Maybe it’s time to share with you all my memories of building this wonderful log home.
Let’s start with this photo.
Do you remember my most important rule of home design?
“A home should be attractive from all sides… and from any perspective”.
This is the back of the house.
Not bad huh?
Originally posted 2015-05-07 14:43:16.
You know, the funny thing about little cabins like this is that they take just about as much effort to build as the one’s that are much larger.
Most of the work involved in building a cabin is in the process, and has little to do with the length of the log. There are just as many corner notches found here as there were in the log home that stood nearby.
And, there were just as many logs needed to build this structure as her bigger sister nearby, only here, they were shorter.
Maybe, that is why there are so few of these tiny cabins. A lot of effort goes into creating a very small space.
Originally posted 2015-05-07 14:10:55.
There is an inherent beauty in wood that was crafted by a man and an axe, and that has stood against the elements for over a hundred years.
Every person that was alive on this planet when this little cabin was built is now gone. No survivors.
What will you leave behind that will be enjoyed by the next fresh supply of people?
Originally posted 2015-05-06 14:23:38.
The little cabin only offered one door… and it was a mighty short one! Folks were smaller back then huh? lol
And no windows… I guess times were lean.
There was also an exterior door to gain access to the attic. I guess this place could have been rented out as a duplex?
Originally posted 2015-05-06 13:29:31.
One day I received a call from one of my salvagers who told me that he was taking down a chestnut cabin in southern Virginia and that I should come take a look at it.
And, I did just that.
The cabin was indeed chestnut, a rare and highly desired species of wood, but the cabin was in “mighty rough” condition… too decayed for me to use for anyone’s new home.
But, a hundred feet away from that log home stood this tiny log structure. I felt drawn to it like a paperclip is to a magnet. Of course I didn’t “act” interested… oh no… a man must “play it cool”.
Now I do have a soft spot in my heart when it comes to log outbuildings. There just aren’t enough of them out there… and they are so darn cute… they might as well be puppies.
So, I bought the salvage rights to her, and put two of my men on the job of taking her down.
Originally posted 2015-05-06 13:17:18.
Here’s a sweet little cabin.
Who wouldn’t want one of these sitting out back?
She looks like she has always been there… but, when this photo was taken, this cabin had only been on this site for about a year.
Let me share of a bit of her story with you in the next couple of postings…
Originally posted 2015-05-06 12:48:34.
“Watcha got in the back of your truck there pal?”
“It’s an eleven-sided chestnut silo that we just took down. I’m on my way to the top of a mountain to put her back up.”
“Oh, I see.”
Originally posted 2015-05-05 11:23:49.
The silo grew shorter…
And shorter…
Until it was gone.
Originally posted 2015-05-05 11:14:13.
This silo is the largest stack of chestnut lumber that I will ever see… it’s certainly, the tallest.
Over two thousand individual boards make up this structure, each laid down flat, one upon the other, just a like brickwork. And every board would have five nails driven down through it and into the course below it, thus securing it tightly. And then, another nail was driven into each end of every board… for good measure.
The two men chosen to take this silo down and re-erect it later, both fine carpenters, would begin to refer to themselves as “wood masons” after working a few days on this project.
They were likely the only two wood-masons in America at the time.
Originally posted 2015-05-05 10:59:45.
Here’s a photo of the original ladder that the farmer would have used to climb up and into the silo. It was located in the area between the barn and the silo.
I climbed that ladder once.
That was enough.
It’s amazing how much harder a truly vertical ladder is to climb when compared to a leaning ladder that those of us in construction often use.
There is simply no opportunity for upper body rest on a vertical ladder. And, to some degree, a person’s knees need to be bent out to the side.
I have often carried something up in my hand when climbing a leaning ladder (a saw or a piece of lumber). Sometimes I’ve used both hands and walked a ladder like I would a staircase… that can’t be done when a ladder is built straight up and down.
The goal when using a ladder like this is to get where you are going as swiftly as you can. Or better yet, get someone else to go up there. lol
Originally posted 2015-05-05 10:38:45.
