I have two questions for you…
Why did they build an outside closet on this early 1800’s cabin? (it’s full of shelves)
And, why did they place the window where they did… off center?
I don’t know the answers… but I sure am curious.
Originally posted 2015-04-26 13:30:27.
Such an attractive chimney.
Likely built by someone who was not a professional mason, using ruble stones that were picked up out of nearby fields, laid without the benefit of cement, and yet, it has stood for centuries.
Cement, one of the great wonders of the world, has been a curse with regard to the creation of attractive stonework. All masons should lay stone as if their cement was not there.
Originally posted 2015-04-25 21:38:15.
If a person wants to build a small home or cabin for themselves. I cannot think of more attractive design than this home.
Originally posted 2015-04-25 13:50:35.
Here are the porches of “the Two Sisters”.
One of the first rules that I’ve always heard about Virginia buildings is that whenever there is a grouping that they always lined up with each other perfectly… they were either built perpendicular or parallel to each other.
These two ladies clearly broke that rule.
I also notice that the house with two chimneys has three front doors… now that’s curious.
And, the other house, has has two doors on the porch… with another that leads down to the root cellar. There is no shortage of doors here, for sure.
At first, I wondered if these houses might have been homes for farm hands or servants. I was assured by the property owner that that wasn’t the case… For one thing there was no “main house” anywhere nearby. And that these houses were both known to have been inhabited by a large family with many extended family members… each seeking a bit of privacy.
Notice the stone chimneys… each with it’s stones laid flat. How about that nice cap detail at the top? sweet!
Within a half mile of my residence there have been at least twenty houses built in the last ten years, all in excess of a million dollars, and not one of them has a masonry chimney. If these down home folks could have these solid stone chimneys back then, why is there no room in the budget of the wealthy for at least one today?
Originally posted 2015-04-25 13:39:03.
I’d like to introduce you to “the two sisters”.
Aren’t they beautiful?
Here we have two small Virginia homes frozen in time. Each is a log cabin… built in the early 1800’s. This is what home looked like for most Southerner’s during that time.
I’d like to spend a couple days with you looking at the details we find in the photos I took of these two places. There are some treasures and mysteries to be found, and lessons to be learned about home/cabin design and construction.
I was called by the man who owned these homes and asked by him if he should sell these for salvage. I spent the day riding out to take a look at them, and in exploring them, and in getting to know the man who owned them.
The owner did not financially need to sell the structures. He was taking excellent care of them. And, he was fond of looking at them setting proudly at the back of his property.
I encouraged the owner that the best thing he could do for these gems was to keep on doing just what he was doing… taking care of them. I gave him my business card and told him that if the time ever came that they had to go that I was the man for the job, but that I hoped that he would never call. I was thankful that he hadn’t called one of the guys who specializes in making furniture out of old houses… that would have been a crime.
As far as I know these ladies are still sitting in this same pasture.
Originally posted 2015-04-25 12:50:26.
I believe that there is no timber-frame more attractive than that of an ancient rural Mill.
Originally posted 2015-04-24 12:33:59.
The posts in the Mill measured 12″ by 12″ with massive bracing found both top and bottom… they might as well have been trees.
I can’t imagine the load it would take to cause something like these to fail.
Valley pine was perhaps not the best choice of wood to use when building this frame. Although it had held up for nearly two centuries (far longer than it’s builders) it was showing some age. Powder post beetles were attacking the wood, which made the wood more porous, which in turn was inviting more moisture into the wood from the damp environment found next to a river. It was a matter of time before rot took hold.
By removing all of the wood attached to the timbers we were able to treat all surfaces with Boracare which would kill all the destructive insects, now if we could find a drier environment for the frame to be re-erected…
But all my ads, and all my calls, had failed to produce someone who wanted such a structure for their own.
I was baffled.
I had always managed in the past to find a home for a orphaned structure.
Originally posted 2015-04-23 12:24:52.
Salvage work is messy and dangerous.
But out of all the chaos that comes with it, a timber-frame structure emerged, and it was like no other. This pine frame had posts and beams as large as any barn, but there were many more timbers here than found in any barn… she was more like a house frame… one that was on steroids.
And, look at all that bracing! Top and bottom bracing. She was as solid as a rock, even without her siding… after nearly 200 years.
A Mill has to be built strong, very strong… not only do they have to bear the weight of all that equipment and flour, but they need to hold together from all the vibrations associated with large wheels, gears, belts, and stones, all turning.
I wonder how long a structure built out of today’s glued wood-chip framing would hold up under similar strains? I doubt long, certainly not for centuries.
Originally posted 2015-04-23 11:54:48.
We loaded all of the materials and equipment that was in the Mill into a large tractor trailer and then started taking the Mill down.
We always start at the top and work our way down. It’s safer and more efficient that way.
At this point I’ve made countless calls trying to find a new home for this Mill and have placed ads in various publications… “Rare opportunity to adopt authentic early 1800’s Mill !”
Originally posted 2015-04-23 11:28:34.
I like this old black and white photo that I was given of the Mill. The three small Mennonite boys seen near the water wheel, with their white hats on, are just so precious.
In an ideal world this Mill would have gone on being useful on this site forever. But, that was not to be.
The owner of this Mill had spent years contacting historical organizations, universities, and national and state parks about assistance with this structure. All of them offered him their opinions on what he should do with his non-existent time and financial resources, but none offered any of theirs.
So the time had come for either the fire department to practice their form of removal, or for me to do mine.
Originally posted 2015-04-22 16:08:08.
