Budget Breakdown: A Bay Area Couple Turn an A-Frame Cabin Near Yosemite Into a $600-a-Night Rental

They spent $125,000 refreshing the ’70s home with finishes and decor that are meant to make it feel like a beloved family retreat.
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In 2021, after five months of searching for an A-frame home near Yosemite that they could turn into a short-term rental, Aria Massoudifar and Sam Salehyan found a Zillow listing for one and that same day, put in an offer. Built in 1973 and last renovated in the ’80s, their newly purchased home in Pine Mountain Lake was dated with dark-gray shag carpets throughout the loft and downstairs living area, dark wood paneling covering the walls and ceilings, and vinyl flooring in a walled-off kitchen that had quartz countertops, also in gray, that matched the bathroom counters.

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Amber Pietrzyk
Tell the best story
Amber is an art director by day and a freelance writer by night.

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