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The Tiny cabin… part 2

The notching was well done on this small cabin… nothing fancy here, no dovetails, nor v notches… just a basic square notch… but it worked, it held up well, it did it’s job, for more than a century.

Do you have a desire to build a log cabin for yourself one day?

Consider building one of these for yourself.

Start small.

A person by themselves could knock one of these out this summer… and it would still be around for others to enjoy well into the 2100’s.

Originally posted 2015-04-27 15:17:44.

The Tiny cabin… part 2Noah Bradley2019-06-29T10:14:34+00:00

Tiny cabin

We once restored a small log cabin.

A very small log cabin.

Was it lodging for the mother-in-law when she came to visit?

Perhaps.

lol

Originally posted 2015-04-27 15:04:08.

Tiny cabinNoah Bradley2019-06-29T10:14:33+00:00

Just curious…

I have two questions for you…

Why did they build an outside closet on this early 1800’s cabin? (it’s full of shelves)

And, why did they place the window where they did… off center?

I don’t know the answers… but I sure am curious.

Originally posted 2015-04-26 13:30:27.

Just curious…Noah Bradley2019-06-29T10:14:32+00:00

A dry laid chimney

Such an attractive chimney.

Likely built by someone who was not a professional mason, using ruble stones that were picked up out of nearby fields, laid without the benefit of cement, and yet, it has stood for centuries.

Cement, one of the great wonders of the world, has been a curse with regard to the creation of attractive stonework. All masons should lay stone as if their cement was not there.

Originally posted 2015-04-25 21:38:15.

A dry laid chimneyNoah Bradley2019-06-29T10:14:31+00:00

The Two Sisters… part 3

If a person wants to build a small home or cabin for themselves. I cannot think of more attractive design than this home.

Originally posted 2015-04-25 13:50:35.

The Two Sisters… part 3Noah Bradley2019-06-29T10:14:30+00:00

The Two Sisters… part 2

Here are the porches of “the Two Sisters”.

One of the first rules that I’ve always heard about Virginia buildings is that whenever there is a grouping that they always lined up with each other perfectly… they were either built perpendicular or parallel to each other.

These two ladies clearly broke that rule.

I also notice that the house with two chimneys has three front doors… now that’s curious.

And, the other house, has has two doors on the porch… with another that leads down to the root cellar. There is no shortage of doors here, for sure.

At first, I wondered if these houses might have been homes for farm hands or servants. I was assured by the property owner that that wasn’t the case… For one thing there was no “main house” anywhere nearby. And that these houses were both known to have been inhabited by a large family with many extended family members… each seeking a bit of privacy.

Notice the stone chimneys… each with it’s stones laid flat. How about that nice cap detail at the top? sweet!

Within a half mile of my residence there have been at least twenty houses built in the last ten years, all in excess of a million dollars, and not one of them has a masonry chimney. If these down home folks could have these solid stone chimneys back then, why is there no room in the budget of the wealthy for at least one today?

Originally posted 2015-04-25 13:39:03.

The Two Sisters… part 2Noah Bradley2019-06-29T10:14:29+00:00

The Two Sisters

I’d like to introduce you to “the two sisters”.

Aren’t they beautiful?

Here we have two small Virginia homes frozen in time. Each is a log cabin… built in the early 1800’s. This is what home looked like for most Southerner’s during that time.

I’d like to spend a couple days with you looking at the details we find in the photos I took of these two places. There are some treasures and mysteries to be found, and lessons to be learned about home/cabin design and construction.

I was called by the man who owned these homes and asked by him if he should sell these for salvage. I spent the day riding out to take a look at them, and in exploring them, and in getting to know the man who owned them.

The owner did not financially need to sell the structures. He was taking excellent care of them. And, he was fond of looking at them setting proudly at the back of his property.

I encouraged the owner that the best thing he could do for these gems was to keep on doing just what he was doing… taking care of them. I gave him my business card and told him that if the time ever came that they had to go that I was the man for the job, but that I hoped that he would never call. I was thankful that he hadn’t called one of the guys who specializes in making furniture out of old houses… that would have been a crime.

As far as I know these ladies are still sitting in this same pasture.

Originally posted 2015-04-25 12:50:26.

The Two SistersNoah Bradley2019-06-29T10:14:28+00:00

The Shenandoah Mill… part 10

I believe that there is no timber-frame more attractive than that of an ancient rural Mill.

Originally posted 2015-04-24 12:33:59.

The Shenandoah Mill… part 10Noah Bradley2019-06-29T10:14:27+00:00

The Shenandoah Mill… part 9

The posts in the Mill measured 12″ by 12″ with massive bracing found both top and bottom… they might as well have been trees.

I can’t imagine the load it would take to cause something like these to fail.

Valley pine was perhaps not the best choice of wood to use when building this frame. Although it had held up for nearly two centuries (far longer than it’s builders) it was showing some age. Powder post beetles were attacking the wood, which made the wood more porous, which in turn was inviting more moisture into the wood from the damp environment found next to a river. It was a matter of time before rot took hold.

By removing all of the wood attached to the timbers we were able to treat all surfaces with Boracare which would kill all the destructive insects, now if we could find a drier environment for the frame to be re-erected…

But all my ads, and all my calls, had failed to produce someone who wanted such a structure for their own.

I was baffled.

I had always managed in the past to find a home for a orphaned structure.

Originally posted 2015-04-23 12:24:52.

The Shenandoah Mill… part 9Noah Bradley2019-06-29T10:14:26+00:00

The Shenandoah Mill… part 8

Salvage work is messy and dangerous.

But out of all the chaos that comes with it, a timber-frame structure emerged, and it was like no other. This pine frame had posts and beams as large as any barn, but there were many more timbers here than found in any barn… she was more like a house frame… one that was on steroids.

And, look at all that bracing! Top and bottom bracing. She was as solid as a rock, even without her siding… after nearly 200 years.

A Mill has to be built strong, very strong… not only do they have to bear the weight of all that equipment and flour, but they need to hold together from all the vibrations associated with large wheels, gears, belts, and stones, all turning.

I wonder how long a structure built out of today’s glued wood-chip framing would hold up under similar strains? I doubt long, certainly not for centuries.

Originally posted 2015-04-23 11:54:48.

The Shenandoah Mill… part 8Noah Bradley2019-06-29T10:14:25+00:00