A Family Place in the Pennsylvania Wilds
Our story
Resting Eagle Cabin is a family-owned mountain lodge in the Pennsylvania Wilds, hosted by Jim Bennett and Lisa Schmoke.
That's where we grew up. We farmed the land and kept a garden. We walked down the lane to meet the school bus, and we learned to ride a bike, fish and hunt. Our mom stored food from the land in the root cellar by the big rock. To honor our mom and dad, we've preserved that root cellar, and Dad's old car still sits where he parked it behind the cabin.
Resting Eagle Cabin sits on 21 acres and is named for Isaiah 40:31:
“But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”
Jim's family lives in Texas and makes it back as often as they can for hiking, floating down the creek, campfires and the wildlife.
We also host Creekside Sinnemahoning Home, on an orchard along the First Fork of Sinnemahoning Creek, and Central Emporium Home, in the heart of Emporium.
Five generations on this hill
The story of the land under Resting Eagle Cabin, told through the family who has worked it since 1895.
1895
Amos Bennett buys the land for $300 and farms the field behind where the cabin now stands.
Early 1900s
Amos builds a stone wall along the bottom of the property line. It still stands today, intact.
Through the mid-1900s
His son Layton Bennett keeps the farm going.
1970
Layton's son, James Bennett Sr., settles here with a 60-foot single-wide trailer and raises his family on the hill, living here until 1990.
Today
James Sr. dreamed of a place where family could gather. Jim Bennett Jr., his wife Brooke, and Lisa partnered to make that dream a reality: Resting Eagle Cabin, built over three years. Deer, elk and black bears still wander the field above the cabin.