The land on which Castle Haven Cabins rests was originally homesteaded by Daniel & Ellen Lind of Norway in 1902. Dan and his brother Tom worked as commercial fishermen on Lake Superior, as Lind Bros. Fishing. He started the first mail-order frozen fish business in the area.

Dan and Ellen raised a family of 11 children in the same house that stands today. Two of their sons, Marcus and Edgar, took over the commercial fishing business, renamed as Lind Bros. Jr., and built the first tourist cabin in 1933. Our resort catered to those looking for relief from hay fever. An early business card even says “In the Heart of the Hay Fever Haven.”

Many folks wonder how we got our name, Castle Haven Cabins. In an interview with the Lake County News Chronicle in the late 1970s, Mark said, “We built the first one in the spring of ’33. We built all of ’em by ourselves. In the summer times before we had built the Castle Danger Church, this young fella, his name was Fritchell Eide, would come ’n teach bible school for the kids. He’d always stay in that first cabin, watching the storms out there on the Lake, and he’d say, ‘This is indeed a haven amidst the dangers of the storms…’ So we named our cabins Castle Haven.”

Mark and Florence Lind were the second generation to start a family on this land. They had 3 children: Dorothy, Dan and Dwight. Dwight and Debbie Lind were the third generation to continue the family business here at Castle Haven Cabins. They raised three girls: Meredith and twins Courtney and Jamie. Dwight and Debbie started their tenure in 1975 and have now taken great pleasure in seeing the next generation continue the family business with their daughter and son-in-law, Jamie and Clint MacFarlane.

Up until 1994 Castle Haven was only a summer resort. That all changed when Dwight started building our Year Round cabins. Cabins 7 & 11 were the first to be built, which opened in April 1995. The original cabins were sold and moved out to make room for the new ones. From that point on, each spring brought a new cabin until Cabin 13 was finished in 2000.

Clint and Jamie live in the original home built by Dan and Ellen, although it was remodeled in 1935 by Mark and Florence and again in 1986 by Dwight and Debbie. We are very proud to keep our long-standing family tradition going.


Your hosts…
Jamie & Clint MacFarlane
with sons Cale & Brody