The Ruth house… part 3

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Here is the wainscoting that I used in the dining room, it was just laying there in that old dirty straw like a piece of discarded trash.

But, I could see from the backside that this was piece of fine woodwork, crafted from the best of materials, starting with an axe, then with adzes, and then on to hand planes, nearly two hundred years ago, by someone much more talented than I.

I didn’t need to roll it over to be impressed… I knew I was looking at a treasure. I was practically shaking with anticipation.

Originally posted 2015-05-27 21:16:32.

The Ruth house… part 32019-06-29T10:16:31+00:00

The Ruth house… part 2

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Here’s the finished dining room which is positioned in the connector area between the little log cabin (which is to the right in this image) and the new timber frame section (which you can barely peer into on the left).

Notice the bow window in the background… and the antique heart-pine wainscoting underneath it?… I’ll post a photo of it as it was salvaged next. You’ll get a kick out of the “before” photo.

Originally posted 2015-05-27 20:52:50.

The Ruth house… part 22019-06-29T10:16:30+00:00

The Ruth House… part 1

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The owners of this cabin had seen some of my timber framed homes that I built after putting their cabin up (you know, the ones I’ve shared here on FB where I had used the antique structures salvaged from vintage homes) and they decided that that is what they wanted for the addition to their cabin.

I gave great thought to what type of structure would look best connected to this cabin and what would best compliment this parcel of land and what I eventually came up with was to create something that would resemble a colonial era tavern.

Here in this photo you can see the beginning of that antique timber frame in the process of being assembled, but for now, I’d like to point out the “connector” part of the addition that stands between the log cabin and the timber frame.

The connector part of the house is framed out of all new wood and will provide the house with the square footage to…. enlarge the cabin’s kitchenette into a full size kitchen… and created a sweet dining room… and two more bathrooms which will service the two new bedrooms that will be within the timber-framed area.

Originally posted 2015-05-27 20:43:31.

The Ruth House… part 12019-06-29T10:16:29+00:00

The Ruth cabin… part 18

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After five years the cabin had aged well. The siding was well on it’s way to turning grey. The copper roof was now a chocolate brown… the “new penny look” of fresh copper was gone.

That’s one of the great things about building a home with a traditional design and in using antique materials… the home improves with age… every year that goes by your home gets better.

Wouldn’t it be great if everything worked that way?

You can see the cabin’s addition rising on the far side. I’ll share some photo’s and stories of that addition with you over the coming days.

As always, thanks for letting me ramble on!

Originally posted 2015-05-27 13:18:30.

The Ruth cabin… part 182019-06-29T10:16:28+00:00

The Ruth cabin… part 17

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So, we finished up this little cabin.

We packed up our tools and went on to build many other structures, some that I’ve already shared here with you.

On occasion over the coming years I’d run into the cabin’s owners at the local deli and they would share how much the cabin meant to them… how it had created so many precious memories for them. It always warms my heart to hear such things.

I had left this side of the cabin rather plain, but prepared for an addition that would one day occur which would convert this weekend cabin into a full-time residence. I wondered if I would be the one that they would call. I wondered if I would still be building twenty years later.

But that call came only five years later.

The pull of rural life grew stronger for these folks. Each weekend stay at the cabin had grown harder and harder to leave for their return to the urban lifestyle. They had figured out a way to make the transition sooner.

Originally posted 2015-05-27 12:55:35.

The Ruth cabin… part 172019-06-29T10:16:27+00:00

The Ruth cabin… part 16

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There is nothing finer than enjoying friends on a front porch of a little cabin. Once the cabin was decorated the owners had the whole crew over to celebrate their new retreat.

Originally posted 2015-05-27 12:09:38.

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The Ruth cabin… part 15

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This little cabin was featured in many books and magazines… here’s a scan of  the write-up of it in the book “Hands-On Log Homes”…

The article is worth reading, it’s a very inspiring story about how a dream to own a little cabin came true for these good folks.

 

Originally posted 2015-05-26 19:01:23.

The Ruth cabin… part 152019-06-29T10:16:25+00:00

The Ruth cabin… part 14

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Here’s a photo of me.

ok.. I admit it, it’s a younger me. 🙂

In this photo I’m demonstrating to my client how to apply the wire mesh lathing that will soon hold the chinking that fills the gaps between the logs.

This client, and his family, pitched in and helped a great deal during the construction of their little cabin. We call that kind of effort “sweat equity”.

Sweat equity does more than save money for the client (as if that wasn’t enough). It also helps them bound with their home, and it gives them a greater understanding of the amount of work that goes into building a home like this.

I want to encourage all of you… every single one of you… that you too can build your dream cabin. All it takes is two things… the proper knowledge and skill set… and that future cabin (or other dream home) needs to become your top priority… your main focus… your obsession.

Originally posted 2015-05-26 14:10:39.

The Ruth cabin… part 142019-06-29T10:16:24+00:00

The Ruth cabin… part 13

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Notice the careful attention to detail found in just this process of assembling four porch posts and the supporting top plate on which the porch rafters will be set into place….

Mortise and tenon joints have been created to connect everything together… decorative chamfered cuts have been made on the ends on the top plate… and carefully cut-out pockets are now ready for the porch rafters to be pegged into place.

Many builders believe that “rustic” is achieved through sloppiness and so they end up with a mess in the end.

Rustic beauty comes through careful material selection, traditional design, attention to detail, talent, and an abundance of time and patience.

Originally posted 2015-05-26 13:15:43.

The Ruth cabin… part 132019-06-29T10:16:23+00:00

The Ruth cabin… part 12

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This log home is an example of the largest cabin that two men can build together. There is not a single log seen here that couldn’t somehow, with patience and strain, be moved into place by a strong man and a good neighbor.

Fortunately we had a crew of four young men which made things considerably easier. And so, the neighbors to this cabin, much to their relief, could continue watching re-runs and munching popcorn. Whew.

On this job we had access to a couple of long, stout, timbers which we used to create a slide to help raise all those floor joists and the remaining top logs. It worked well.

Many historic cabins reveal to us that men would often stop placing logs after gaining about two feet of height above the second floor… I guess the men at that time had had enough. Winter was coming on and they were tired of lifting.

Today we always push-on higher, seeking a minimum of a four foot height of logs on this second floor. As a result we end up with a much more enjoyable bedroom… with four walls in which furniture can be set in place. Momma then has a place for all her furniture. And, you know what they say… “if momma is happy, everyone is happy”. 🙂

Another benefit to building a taller cabin is that we achieve a much more attractive home from the outside… a general rule of thumb applies to log structures… the taller they are, the more visually striking they appear.

Originally posted 2015-05-26 12:50:35.

The Ruth cabin… part 122019-06-29T10:16:22+00:00
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