re looking for some insight, advice or tips from someone who’s been there (several times) before I’d love to chat!
Covering all things project management, marketing, hosting… pretty much everything except the parts that involve power tools 👍🏻
~ Janice