So, I took Mariah down and put her into storage for a year while I looked for a place to put her back up. I found a great spot, about 10 miles from her original location, with frontage on the north fork of the Rivanna River and a view of the waterfall as it comes over the local mill’s dam.

Here’s a photo of her “back-side” as she was being re-erected.

It was about this time that someone left a note on the construction gate telling me that I was putting up the biggest eyesore that they had ever seen. That was a bit discouraging to me at the time. (I wonder what they thought of the finished home…)

I found Mariah’s exterior profiles to be beautiful… and I felt that this design would likely always be viewed that way… timeless. To throw this house in a hole and burn it would have been a crime.

Inside she was a treasure trove of materials… an early 1800’s hewn oak cabin, wide plank heart pine floors, huge ceiling beams salvaged from a Shenandoah cotton mill, beaded hemlock paneling, and custom made doors, windows, and other hand crafted mill-work.

But the interior layout and design was just awful and severely outdated. Picture if you will, a 1970’s version of a rustic National Park rental cabin, complete with sunken rooms and wood paneled bathrooms.

This was going to be a major challenge.

But luckily, I like challenges. 🙂

Mariah was a legend among area builders and others that lived in Albemarle County.

She was the first of her kind, built with no expense spared, and on a windy panoramic hilltop. That wind, is how she got her name… from one of those musical Westerns about the wind being called Mariah.

Back in 1976 when she was built, there were no McMansions. There were mansions, and there were the homes the rest of us lived in.

“Mariah”

This photo was taken the day that I learned that she was scheduled for demolition.

I had received a phone call asking me if I was interested in salvaging any materials out of “a house in Western Albemarle County”. When I learned that the house was Mariah I sat up an appointment to see her right away.

One last photo of the Madison House to share.

As anyone knows that has followed along with my ramblings, I often will judge a home’s design with how the back of a house looks. All too often designers today focus entirely on the front view of a home and give little attention to the other faces of a home.

It is extremely difficult to make all four sides of a home visually pleasing and generally the back is the worst of the lot. When you are looking for a home design, or an architect, or a builder, don’t stop at looking at their best work… make sure and “look around back”.

So here’s the back of the Madison House, for all to see.

Here’s a section of the view that is seen from the front porch of the Madison House.

There was no view available from the house-site when I purchased the property. This parcel of land was an overgrown thicket of tangled woods. It was a strenuous hike, through briars and vines, to reach the house-site. Upon arrival I could see that there would be a nice view if some of the property below were to be cleared. It just took a little imagination on my part to see it’s potential.

This ten acre parcel had been for sale for a long time with no offers because it was so overgrown. When it came time to put in the new driveway into the property one of my neighbors came by to say hello and to tell me that I was a fool to have paid what I did for the land. I just blinked and smiled.

After I had cleared this field, and before I had started building the house, the offers to “double my money” if I would consider selling the land started flowing in.

There is nothing better than finding a diamond in the rough. Is there?

Notice the little cabin in the view?… now there is another story I’ll have to share… sometime in the coming days.

Let me share a few tips on how to make a small porch special.

Now, it doesn’t hurt to have a great view from the porch… I’ll share that view in my next posting… but the view isn’t everything. A porch is a place where one can simply enjoy the outside world.

Make sure when you build a porch to use quality materials. The siding here is wood, no vinyl can be be found, other than the bird-feeder hanging on the other end of the porch. The floor is painted wood. The ceiling is also painted wood… I’m always amazed that some builders will use interior drywall for a porch ceiling.

One final note is that this view, looking down at this end of the porch had nothing to look at… so I built my chicken coop down there. Then I could enjoy viewing one of my weekend projects as well as keep an eye on my hens.

The budget was tight on the Madison House, this was after-all a builder’s home. The kitchen was a bit small in size, with no high end appliances… no subzero fridge, no vulcan stove.

But there were some nice features that made the kitchen very special…

The ceilings were tall… ten feet to be exact with two hundred year old heart pine beams that added that “country charm feel”.

And there was the large twelve-foot-long bow window, that was salvaged from an old country store. It really brought the outside in and always drew great attention from all who visited our home.

We installed two very tall windows at the dining end of the kitchen that looked out onto the porch and beyond to the pastoral views.

I like this photograph. There is just something very pleasing about multiple roof angles.

And then, there is that nice stone chimney poking through them all.

Sweet.

On every chimney that I have ever built I have made sure and that it has had a crown put on top. Yes, it takes more time and labor to add this little feature… which means yes, it cost a bit more money to build. But, I think a chimney with a crown signals to the world that this home was worth the extra effort… that no detail was overlooked in building this home.

Most of the clients that I have had over the years who have wanted me to build them a log cabin have wanted their cabin’s to be built rustic… woodsy… even primitive.

These clients wanted natural wood and they wanted plenty of stonework. They did not want any painted wood. They would often wince when I mentioned the option of painted wood.

Somehow, the idea of painted wood, seemed offensive to these log cabin enthusiasts.

Many builders go too far with these rustic requests by clients who want “a cabin in the woods” by providing sloppy workmanship or board-and-batten siding, believing that that is the path to achieving “rustic-ness”.

Now don’t get me wrong… I’m a big fan of rustic cabins. Some of my greatest joys in this life has been in building this type of retreat home. Look through my postings here on my blog and you will see that I’ve built plenty of rustic homes.

But, I would like everyone to consider this more formal, dressed-up version of a log cabin as a worthy alternative. There is special place in my heart for this style of finish as well.