Small and tall

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Small and Tall.
“Nine over Nine” windows… each nearly as large as the front door.
This little house appears to have ten foot ceilings, a steep pitched roof, and a proud chimney.
Sweet huh?

Originally posted 2015-12-14 18:31:49.

Small and tall2019-06-29T10:05:31+00:00

Beach house

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It’s this time of year that I like to remember that there are handmade houses of a different kind in a much warmer place. 🙂

Originally posted 2015-12-14 15:10:15.

Beach house2019-06-29T10:05:30+00:00

Good workmanship vs bad

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I’ve seen this many times before.

Here we have a gorgeous antique cabin.

Don’t we all just love that massive stone chimney?

Aren’t we all impressed with the visual impact that such a prominent feature adds to this home?

Once again, being bold has paid off.

The simple beauty of this cabin draws us in to look closer and it is upon that close inspection that we notice the messy chinking that has been applied between the logs of this vintage structure.

But for some unknown reason, this awful mess is only on one side of the door and on the logs above it. The rest of the cabin looks beautiful. The chinking has been applied correctly to the right side of the front door and around the end of the cabin, all the way to the chimney.

It’s heartbreaking to see that such poor care was given to a major part of this historic cabin. At first it’s somewhat confusing as to why half the cabin would look so bad, and yet the other half appear to have been lovingly cared for.

If I had to guess, based upon years of experience, I would say that this cabin’s owners hired someone to chink the cabin and that after a day of him working on the home he was “removed”, and then later someone who knew what they were doing… someone with skill… someone who worked with care…  was brought in to finish up the rest of work.

Were there any lessons learned here by the owners? Probably… you know, the ones we all know so well, but sometimes fail to remember or to practice…

“Never hire the lowest bidder.”

“Hire the best, leave the rest.”

“You get what you pay for.”

“Good work is rarely appreciated, but bad work is always seen.”

“It’s cheaper to do it right the first time, than it is to do it twice.”

 

 

Originally posted 2015-12-14 13:48:40.

Good workmanship vs bad2019-06-29T10:05:29+00:00

Do you have a favorite window?

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Imagine if you were challenged to come up with the best window that you could imagine… what would it be like?

And then, when the comes time to build your next home… make sure that dream comes true!

Originally posted 2015-12-13 22:38:38.

Do you have a favorite window?2019-06-29T10:05:28+00:00

A log and stone home

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Log and stone.
What a great home!
If I may be so bold as to suggest a “if I had built this” comment…
I just can’t help myself…
It’s the way I am… lol…
It’s challenging to find a more attractive house than the ones that feature the combination of log and stone.
I would have made one little adjustment on this home that I feel would have made it much more appealing… I would have built the stone addition a different size than the log section, rather than having it as a continuation of the existing log structure.
Here I would have made the stone section one-and-a-half story tall and I would have recessed it a foot or two back from the front of the log section. This subtle change would have made each section “pop” and celebrated each section’s uniqueness.
And, of course, (while I’m making changes), I’d have added a welcoming porch across the front of the cabin.

Originally posted 2015-12-13 17:57:58.

A log and stone home2019-06-29T10:05:27+00:00

The width of a porch

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This attractive log home fascinates me.

One of the many design “rules” in building an attractive log home is to properly size the front porch of a cabin.

Through decades of observing  old log homes, and in building traditionally designed new ones, I have observed that…

A six foot porch, which is common on many new homes built today, is unheard of and impractical on a country cabin because it is simply too small to be useful.

Whereas, an eight foot porch is ideal, being visually appealing and offering plenty of room for rocking chairs, porch swings, and guests to stand on.

A wide ten foot porch is rare and often too large, appearing somewhat awkward and overbearing on any cabin other than the very largest of ones (20 feet or wider). These oversized “ten-footers” do offer the benefit of abundant exterior space, enough that a picnic table or even sleeping cots can be set up, and thus an outdoor space can practically become an exterior room.

As useful as these wider porches are I have often encouraged people to stick with the traditional eight-foot porches.

But here on this cabin we have what appears to be a unheard of fourteen-foot porch!

I can think of no other cabin like it.

If someone had told me of such a thing without seeing this image I’d probably have chuckled at the idea of how odd it must look.

But I would have been wrong… this cabin looks great!

Perhaps, rules are meant to be broken.

And, that when one breaks the rules, they need to be bold about it!

Originally posted 2015-12-12 16:40:32.

The width of a porch2019-06-29T10:05:26+00:00

Siting a home on a property

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I believe that more than half of the parcels of land that I have built on over the years have been half wooded and half cleared… these are easy properties to pick the house site as a cabin looks best when it is nestled close to the tree line where field and woods meet, much like you see here in this image.

Here we have “His” and “Hers”  cabins.
But, which is which?  🙂

Originally posted 2015-12-12 15:17:06.

Siting a home on a property2019-06-29T10:05:25+00:00

Good fencing

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There’s a lot to be admired about a home that has good fencing.

A new home built on a raw piece of land tends to be a little bit out of place until outbuildings and a perhaps a bit of fencing is added. These extras tend to anchor a home to the environment.

Originally posted 2015-12-12 14:54:59.

Good fencing2019-06-29T10:05:24+00:00

How not to repair a leaning chimney

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Here we have an old cabin with wide hewn logs.
Unfortunately, the chimney appears to be “on the move” (likely do to a combination of an improperly built footer under the chimney and poor drainage around the cabin).
There is a sign near the front door that states that this cabin is the property of the US government which I suppose explains the useless attempt to hold the chimney in place by nailing a few 2×4’s around it.
This chimney could quite possibly be lifted back into place and properly stabilized by professionals.

Originally posted 2015-12-12 14:42:10.

How not to repair a leaning chimney2019-06-29T10:05:23+00:00

One year anniversary!

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Oh my… one year ago the first posting was made here at Handmade Houses!
And, at the time… no one read it.
Yes, it got zero response… nothing but crickets chirping in the background.
Since then over 1,000 posts have been made and this wonderful community has grown to over 48,000 members!
Wow! Give yourself a pat on the back!
I have a hard time imagining what a gathering of that size would look like, but I do take great comfort knowing that I’m not the only one who dreams of owning the perfect handmade home.
Thank you… each and every one of you… for your support, for your encouragement, your likes, your comments, and your shares.
It means a lot to me.
I spent the first eight months or so sharing the stories and the steps in building some of my favorite projects. And the last few months I’ve been posting photos of houses that inspire me to do better. I hope that you have enjoyed them and have gotten something out of them. There is more to come!
I’ve greatly enjoyed your comments and have learned a lot from you all as well. Thank you for sharing.
I’ve gained a lot of new friends too.
Life is good.
This photo was the most popularly received image of the year, having been viewed by over a half a million people. Unfortunately, this cabin was not built by me… go figure… what’s up with that guys? lol!!! Are you trying to keep me humble or something?
Thanks once again for all your support!
Noah
 

Originally posted 2015-12-11 17:29:39.

One year anniversary!2019-06-29T10:05:22+00:00
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