39F Wadleigh

An off-grid log cabin on Wadleigh Island near Klawock, Alaska, 3 bedrooms and 1.5 bathrooms across roughly 1,170 square feet, on just over an acre with 134 feet of waterfront. Listed at $239,000, fully furnished, with two boats, a sawmill, and a generator included.

The setting

This is genuine island living. Wadleigh Island sits a 10 to 15 minute boat ride from town, on the east, easier-access side of the island, and the cabin comes with everything needed to actually live there: a 24-foot Grady-White boat with a 200 HP Yamaha outboard (about 665 hours on it), a new kicker motor, an additional skiff with its own outboard, an 18-inch sawmill, a bandsaw, a 2,600-watt Yamaha generator, and assorted tools. The listing is direct about one limitation: the property does not have its own dock. The dock visible in some photos belongs to a neighbor, and the shoreline is shallow enough that the listing suggests a haul-out system may suit it better than a longer dock.

The house

Built in 2006 from timber harvested and largely milled on the property itself, this is a true hand-built Alaskan log cabin. Massive log beams, natural wood finishes, and high ceilings run through the open-concept living, dining, and kitchen area, warmed by a wood stove. Two bedrooms and a full bathroom sit on the main floor; upstairs holds a third bedroom, a half bathroom, and a loft currently used as laundry and office space.

This is a genuinely off-grid property, and the listing is candid about what that means in practice. Power comes from a generator. Water is supplied by a rainwater catchment system. Wastewater is handled by an owner-installed system. The listing states plainly that “these systems are not conventionally installed and could benefit from some updates,” which is worth taking at face value rather than assuming municipal-grade infrastructure. The cabin itself is well insulated for the climate, with R-19 walls and floor, foam insulation in the ceiling, mostly double-pane windows, and a metal roof, and two electric hot water heaters serve the kitchen and shower.

Outside, a large shop, a smoker, a generator shed, and a woodshed add storage and workspace, though the listing says plainly that the outbuildings “would benefit from repair or renovation.” The photos of the shop and sheds bear that out: functional, well-used, and clearly not recently refreshed.

What to know before you call

Two numbers are worth sorting out before you call: the plat image in the listing shows Lot 39 at 1.026 acres, matching Zillow’s 1.03-acre figure we used above, while the companion video for this property stated 1.66 acres. We’re going with the plat and Zillow’s figure as the more directly sourced number, but it’s worth confirming the exact lot lines with the agent.

This home has been on Zillow 129 days as of this writing. The listing itself asks buyers to independently verify all information, which is sound advice generally and especially here, given the off-grid systems and the dock situation described above.

This is our third Alaska listing. For comparison, a fully furnished A-frame on the Yukon River near Eagle and a 1971 cabin on a bluff over Peterson Bay near Homer are both similarly remote, boat- or plane-access properties currently listed. You can see everything else we have on the properties page.

The facts

Ron Matecki and Melissa Matecki at Prince of Wales Realty are the listing agents for this property. More like this lands in the Monday email.