American author Anne LaBastille built a 12-by-12 cabin with no electricity, running water, telephone or road and lived life on her own terms. The place is now protected forever

There was no electricity, no running water, no telephone and no road leading to Anne LaBastille’s remote property in New York’s Adirondack wilderness. In 1964, LaBastille, a wildlife ecologist, writer and conservationist, built a tiny 12-by-12-foot log cabin on the shore of Twitchell Lake. Far from modern conveniences, she created a life centered on nature, solitude and self-reliance.

Her experience eventually became the basis for Woodswoman, the celebrated memoir published in 1976, and a series of books documenting her extraordinary life in the Adirondacks.

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A tiny cabin far from modern life

LaBastille did not build her cabin as a temporary escape from the city. She intended to live close to the wilderness and accept the challenges that came with it.

The property had no conventional road, power lines or telephone service. Water came from the surrounding wilderness, while heating and cooking relied on traditional methods.

Even getting building materials to the site was an undertaking. LaBastille obtained spruce logs from a local lumberyard and had them transported to the edge of the lake because there was no road leading directly to her property.

She also carefully chose a building site where she would not need to cut down large trees. The finished cabin was tiny by modern standards, but it became the center of her life and work.

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Life in the Adirondacks was beautiful—and difficult

Living remotely meant accepting conditions that most people would find challenging. Adirondack winters brought heavy snow and freezing temperatures. Traveling for supplies could become difficult, particularly when the lake froze or severe weather arrived.

But LaBastille embraced the isolation. Her books described the reality of wilderness living, from chopping wood and traveling by boat to dealing with winter and managing without the conveniences most Americans took for granted.

Rather than presenting nature as an idyllic backdrop, LaBastille wrote about what it actually meant to depend on it.

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The woman behind ‘Woodswoman’

LaBastille was much more than a writer living in a cabin. She earned degrees from Cornell University and built a career as a wildlife ecologist and conservationist. She researched endangered wildlife, worked as an educator and became an influential advocate for protecting the Adirondacks.

Her career was particularly notable at a time when women remained underrepresented in many scientific and conservation fields.

Then came Woodswoman. Published in 1976, the memoir turned her personal experience into a story that reached readers far beyond New York. Her subsequent books continued exploring her relationship with the wilderness.

The cabin became a physical expression of her philosophy: wilderness was something to understand, respect and protect—not simply something to visit.

Her 32-acre property was eventually protected

LaBastille died in 2011 at age 75, but her connection to the Adirondacks continued.

In 2016, trustees of her estate donated her 32-acre West of Wind property on Twitchell Lake to New York State. The land became part of the Forest Preserve, protecting its ecological and historical character for future generations.

The decision helped preserve more than a piece of land. It protected the setting that shaped LaBastille's writing and conservation work.

Her legacy lives on through writers

LaBastille's influence continues through the Anne LaBastille Memorial Writers Residency, hosted by the Adirondack Centre for Writing since 2014.

The residency gives selected writers time to work in the landscape that inspired LaBastille, continuing the connection between wilderness and writing that defined much of her life.

The 50th anniversary of Woodswoman in 2026 has also brought renewed attention to her work and legacy, with programs exploring her life and the cabin she called home.