11098 Zeibright Road

There are places in the mountains that seem less built than discovered. Built in 1907 by John Spaulding, this log cabin has stood above Bear Valley for more than a century, in a landscape closely tied to the Spaulding name and Nevada County's early water history. Facing east toward the ridge and the first light of morning, the cabin retains exposed log walls, heavy timbers, a generous main living room, a wood-burning stove, and a separate fireplace set into a striking stone hearth, along with a full kitchen and four additional upstairs rooms used as bedrooms. The property already has some of the fundamentals of off-grid use in place: water storage, a solar-powered pump, 110V power, battery backup, and an on-demand water heater, giving the next owner a practical starting point for continued use and improvement. Plumbing has also been run upstairs for a potential future bathroom. The storage tank can be filled from the street through a line installed by the sellers, making water delivery considerably easier. A fresh gravel drive was laid in 2026, the roof is less than five years old, and multiple outbuildings, including a large rear shed, provide useful storage and workspace. The cabin sits on 32.93 acres of Nevada County mountain land, stretching into Bear Valley itself and abutting Tahoe National Forest. Along the rear of the property, the historic Yuba Canal still carries water toward the foothills, a working remnant of the infrastructure that shaped this country generations ago. For all its sense of removal, the property is approximately 30 minutes from Sugar Bowl and downtown Nevada City, under an hour from Lake Tahoe, and less than a mile from access to the Pioneer Trail. More than a century on, the old promise remains: a cabin in the woods, a fire on the hearth, and the mountains beyond your door.