One cozy cabin
It take a LOT of logs to build a full size cabin… but one this size, only a few. This is a one person cabin and that’s including the back addition.
Originally posted 2015-09-04 21:49:29.
Lives have been lived in old cabins
A family makes yarn in the front yard.
I have had the privilege of restoring, and working the materials from, a lot of very old houses over the years that I have been in this unique building trade. I can’t help but reflect on the craftsmanship and beauty of these old structures as I work on them, but I also make an effort to reflect on the lives that must have been lived in them as well. The stories these old homes could tell, if only they could talk.
I wonder… what this woman is thinking as she sits here on this threshold.
And, I wonder what momma has in that big pan on her lap?
Originally posted 2015-09-04 17:44:47.
Ornamental vs “Clean”
A sweet little house that is filled to the brim with elaborate detailing, all of which are in great need of some tender loving care.
I can see from the variances in the shading of the siding on the front of the house that there was once a porch roof that spanned this front entry. Can you imagine the ornate posts and detailed railings that were once on this intimate treasure?
Is this where the grandparents spent their final years, out back of the main house?
And then we have this home, with no ornamentation at all. Gorgeous.
Both homes are very attractive in their own right… but which is your preference?
Originally posted 2015-09-03 14:12:44.
Cabins… all over this great country
Here’s one in Texas.
And one from Indiana.
A cabin in California.
And… a cabin in Virginia (I built this one 🙂
Here we have four cabins from Texas, Indiana, California and Virginia… From the deep South to the North, from the Pacific to the Atlantic, this is a nation of cabin folks!
Have you got one for yourself?
Originally posted 2015-09-02 12:41:41.
Debt, dormers, and denial
Another colonial Williamsburg outbuilding…
This would be a great starter home, cute, well built, and any debt created would be easy to pay off, then save enough money to expand the home as one can afford it. Forget the banks!
Think small, think quality, think debt free!
I once had an architect point out to me that the tops of the windows should always be at the same height as the top of the doors. Hmmm… this house got away with breaking that rule don’t you think?
This is the boot and shoemaker shop at Colonial Williamsburg. Who wouldn’t want to report to work in such a nice building with a large window to keep an eye on what is going on outside?
Notice that it has one dormer window. Just one. This is not the only building in CW with a single dormer.
I struggled with this single dormer look for a while… I think we are somehow trained to view dormers as objects that come in sets… and not as “stand-alones”.
But with time, I gained a great appreciation for the cyclops look… after all, one was all that was needed… two, would have been too many on such a small building.
This is “said to be” the carpenters and joiners house in Colonial Williamsburg.
But I know that is not the case.
As a carpenter myself I can confidently say that no carpenter ever finishes his own home (much like the cobbler his children have no shoes). This home is clearly finished… therefore it cannot be a carpenter’s home. lol
Originally posted 2015-09-01 13:29:52.
The Kitchens of Colonial Williamsburg
This is Hartwell Perrys kitchen in Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia.
You know, it’s a funny thing, but I can go into any subdivision and my eye immediately begins to focus on all the design errors made on modern cookie cutter homes.
And then, I go to a place like this and I am just stunned at the design perfection.
Why just look at those dormers!
And here is the kitchen that is out back of the James Anderson House.
Just look at that massive chimney! Clearly there is a massive cooking fireplace to be found within.
I’m impressed not only with details found on this structure, and the overall attractiveness of the ktichen, but also how it is a totally different design from the kitchen found on the Hartwell Perry house kitchen. It seems that it mattered greatly then that everyone strove for beauty and uniqueness, even in their outbuildings.
How did we lose that?
From a builders perspective I can say it does not take that much more effort to build an attractive structure than an ugly one… it’s just a matter of how the lumber and masonry pieces are arranged when put together.
Originally posted 2015-08-31 13:45:08.
George Washington slept here
Here’s a photo of George Washington’s kitchen… not a lot of cabinet and counter-top space is there?
I bet there are over a hundred places in this country that claim that “George Washington slept here”. The one place that we can be most certain is his home, Mt Vernon, and in his own bed there…
Originally posted 2015-08-31 12:54:50.
Davy Crockett knew log cabins
Davy Crockett (better known as “the king of the wild Frontier”, (thanks to Walt Disney), was born here… Morristown, Tennessee.
His parents ran the local tavern… here’s a recreation of it…
Originally posted 2015-08-30 13:36:48.
Mary Stith
This is the Mary Stith House, located in Colonial Willamsburg, Virginia.
What a gorgeous building.
“Mary Stith lived to see independence and the establishment of the Republic. She wrote her will in 1813. Among its beneficiaries were her African American servants, to whom she left her shop. Her will shows her depth of feeling for them:
“All the coloured people in my family being born my slaves, but now liberated, I think it my duty not to leave them destitute nor to leave them unrecompensed for past services rendered to me. As in the cause of humanity I can do but little for so many, and that little my conscience requires me to do, therefore I subject the whole of my estate to the payment of my just debts, and to the provision which I herein make for them.”
With the exception of few small legacies to white friends, Stith left most of her considerable estate, including three buildings and the ground on which they stood, to her freedmen.”
Learn more about her at…
http://www.history.org/almanack/places/hb/hbstith.cfm
Originally posted 2015-08-29 15:12:19.
The bones of a house
For those who appreciate the “bones” of an old house here’s one for you… the roof system of an old estate home in England.
Most people have little interest in those parts of a home that aren’t seen after a house is completed, which is one of the reasons that homes are built so poorly these days and with materials that are more glue than they are wood.
Originally posted 2015-08-29 13:47:36.