High Forest Hideout

- Claudia Johnson

Some dreams are too strong to let go, and that’s why Chuck Bailey never gave up on his hope for a hideout in the woods. “I lived at my parents’ cottage in Brown

County, Indiana, while attending Indiana University,” Chuck said. “After graduating in 1974, I moved to North Carolina to begin my professional career, hoping that someday I would be able to come back to this special place.”

Fast forward 33 years to 2007. After 31 years of marriage and having raised four children, Chuck and his wife Terri were finally empty nesters. Chuck was ready for country living, and though Terri was reluctant, the couple started exploring property suitable for building. But in four years everything would change for Chuck.

“When Terri died in August 2011 after battling cancer for nine years, it was time for me to start a new chapter in my life,” Chuck said.

“Good friends cautioned me not to make any changes to my life during the first year of being a widower. Don’t sell your home, don’t quit your job and don’t make any rash decisions. That was good advice, but the desire to retire to a log cabin in Brown County had long been in the back of my mind. It was time to move on my dream.”

Chuck’s proverbial stars began to align, when he was offered the chance to buy 79 acres of land, 74 of it hardwood forest.