Originally posted 2015-03-21 21:31:40.

To make a stone arch for each of the windows the mason used a form which was removed once the stones were cemented in place and allowed to set.

Originally posted 2015-03-21 21:26:43.

Assembly required.

Yes, it looks like a mess… but there is just so much potential. 🙂

Originally posted 2015-03-21 16:52:04.

Next up on my “to do list” was to find enough high quality stone to build the foundation of the log cabin, the stone section of the house, and the massive two-fireplace chimney.

That’s a lot of rock.

About that time I received a call from the public school system in one of the counties over in the Valley. Years ago they had torn down one of their school buildings, but the foundation was still in place and they wanted it removed for safety reasons.

The stone was perfect for this project.

Originally posted 2015-03-21 16:45:34.

This little cottage required a lot of stone to build… a lot of stone… as you can see in the photo with the blue tarp.

I’ve also included a couple of photos showing the same area of the house as we were building it… the first shows the stonework in a phase that we call “dry laid”… the stone has been shaped and put in place using cement (most clients prefer this look and so this is where we stop.

The historic stone house that is on this property, that we restored, is a typical Valley home in that has decorative pointing that is applied between the stones once finished. And that, is what we did to this little cottage… as you can see in the final photo.

Originally posted 2015-03-09 14:42:20.

This Valley stone house appears large, but she is basically just a three room home.

The top floor is a single bedroom with bath.
The main floor is a large family room.
And on the basement level… you will find the kitchen/dining area.

Originally posted 2015-03-07 18:51:43.

This home was as black as coal when it was first built.

I would have loved to have seen that.

It doesn’t take long for limestone to develop a grey patina on it’s surface once it is exposed to air.

Originally posted 2015-03-07 17:58:18.

There are few homes more alluring than a stone home. They draw us in with their overwhelming beauty. As I first caught a glimpse of this Strasburg home I was smitten.

This house is obviously perfect!

There can’t possibly be anything wrong with it!

Originally posted 2015-03-07 16:45:11.

Only those who visit the outhouse ever get around to seeing this perspective of the mountainside cabin.

And, that’s a shame.

Those visitors who fail to partake in the “Rural Ritual” just don’t know what they are missing.

Originally, the only window visible from this side of the cabin would have been the one centered in the end log wall, all the others were added during the restoration process.

Without the light that came from the cabin’s single fireplace this would have been one very dark home. It was a different world back in those days. A home was a shelter from the outside world when needed. Life then, was lived outdoors.

I like this profile of the cabin, maybe not as much as the other side, but still.. it’s nice. She appears much taller and more imposing when viewed from” the downside”. The height of a structure really alters our opinion of it, doesn’t it? Short is cute, tall is imposing. Which description do you want for your cabin?

Talk about being tall… the first course of logs on this side is a good four to five feet off of the ground versus that very same course of logs nearly touching mother earth on the opposite end.

As you can see this log cabin is perched on rock piers… irregular columns of stone placed in each corner. Each was crudely built, likely by the home-owner, using no mortar and many rough, jagged, pieces of granite which are commonly found laying on the ground here east of the Appalachian Mountains.

Every indication is that there was no footer installed under any of the piers. Likely, the first step in building this cabin was that a large stone was dropped on the ground and from there the cabin was built.

I like that visualization… Dad announces… “Here’s a good spot… I like it… Let’s build a house!”.

But… But… What about getting government permission, permits and such? What about hiring an architect? Is this land zoned for a cabin? lol None of that… pure freedom.

Most builders simply gasp when they view this primitive foundation. No way would it ever pass code today, maybe even for an barn, not to mention a house. I’ve heard of people abandoning their homes because of a crack in their foundation… heck, this support system is nothing but a crack, and yet it has stood for more than a century. Man up, people!

I built a house for myself many years ago using a stone pier system on it. It was an easy method of quickly moving forward in the building of the home. But in the long run, it was a mistake, and not just because of the fact that mice never give up on trying to get into a home built using this technique. It was the fact that no matter what I did afterwards I could never get the floors warm in the winter.

It’s a fact… if your floors are cold, you are cold. And, if you are cold, that means your wife is cold. And that my friends, is too much misery for any man to bear.

So… the lesson of the day… when the time comes to build your own cabin, make sure and put a solid stone foundation under her. You can use stone piers for your porch floor… they look good there and it gives the dog a cool place to go during the hotter months.

With the solid foundation everyone lives happily ever after, in the cabin with warm floors, and the happy wife.

The End.

Thank you, each and every one of you, for following along.

Noah

Originally posted 2015-03-06 17:08:24.

We added a stone stairway and retaining wall to improve foot access from the parking area to the cabin safer and more pleasant.

For over a hundred years the original inhabitants of this cabin made the climb between these two levels via a well-worn dirt path. A path that we found slick to traverse when wet or covered with snow.

We used local stone to build with and the masons did an amazingly good job on it… it added so much to the function and aesthetics of the cabin site.

Originally posted 2015-03-05 17:07:20.