A Mail Pouch Barn
There is nothing else in the world like spotting a Mail Pouch barn going down the highway. Have you ever seen one? How long has it been?
Originally posted 2015-09-10 14:02:12.
High quality, low square footage
If you want a nice cabin, but the budget is lean, think small, not cheap.
Originally posted 2015-09-09 21:35:57.
She just needs a little TLC
This is Johnny Johnson, seen sitting out front of his log cabin with his faithful companion, Sparky. Johnny clearly needs a good wife to “encourage” him to do more aesthetically pleasing maintenance repairs to the home.
Originally posted 2015-09-09 16:20:41.
Three unique homes that make use of brick
Here we have a rare combination of brick, stone, and log.
Brick was historically used as “nogging” here in the States to infill the spaces between timbers, which would create more mass and slow down air infiltration which helped to stabilize interior temperatures.
The bricks were seldom left exposed and were covered with siding on the exterior and plaster on the inside.
Exposed brick timber infill is much more common in European nations.
This is the only example I’ve ever seen of a log cabin with a brick addition… so look it over carefully to determine if you like the look, or not.
And here we have one classy brick house.
There are so many interesting details to be seen.
(I think the little bay window is my favorite).
And here we have an English roadside home… stone, timber-frame, and brick.
These materials can play well together, can’t they?
Originally posted 2015-09-09 15:04:23.
The pride once shown for a modest home
They don’t make group photos like this one anymore.
I gather these fine folks are proud of their sweet home… as well as… their pig, chickens, horses, and two dogs (that can sit on chairs).
What’s up with that? Is that normal to put your dogs on chairs when taking a group photo?
Originally posted 2015-09-08 20:11:02.
Do-it-yourself metal roofing
I built my first home for myself at the age of 20. I installed a “five V” metal roof on top of that home just like this wooded cabin has on it. It took me two days to install… with no help.
It’s not as fancy of a metal roof as a standing seam roof is… some folks regard it as more of a barn/shed type of material. But it sure made for an “easy install”, and it never leaked, it never needed any maintenance, and, it sounded wonderful when it rained. (it was also bargain priced).
Of course you can paint it if you want after it starts to rust up a bit… but sometimes that’s a tough call… do you think this house would look better, or worse, with a fresh coat of paint?
Here we have an attractive vintage cabin, that unfortunately has not been properly maintained to the standard of care that she deserves.
The roofing on this cabin is a corrugated metal roof, identical in price and in ease to install as Five-V roofing but so much cheaper looking in appearance.
It appears that the chimney on this cabin was removed (or fell down) years ago and a pipe was just stuck through the wall. Not very attractive is it? Nor is it safe.
I can’t fault the guy for the cinder block steps off the end of the porch though. I’ve done some temporary measures in my life that could have turned into long term results… but fortunately I married well, so I am ever so kindly nudged into making things right as time goes by.
Originally posted 2015-09-08 13:07:30.
A pioneer cabin
Have you ever looked at someone and you could just tell what they did for a living?
Originally posted 2015-09-08 12:44:58.
Porch steps
I’m impressed with the way that these people handled the steps leading up to the porch. Rather than making them a formal, arduous, set of steps that one must deal with, they broke them up into winding stone landscaping steps and then wood steps coming off the porch. Clever. And attractive.
Originally posted 2015-09-07 16:20:34.
A word or two about Hobbits
There are a lot of things that I admire about Hobbits… one of them is how nicely that they frame their homes. (I do wonder about the practicality of having a round door though).
And, I admire the way that a Hobbit’s home blends into the environment… the way that the landscaping comes all the way up to the front door and wraps all around the home. I like the variety of building materials too… wood, stucco, stone, and brick… each offering something of visual interest. And, just look at how attractive the aged paint is on the front door… so many would be tempted to give it fresh coat of paint, but I suppose the wee Hobbit would rather smoke his pipe and tend his flowers. Such a fine life.
Originally posted 2015-09-07 14:42:07.
Handmade vs Perfection
The corner notching on this barn is beautiful, in part because it is flawed. It was built by a man who clearly understood the characteristics of wood and who was also highly skilled at using an axe. This barn was clearly not created by a man who built cabins for a living. The result? There are many flaws in the workmanship… gaps and irregularities abound. And yet, his work is absolutely gorgeous… because, it looks “handmade”.
There is a curse within all the building trades. It seems that the more a craftsman works on developing his skills, the more his work ends up looking manufactured. A stone mason shapes his stones so much they begin to look like brick. The brick mason’s work begins to look like rolled-out vinyl flooring. The plasterer’s work is so smooth that it looks like drywall. The blacksmith’s work becomes so free of character that it belongs on the shelf at Walmart.
There are many people that can do a sloppy job of notching a log cabin. I am fortunate to know a dozen or two that can do a perfect job at it, notches so tight that a dollar bill cannot be inserted anywhere between two logs. But there are precious few artisans who could reproduce this corner… something that “great, great, grandpa of old” whipped out when he wasn’t farming.
Originally posted 2015-09-07 14:05:52.