This cabin was featured in the book Hands-On Log Homes.
The handprints made the cover of the book!
You can read the full article here…
https://books.google.com/books?id=yT1GDhZ6nRIC&pg=PA124&lpg=PA124&dq=doubleview+log+cabin+in+Virginia&source=bl&ots=9Outkvt8Kn&sig=t6IOjXxm97hrGODuIQJtFdoZAuE&hl=en&sa=X&ei=2e5RVYicJYqKsQTXoIEw&ved=0CD8Q6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=doubleview%20log%20cabin%20in%20Virginia&f=false
Originally posted 2015-05-12 14:11:50.
A level spot of earth is rare and highly coveted when you build on a hillside. It is often created with the aid of a retaining wall.
I believe there are more square feet of “level” within the cabin than there is outside.
Originally posted 2015-05-11 14:14:25.
It seems that there is always left-over stone when a cabin is built.. and each of these orphan rocks was likely rejected by the mason several times… so, these leftovers tend to be pretty rough looking… which makes them perfect for a retaining wall.
Here is a photo of the retaining wall in process of being built…
Originally posted 2015-05-11 12:35:28.
We had a great selection of large sandstone with which to build the two chimneys. Each stone was hand lifted from the ground.
Originally posted 2015-05-11 12:26:12.
Little doors, located under staircases, hold a special place in my heart.
Originally posted 2015-05-10 15:00:19.
The lintel stone above this kitchen fireplace weighs over a ton.
I know how we set this stone in place… but, I can only imagine how they did it centuries ago… here’s our method…
Before we built this chimney we used a backhoe to lift this stone and place it into the kitchen through the fireplace opening in the log wall. After we had built the two legs of the fireplace we then spent an entire day lifting this massive beast up into it’s resting place with the aid of two railroad jacks.
If this stone had fallen at any point in that process it likely would fallen through the floor joists and into the crawlspace below… now that would have been a mess. lol I can see future archaeologists wondering why we placed such a large rock in the crawlspace.
Originally posted 2015-05-10 14:47:44.
Is there anything finer than the morning sunshine streaming into a log bedroom?
This old log-builder’s eye is drawn to the two logs above the headboard of this bed… the ones with the joists notches carved into them… clearly they have no purpose on this end wall where no joists are found.
We placed these logs back into their original location within this early 1800’s cabin.. Careful examination of these two logs revealed embedded hand-forged nails which indicated that these logs were part of a much earlier cabin and had been re-purposed into this cabin.
It turns out that people have been building new homes with salvaged materials for a very long time.
There is nothing new under the sun.
Originally posted 2015-05-10 14:31:04.
A porch looks so much better without plastic chairs from Walmart, don’t you think?
Originally posted 2015-05-09 13:48:13.
We built a double porch on this side of the cabin… and to support it, we built an arched stone wall.
Originally posted 2015-05-09 13:41:46.
The logs were now all in place.
There is nothing like having a roof over your head when you work in the construction field… if it starts to rain, you have a place to go… other than home. Rain no longer determines if you have a job to go to that day.
Our goal was now to get the cabin closed in and achieve the next level of human comfort, temperature control.
We had the windows installed, the siding was nailed to the gable ends, and a lot of the chinking was in place. But, we had the bathroom addition to build off the back, the two chimneys to raise from the ground, and, all those porches to get into place.
With winter coming on, we were motivated.
This site was located on the north side of hill. When Winter arrived she did so with a vengeance. It was a brutal winter, the snow fell in December and didn’t melt until March.
We wanted to come inside… but first we had to finish the outside.
Originally posted 2015-05-09 13:13:08.
