Lake Arrowhead A-Frame for Sale: A Turnkey Vacation Rental
Is This Lake Arrowhead A-Frame a Smart Vacation Rental Buy?
Yes — this Lake Arrowhead A-frame on South Fairway Drive is a turnkey vacation rental with a proven short-term rental history, listed at $599,999. It's a 4-bedroom, 2-bath, 1,732-square-foot home across three levels, fully remodeled inside, on a street-to-street lot minutes from downtown Lake Arrowhead. For a buyer who wants mountain lifestyle and rental income in one property, it checks both boxes.
By Rachael Smith | July 22, 2026
A-frames sell a feeling before they sell square footage.
You pull up to this one on South Fairway and it reads small — you'd swear it's 700 square feet. Then it drops down the slope and opens into three full levels. That's the first lesson of this tour: in Lake Arrowhead, the street view rarely tells you what you're actually buying.
I walked the whole property so you can see exactly what $599,999 gets you in this market — and, more importantly, why a home like this keeps producing as a rental. Here's what stood out, and what you'd want to weigh before you write an offer.
What You're Actually Buying at $599,999
Let's start with the numbers, because that's the question everyone asks first. Rachael breaks down the price at 4:09 — $599,999 for four bedrooms, two baths, and roughly 1,732 square feet spread across three levels.
Here's the detail that matters for value: on title, this home is recorded as a two-bedroom. The additional sleeping spaces — including a loft you can use as a fifth — are what give it real nightly-rate power. That's a common story with older mountain cabins, and it's exactly the kind of thing you want your agent flagging early, because it affects appraisal, financing, and how you market the home to guests.
The lot is a street-to-street parcel on a slope, with parking for about four cars up top and a large walk-in storage area tucked underneath the house. Rare level entry, lake rights, and central A/C round out the practical wins — and in a market full of homes with awkward access and window units, those three details quietly separate this listing from the pack.
The Remodel Is Doing the Heavy Lifting
What makes this home rentable isn't the A-frame silhouette. It's the finish work.
The kitchen has been fully remodeled — you can see it at 2:43. White quartz counters, a deep black single-basin sink, gold fixtures, clean black slate appliances, and open shelving styled the way guests expect when they book a design-forward stay. Luxury vinyl floors run throughout, and the original wood paneling — the good, thick kind, not the cheap stuff — is in genuinely beautiful shape.
The two bathrooms follow the same disciplined palette: gold, black, wood, and quartz, repeated in both. Upstairs you get a hexagon black-tile shower behind thick glass. Downstairs, a cast iron tub with dual vanities and tile laid to make the room feel larger than it is. Take a look at the lower bathroom at 14:14.
Here's the honest coaching note: when a home is styled this tightly, consistency is the whole game. Every finish has to agree with the next one, or the eye catches it immediately — and so do guests leaving reviews. This seller nailed it. If you buy a home that isn't this dialed in, budget for the styling, because it's what drives the five-star nights.
Want more Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear real estate tours like this? I break down real listings, rental income, and what mountain homes actually sell for every week on my YouTube channel. Subscribe here so you never miss a new tour.
The A-Frame Payoff — and the Trade-Offs
The moment the home earns its name is the great room. At 6:13 the ceiling soars into vaulted tongue-and-groove, with beams painted a chocolate tone that flatters the whole space. The original 1971 fireplace — faux rock, gas starter — anchors the room, and the sellers kept a few vintage touches, like the louvered doors, that give it character you can't fake in new construction.
This is the part of an A-frame that sells. It's also the part you have to buy with your eyes open. That top loft bedroom is genuinely charming — you can see it at 9:10 — with a little desk area looking straight out into the trees. But it runs warm, like most A-frame peaks do. You'll want a fan or good cross-ventilation up there. And true to the style, it has no closet. If you've never owned an A-frame, that's normal — I've owned one myself, and it had no closets anywhere. It's a lifestyle trade, not a defect.
The deck railings are already built up to code for vacation rental use, which is a real cost and headache the current owners have absorbed for you. The lower covered deck can still drip through in heavy snow and ice, so factor that into your maintenance rhythm if you plan to rent through winter.
Lifestyle and Investment in One Address
This is the sweet spot a lot of mountain buyers are chasing right now: a home that pays part of its own way. The property is an active vacation rental with real short-term rental history — which means you're not guessing at projections, you're reviewing what the home has already produced. That's a stronger position than buying a blank cabin and hoping the numbers work.
If you like this blend of getaway and cash flow, it's worth reading how the same math plays out across the hill in Big Bear. I walked through a three-level cabin that blends lifestyle and investment in a similar layout, and for buyers watching their entry point, a $239,900 starter cabin tour shows what the bottom of the market looks like. And if you're weighing a sale instead of a purchase, how long it takes to sell a mountain cabin is the timeline conversation to have first.
The clients I work with who do best in this market treat the mountains as one connected region — Lake Arrowhead, Big Bear, and everything between — and they compare price per bedroom, rental history, and access before they fall for the view. This A-frame holds up on all three.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much is the Lake Arrowhead A-frame on South Fairway Drive?
It's listed at $599,999 — a 4-bedroom, 2-bath, 1,732-square-foot home across three levels on a sloped, street-to-street lot.
Does it come with short-term rental history?
Yes. It's an active vacation rental with a proven track record, so you can evaluate actual performance instead of relying on estimates.
How many people can it sleep?
It's a 4-bedroom on title (recorded as two), and the upper loft works as a fifth sleeping area — strong appeal for larger groups and higher nightly rates.
Ready to See It in Person?
If a turnkey Lake Arrowhead A-frame with real rental history at $599,999 is the kind of property you've been waiting for, don't sit on it — homes that produce tend to move. Reach out and I'll pull the short-term rental numbers so you can run your own math before you tour.
And if you want to keep seeing real mountain listings broken down room by room — with honest notes on what's great and what to watch — that's exactly what I do every week. Subscribe to my YouTube channel here and come house-hunting with me.
About Rachael Smith
Rachael Smith is a top-producing real estate agent with RE/MAX Big Bear, specializing in mountain homes, short-term rental investments, and luxury properties in Big Bear Lake and surrounding areas. With over a decade of experience and hundreds of homes sold, she helps buyers, sellers, and investors make smart, strategic real estate decisions. Through her strong online presence and data-driven approach, Rachael connects clients with opportunities both on and off the market.
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