“What a security!” one customer said after enlisting the services of Cabin Keepers.

Brian and Jennifer Kidwell of Levels designed Cabin Keepers to cater to the needs of the out-of-town owners of local properties.

“As part of the basic service, we visit each property once a week to make sure everything is okay,” Jennifer said.

The Kidwells will thoroughly inspect for problems, filling out a weekly checklist. If they find a problem, they will take appropriate action to fix it and communicate with the homeowners.

“Cabin Keepers has allowed us to enjoy a peace of mind about our property when we are over two hours away,” Tom Stander of Woodbridge, Va. said. “Jennifer leaves a written report of her inspections and is always willing to make extra efforts, such as during this past winter’s snow storms and electrical losses.”

Some of the other services of Cabin Keepers include light or heavy cleaning, food shopping and trash removal.

“We have even reset mouse traps, watered plants, and fed the birds,” said Jennifer. “We will do our best to cater to the wishes of each customer.”

The Kidwells collectively have over 30 years of experience caring for people’s homes, including such services as house sitting, cleaning, repairing and building.

“Cabin Keepers gives us peace of mind, since we know that someone is looking after things when we’re away. –And we return to a nice, clean house!” said Doug Raber of Washington D.C.

“Actually, one of our customers had her cabin broken into on a couple of occasions. Because we were there and met with law enforcement, she did not need to leave her job in Maryland to come and deal with the mishap. I even made some repairs, securing the cabin until she could come back,” Brian said.

John and Maggie Mason of Beltsville, MD got a call from a local neighbor in the middle of the night that their automatic garage door was open. They were able to call the Kidwells instead of driving the distance themselves.

“It’s great having a local person with a key!” said John Mason.

“Knowing that many vacation homes and weekend cabins are scattered throughout our mountains helped us to create the concept of Cabin Keepers,” said Jennifer. “We also heard stories of neighbors who would come home to Hampshire County to find their house broken into or damaged from a burst pipe. If the intervention would have happened earlier, damage would have been minimal.”

The Kidwells started building the Cabin Keepers idea three years ago when they applied for a business license. They have kept their customer base small during this time so they could care for other necessary obligations. Now, they are ready and eager to expand and serve more homeowners.

Cabin Keepers is licensed and insured. Contact them at (304) 492-5740 or email info@wvcabinkeepers.com.

(Article appeared in the Hampshire Review 5/28/04.)