In 1951, an artist and a librarian built a riverside cabin with no electricity and lived from the land for 35 years; their 61-acre homestead is now being preserved

Harlan and Anna Hubbard settled beside the Ohio River in Kentucky in 1951 after traveling by shantyboat for years. The following year, they began building the small cabin that became Payne Hollow, which is a home where they lived with few modern conveniences and relied heavily on the surrounding land and river.Harlan Hubbard was an artist, writer and craftsman, and Anna was a librarian and musician. Together they developed a life around the property in Trimble County, Kentucky, and grew food, gathered wood and made much of what they needed themselves. Historical records place the cabin’s construction in 1952, after the Hubbards had negotiated for land at Payne's Landing. A University of Louisville-related historical account says they returned to the site in May 1952, arranged to rent and later purchase seven acres, and moved into a one-room cabin by November that year. The structure expanded into a two-room home in 1954.They built a life around the riverThe Hubbards built their shantyboat in 1944 and traveled along the Ohio and Mississippi river system before settling at the Kentucky site, and at Payne Hollow, the couple continued the same basic approach to daily life. Hanover College's account of the property says that they rejected modern conveniences and lived without electricity or running water, while relying on the land around their home.Harlan painted, wrote and produced woodcuts, and often used materials and subjects connected to the Ohio River landscape. He is credited with more than 1,000 works of art. Anna was a librarian and musician, and the couple's life included music as well as Harlan's painting and writing. They remained at Payne Hollow for more than three decades. Anna died in 1986, while Harlan died in 1988. By then, the property had become closely associated with their work and the self-sufficient life they had created there. Hanover College says the couple's riverside property eventually encompassed 61 acres, including the buildings and their contents.The property passed to a caretakerThe 61-acre Payne Hollow property went to Paul Hassfurder, an artist who had become a close friend of the Hubbards and helped them during their later years, after Harlan's death. Hassfurder moved into the house shortly after Harlan died and continued living there in much the same spirit as the couple. Earlier accounts of Payne Hollow describe him maintaining the property and resisting major changes that could have altered its character.Payne Hollow sits along the Ohio River in Trimble County, downstream from Madison, Indiana, and access has historically involved the river and a wooded route rather than the kind of infrastructure that is associated with conventional residential development. The property remained closely associated with Hubbard's artwork and writing, while concerns about the condition of its buildings grew. Preservationists were already discussing ways to protect the house, studio and surrounding land by the 2000s.A nonprofit took over the 61 acresThe preservation effort entered a new phase in 2022, when a nonprofit organization named Payne Hollow in Ohio acquired the 61-acre property. The organization was established to preserve the land and structures and to develop educational and research uses around the Hubbard legacy. Hanover College reported that the group planned to stabilize the buildings, safeguard historically significant artifacts and conduct ecological work on the property.The organization has described the site as a work in progress, and its own account says the house and studio are deteriorating and need restoration, while recent photographs document the property as it exists today. The organization is also documenting the surrounding land, trails and ecological features while developing plans for future stewardship.When Hanover College reported on the acquisition in 2022, Payne Hollow was closed to the public while the nonprofit developed its preservation and access plans. The property had moved from private inheritance into the hands of an organization specifically created to maintain the land, buildings and collection that were associated with Harlan and Anna Hubbard.Catch the latest World News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.