Photography courtesy Tiffany and Matt Ursch
The calm of nature has always held answers for Tiffany Ursch. When Tiffany learned in the spring of 2018 that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer, she and her husband, Matt, booked a weekend getaway at a tiny cabin in rural Missouri to take in the news and process what it meant. Not long after, in the days leading up to her first mastectomy, Tiffany and Matt turned to the woods once again to clear their minds and seek peace. “We see nature as a healing place,” she says.
At the time of Tiffany’s diagnosis, the Urschs owned and operated an electrical contracting company that serviced jobs in the St. Louis region. But to make time for treatments and surgeries, they began scaling back on the work. Eventually, Tiffany says, an idea was hatched: “After we get through everything, what if we move to the country and open a glamping resort?”
For years, the couple had tossed around such an idea. Tiffany’s experience fighting cancer only increased the urgency to follow through. So in late 2018, the Urschs closed on a 70-acre property in Arcadia, approximately a 90-minute drive south of St. Louis, and moved there the following spring. At first, they lived in a fifth-wheel camper while building a tiny house for themselves and their dog, Cooper. Then, they built two cabins to rent to guests seeking the same level of natural beauty that drew them to Southeast Missouri in the first place. Upon the completion of the cabins, which Tiffany and Matt hand-built from the studs out, their resort, Wilderland Glamping Cabins, was born.
“We tried to really create a peaceful space for each cabin,” Tiffany says. “They’re totally nestled in the forest.”
Surrounded by soaring pine and cedar trees, the cabins are appointed with the comforts of home. Guests can sleep on a queen mattress, bathe in a rainfall shower, and find respite from extreme temperatures in the air-conditioned and heated indoor spaces. On the front porch, each cabin features a bench with pillows so travelers can take a seat, enjoy a morning coffee—or a glass of wine in the evening—and listen to the birds singing in the distance. The cabins start at $149 per night.
The Urschs say they want guests to be comfortable inside and outside their quarters, while experiencing the calming effects of nature. “The transition to living here has been one of trying to slow down drastically and not feel like we have to keep up with the crazy, hectic pace that sometimes our culture makes us believe we need to have,” Tiffany says. “We’ve opted out of that thought process. We’ve slowed down and we’re trying to provide people with a place to come and experience the same.”
As she’s fought breast cancer, Tiffany has undergone six rounds of chemotherapy, five surgeries, and a year of infusion treatments. She still sees her oncologist, but the visits are much less frequent these days. “Breast cancer changes your life,” she says. “I feel like it’s a misnomer when people say you get breast cancer, you get it treated, you heal, and you move on. It lingers in your life, but I try really hard to not make it my focus.”
Instead, Tiffany has her tasks in the woods of Arcadia to keep her mind busy. Overseeing the Wilderland Glamping Cabins is her full-time job now. She and Matt recently built a coop house chickens, and the couple is in the process of farming their land to grow their own food. Simply being outside is meditative.
“The benefits of being in nature are really incredible,” she says.
