HOUSE TOUR | ROOMS & GARDENS | WORLD OF CABANA
Thirty miles from the dusty cowboy town of Cody, Wyoming, Jimmy and Lynda Covert’s handmade shack wedges into a narrow high-desert draw up the South Fork of the Shoshone River, like a man-made tumbleweed tangled in the sagebrush, writes Lisa Flood. She explores the cabin with photographer Joanna Maclennan.
BY LISA FLOOD | ROOMS & GARDENS | 27 MARCH 2025
Crafted from a couple hundred dollars worth of sawmill pine and fir, foraged juniper, twisted driftwood, bones, and antlers collected from the river bank below, Jimmy and Linda Covert's two-room retreat in Cody feels like something wild that has blown in from a wind storm - temporary, untamed, and ready to drift away as easily.
For now, the place — fondly known as Mule Gulch — stands steadfast against high winds, flooding, and drifting snow. Nestled down river from legendary entertainer Buffalo Bill Cody’s original ranch and in the neighborhood of posh ranchers, former senators, and infamous horse thieves, this ramshackle outpost offers a perfect retreat. With sweeping views of Wyoming’s majestic Absaroka Mountains, it provides a haven for two creatives: Jimmy, an award-winning Western furniture maker, and Lynda, a gifted designer.
Before the Coverts built their cabin, Jimmy camped on the land his father purchased in 1984. An apprentice to his South Fork neighbor, Ken Siggins of Triangle Z Ranch Furniture, Jimmy lived simply — commuting to work on his mule, Willy, while his family resided upriver in a cozy log house. “When I got tired of camping along the river and bending over an open fire, I decided to build this place,” he recalls.
The land had everything he needed — a natural spring, easy river access, and good southern exposure. Jimmy knew he had found the right spot after watching a pack of coyotes hunkered down in a gully above him. “I figured if the gully was good enough for them, it was good enough for me,” he says.
With its rugged terrain butted up against National Forest land, panoramic views of the Absaroka Mountains, and its proximity to Yellowstone National Park and the remote Thorofare wilderness, the South Fork Valley is home to grizzly bears, elk, moose, mountain lions, and rattlesnakes. “This place is wild, protected, and full of animals,” Jimmy says. “I’ve been charged by a grizzly while drinking my morning coffee. When he stood up on his hind legs, I held my ground, then I got into the cabin real quick.”
Moose and deer wander through their place regularly. One morning, a mountain lion sat on the doorstep. Rattlesnakes, slithering up from the dense sagebrush, sometimes found their way onto the porch. At first, the shack was simply a place for Jimmy to live and create — a testing ground for his craftsmanship. “It was always a place where I could try out building things for myself,” he says. But as both Jimmy’s furniture and Lynda’s bead work gained recognition, they moved to Cody, built a workshop, and the South Fork retreat became more of a weekend escape.
On a hot summer day last year, Lynda Covert led photographer Joanna Maclennan and me up the rough two-track road to the cabin. We had started the day at Cody’s Irma Hotel, drinking coffee at its storied bar — a gift to Buffalo Bill from Queen Victoria in 1897. From there, we passed through wooden ranch gates, parted cow herds, and followed a rugged road that clung high above the river.
As we neared the shack, hiking the last bit through grasses up to our shoulders, Lynda sang an old Western swing tune while the air buzzed with the electric hum of thousands of grasshoppers. A rattlesnake greeted us at their gate. Without hesitation, Lynda asked a friend to chop off its head. “Can’t have snakes living here,” she said matter-of-factly.
Inside, the cabin exudes a hand-hewn charm, reflecting the couple’s shared love of old Western artifacts and meticulous craftsmanship. One wall is papered with Western Horseman magazine covers, salvaged from a flood in Siggins’ basement. A kerosene lamp from a Cody antique shop flickers on a shelf, while a twisted juniper candlestick—crafted by Jimmy himself — sits beside the bed on a '40s George Blackford side table.
The sink is a repurposed packing crate, found in an alley in Cody and fitted with antler knobs. A plate holder, once used on the historic railroad car of gambler Diamond Jim Brady, now holds their dishes. And one day, when the river was low, they spotted something glinting in the water — an ancient buffalo skull-their favorite item. They still remember the way the light hit it as they pulled it from the current.
Though the shack began as Jimmy’s workspace, over time it became a place they both cherished. “Lynda likes to come out here just to sit by the fire,” he says. Which brings us to the Quick Meal stove—Lynda’s Mother’s Day gift. At the time, Jimmy jokes, “We had three mortgages and seven old stoves.” But when he discovered this particular Quick Meal on a neighboring ranch—cheap and broken—he knew Lynda would love it. He loaded it onto his truck, hauling it back toward their place. Along the way, he stopped to chat with a ranch hand, who offered to weld it back together.
By the time the stove arrived at the cabin, it was as good as new—just in time for Mother’s Day. “Of course, we immediately built a fire, started a pot of coffee in our Revere Ware kettle, and fried up eggs and bacon in a cast iron skillet,” Lynda says. Perched on their bed with books and a hearty breakfast, the wind howling outside, they experienced another perfect day at Mule Gulch.
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