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.

One of the greatest homes that I’ve ever seen. To me it was hollowed ground. I quietly looked around, took a few photos, and then left, never to return.

I know… I need help. 🙂

Originally posted 2015-05-20 13:16:32.

And here is the second of three outbuildings that I’d like to share with you today.

I don’t know, maybe I’m the only one, but I find these three outbuildings fascinating. Each is unique in size, and design. And yet I can see that they belong together.

A matched set.

I’m sure that they were each built with a specific purpose in mind, but I don’t know what that was. Anybody want to fill me in?

I think each of them are attractive. Likely more attractive today than the day they were built.

How is it that a farmer could/would design and build three unique buildings like this on his property? Did he hire an architect for each? Was there a stock book of outdoor plans available? or did the people back then just have an ability to design that we have somehow lost today?

Originally posted 2015-05-18 12:03:44.

This old abandoned house has baffled me for years. There is no indication that the extension on this house, on both sides of the chimney, was later added on.  Both the foundation and siding indicate that this “bump out” from what I see as the main design of the house, was original.

Originally posted 2015-05-17 13:17:00.

One last photo of this cabin.

This image is the first page of an article done on my company by a local magazine on my company, Blue Mountain Builders. I won’t bore you with posting the whole article, but I did want you to see this one image.

The photo is of the view that is seen from the porch from this cabin.

I believe the image that I got in my mind from this client, after first meeting with him, was that his vision for his new home was… “I want a porch that I can sit on and enjoy this view from every day, and oh yeah, I want a log home behind it”

Originally posted 2015-05-13 12:52:34.

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.

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.

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.

This little house, as cute as it was, had acquired over the years a lot of “what were they thinking?” alterations, that needed to be be extracted.

And, since a log cabin addition was planned, someone really needed to give serious thought to coming up with a master plan to ensure that the home was attractive when finished and served the needs of it’s new owners.

The firm that the family hired did none of the above, but they did drain the family’s wallets considerably, and added more “what were they thinking” elements to the home.

I won’t get into details.

It’s too depressing for me.

And, I’d rather not dwell on the negative.

But, I will say this, that this is not an uncommon situation… that I turn down a LOT of work like this… of fixing someone else’s mess.

I could have easily doubled or tripled my workload over the years if I had said “yes” to every request along these lines.

But, this house was so cute, and the family so sweet, and was a place that I drove by often.

I did develop a master plan for the house, but the funds were no longer there to carry them fully out. I did add an old log cabin to their house (that they had purchased) as part of that plan.

And I’d like to share with you some photos of that cabin’s construction over the coming days.

Originally posted 2015-04-17 13:54:03.

This cute little house was originally built in the 1830’s.

She was placed right in the center of a scenic thirty acre farm in Albemarle County, Virginia.

Nearby are a few outbuildings, including a barn, all of which are in fairly good condition. The pastures are fenced for horses, and the driveway leading to the house is lined with cedars.

The place is a bit of heaven.

The farm was bought by a nice family of four who found the house charming, but it had been neglected, and, it was too small. So, they decided to renovate and build an addition.

They then hired the wrong contractor…

Originally posted 2015-04-17 13:19:14.