The next step in building this cabin was the gathering of the stone and laying it.
This site was blessed with an abundance of “easy to get” native stone. Some stones were just a few feet away from where they would be laid by us, eager to be picked up. But the bulk of the stone came from nearby ancient “stone streams” found weaving their way through the property’s trees. These weren’t like the refined stone fences of northern Va and on up into New England, but rather were just informal lines of stones that were thrown to the edge of fields that no longer existed, by farmers, who have long since past away.
Even though the cabin was small we needed a lot of stone… there was of course the stone foundation which needed to be two feet thick in order to pass code. Then there was the massive stone chimney whose fireplace would later provide most of the cabin’s heat. There were the porch piers to hold up the porch and stone would be needed for the future outbuildings (including the privy).
And, there were the three long retaining walls that we needed in order to create a level site for the cabin to rest on.
Originally posted 2015-02-16 22:47:57.