Noah Bradley, Author at Handmade Houses with Noah Bradley

29 06, 2019

Texas log cabin

Noah Bradley2019-06-29T10:21:14+00:00

Clearly, Texans know how to build a log cabin.
And of course, by their very nature they just have to do things differently than everyone else.
Folks in New England often build their chimneys on the inside of their homes to get every ounce of heat they can from the warmed masonry.
Here in the Mid-Atlantic and further South everyone builds their chimneys on the outside of the house (the theory being that the chimney can be pulled over to save the house in case of a bad chimney fire)
But Texans… if you look at this cabin… want it both ways. This chimney is half inside, and half on the outside of the home.
God Bless Texans.

Originally posted 2015-09-15 15:05:22.

Texas log cabinNoah Bradley2019-06-29T10:21:14+00:00

29 06, 2019

A free log cabin

Noah Bradley2019-06-29T10:21:13+00:00

You can build a log cabin for free, all it takes is a bit of effort, and a stand of trees. The expense starts when folks start thinking about a large home, one with lots of extras, and having someone else build it.

This fellow has a nice cabin… I hope he has a freezer in there big enough to handle all the venison that he has brought home.

Originally posted 2015-09-15 14:51:24.

A free log cabinNoah Bradley2019-06-29T10:21:13+00:00

29 06, 2019

Board and Batten construction

Noah Bradley2019-06-29T10:21:12+00:00

Board and batten… cheap and easy.

A fast form of construction that makes use of local materials.

Here we see that it was so cheap and easy that the baby get’s his own house.

I wonder how he opened that door?

Originally posted 2015-09-15 14:17:59.

Board and Batten constructionNoah Bradley2019-06-29T10:21:12+00:00

29 06, 2019

Three wonderful features

Noah Bradley2019-06-29T10:21:11+00:00

This little home offers three features that are well worth your consideration when building your next home.
(ok make that four features… if you count the wonderful gardens right out your front door)
1) a parged, or stucco, exterior… attractive, cost effective, historically common, low maintenance, air tight, easy for the do-it-yourselfer, and adaptable to many forms of construction.
2) a small addition off of the main structure providing visual interest (in this case timber framed… but log, stone, or brick would work just as well)
3) the well designed open shed on the other end of the house to keep the firewood dry and provide shelter for those who enter on that side. (I bet there are openings in the home designed for easy pass through into the house of that wood, perhaps even to a stove in the lower level of the house).

Originally posted 2015-09-14 18:12:40.

Three wonderful featuresNoah Bradley2019-06-29T10:21:11+00:00

29 06, 2019

Camp kitchen

Noah Bradley2019-06-29T10:21:10+00:00

Here we have a backwoods kitchen so commonly found in hunting cabins or “camps”. The woodstove keeps the room plenty warm and there is just enough room on top to heat water for coffee and to have a pot of something cooking… stew if the hunt was successful, beans if not. And, there is enough countertop nearby to make a few sandwiches on… ahhh the good life! lol What more do you need in a kitchen?

Originally posted 2015-09-14 14:39:22.

Camp kitchenNoah Bradley2019-06-29T10:21:10+00:00

29 06, 2019

Flemish bond

Noah Bradley2019-06-29T10:21:09+00:00

Fall will be here soon.
Do you have your fireplace ready for the coming season?

The only thing that I would change would be the brick pattern in the fireplace… which is all running bond, a modern pattern that masons use on everything from brick ranchers to office buildings. A nice Flemish bond would have looked so much better, one where every few course every other brick would have presented an end profile.

Originally posted 2015-09-14 14:27:42.

Flemish bondNoah Bradley2019-06-29T10:21:09+00:00

29 06, 2019

Where have all the chimneys gone?

Noah Bradley2019-06-29T10:21:08+00:00

Whenever I take a tour of a house under construction, most of them being in the 500k to 1M dollar range, I ask the builder why there is no masonry chimney. The response if often that buyers in this price range… upper middle class… can’t afford one.
I guess this country is getting poorer.
(I build my first home for $20k and I managed to budget in a chimney on it, similar to what you see here in this photo, so I don’t buy the line that people can’t afford them).

Originally posted 2015-09-14 14:17:51.

Where have all the chimneys gone?Noah Bradley2019-06-29T10:21:08+00:00

29 06, 2019

So nice

Noah Bradley2019-06-29T10:21:07+00:00

She fits into the landscape so well.

Originally posted 2015-09-13 18:40:06.

So niceNoah Bradley2019-06-29T10:21:07+00:00

29 06, 2019

What am I not seeing?

Noah Bradley2019-06-29T10:21:06+00:00

Please help me out here…
Which cabin would you choose?
The vintage design?
Or the modern design?
(assuming that both cost the same… which they likely would, if matching finishing details are applied)
I must admit that I was recently stunned when a large log cabin facebook page posted a photo of this orange cabin and then thousands of people chose to “like it” or make comments about how wonderful they thought it was.
I was… confused… at the response.
What am I not seeing?

Originally posted 2015-09-13 15:54:38.

What am I not seeing?Noah Bradley2019-06-29T10:21:06+00:00

29 06, 2019

What happened to good design?

Noah Bradley2019-06-29T10:21:05+00:00

Why is it that every home in Colonial Williamsburg is so attractive, more than 200 years after they were designed, yet every home in the new subdivisions in my area are so ugly?

Originally posted 2015-09-13 15:12:37.

What happened to good design?Noah Bradley2019-06-29T10:21:05+00:00

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