| First of June, 2006 |
|
|
Cabin Creek Log Homes delivered the logs as contracted. |
The sill logs were fastened to the foundation (per code). Originally they would just have been laid across huge stacked flat stones. |
| |
|
Some of the logs were re notched to fit the new configuration. |
Mike drilled the holes down through the logs as they
were stacked to accommodate the electric lines. |
| |
|
| Middle of June, 2006 |
|
The two cabins began to take shape. The area between them will later be enclosed and house a bathroom and small laundry closet. |
The larger cabin will be a keeping room with sitting around the hearth and a "kitchen area" against the opposite wall. A stairway will lead to a loft with a balcony looking down on the hearth. The smaller cabin will be the bedroom. |
| |
|
| July, 2006 |
|
We could begin to see the interior coming together.
This is looking into the main cabin through the hearth opening.
The stairs to the loft area has not yet been added. |
Side view, you can see into the kitchen-area window. You can see the connector hall (which is actually called a "dogtrot") in the middle, then on the far right is the door side of the bedroom that will have it’s own porch |
| |
|
|
|
I am envisioning the "kitchen area" looking something like my drawing to the left.
Mike is building an antique-style dry sink cabinet which will hold a farmhouse sink. An extension on the left side will house a dishwasher (hidden by it's cabinet facade), a further extension on the left will look like a work table. A free hanging cabinet above will hold dishes.
My antique Hoosier cabinet and pie safe will go against walls at each end. |
 The stove is a reproduction made by Elmira Stove Works made to look like a wood burning stove but actually all electric).
Elmira also makes a matching microwave with a cast iron front, that can fit in a primitive box hanging from the wall. |
 I am looking for a restored 1930's era Porcelain GE Monitor Top Frig. - like the one in this photo. But not sure I want to bother of an antique frig. Perhaps a boxed-in hidden modern frig would be better?
On 2nd thought, nix that idea. I have decided it's way too impractical. We'll go with a modern frig and enclose it into a box made from the old wood.
|
| |
|
Looking at the wall in the larger cabin that is opposite the hearth.
It will be the "kitchen area" .
Under the stairs will be a small pantry. |
Researching I have found that "Yellow ware" bowls were a staple of the late 1800s kitchen.
it was popular due to its low cost and durability, it could even withstand the heat of a wood stove. Originally developed in 16th - 17th century England and Scotland,
yellow ware gained its name from the clay it was made from, which had a yellow hue to it.
The pieces then started to be made in America, before the Revolution, when artisans found
similar clays here.
 I found a reproduction Yellow ware with a white stripe...... made by Ragon House with a large variety of pieces.
Can be purchased online here
Thanks to my sister-in-law's Christmas gift, we now have plates. Thanks Susan, you are an angel! |
| |
|
We found that a lower log by the hearth
had
a burnt
imprint of an old iron. |
I was already imagining inviting friends and
family through the front door. |
| |
|
Looking out the bedroom door (porch will go out there) |
Opposite wall and window in bedroom |
| |
|
| September, 2006 |
|
The roof is going on
......
|
......... |
| |
|
..... as the last of the summer's wildflowers bloom.
|
A facade of stacked Tennessee fieldstone
will cover the foundation blocks |
| |
|
The chimney is going up, it will be built by code. with a great deal more precautions than the original cabin builders considered.... |
and the hearth is taking shape inside.
It will be covered with the stacked fieldstone as well. |
The roof is being covered with hand-split cedar roof shakes
|
 |
| |
|
| October, 2006 |
|
A couple of frosty nights have turned the leaves
and work continues
|
The porches are going on ... |
front porch |
Bedroom-side porch |
Dog-trot porch (stoop) |
|
| |
|
 
The loft flooring becomes the main cabin ceiling, and the floor joists are left exposed.
Notice the beautiful hand bead on these beams, the cabin's original builder was quite a craftsman for his time. |
| |
Another nice detail, the carpenter's idea, the bottom side of the roof shakes can be seen under the eaves. In the early cabins you would have seen the shakes from inside looking up at the ceiling as well. Today's code calls for more layers in the roof structure, so it was nice to keep the old look at least in the eaves. |
Water pipes for loft bathroom, as well as air
conditioning vents are hidden in staircase wall.
The hot water tank will be hidden under the stairs. |
| |
|
| Last week in October, 2006 |
|
No more progress on the cabin to report
but the fall foliage is beautiful to behold! Look at the mountain ridges.... you can see why they are called the Blue Ridge Mtns.
|
Meanwhile Mike has been busy in his workshop building the cabinets for the bathrooms . The sink basin looks like an antique bowl, faucets will come out of the 3 holes above. The top section is tiger-strip maple, bottom is cherry. |
| |
|
| November, 2006 |
|
The stone masons have finally returned to continue the chimneys. Winter is on the way, and unlike the pioneers of old who needed to finish their cabin before the frost in order to survive, we never-the-less had reasons to finish. Weatherproofing and chinking can not be done while the temperature is below 40. |
Our two very talented carpenters,
Joe and Rodney,
are doing a fantastic job! |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
Porch posts of rough-sawn wood will weather over
the
winter to the gray color of the antique wood. |
Wood siding goes on the gabled ends.
It too will weather to the old gray color. |
| |
|
 |
 |
| |
|
| The Week After Thanksgiving |
|
We spent the whole week up in NC to work on the staining of the logs. The weather cooperated and stayed above the required 40° to use the products.
With my Sony arm-band radio and tuned to local bluegrass and country music, we were "rockin". Course, the clothes we wore will now stand up all by themselves, they are so full of “product”. We worked all day every day (except Thursday afternoon when it rained), finishing up around 3:00 on Friday when we ran out of stain …... and just in time as the temperature was steadily dropping.
|
  |
 
We are very happy with the results of the clear satin finish Minwax Poly we used on the interior, but we are still trying to
decide if we like the dark (yellow-brown) tones of the Sikkens stain on the exterior and are hoping it will lighten up with time. |
| |
|
Meanwhile the Carpenters, Joe and Rodney,
have almost finished the front porch roof ..... |
 |
| |
|
  
........ and Jason, the very talented stone mason, and his crew are almost done with the bedroom chimney.
It's hard to believe that he can turn that pile of loose rock into such a beautiful structure! |
| |
|
Progress continues on the main cabin chimney, perhaps they will finish it by Christmas? We will have to let the cedar siding on the gable ends and the pine of the porches fade several months before staining, so we will have to endure the "new wood" for a while yet. |
As you can see, Fall's splendor is fading, and a more stark
wintry look (lovely in its own way) is taking its place.
I love the colors of the sage green moss against the
gray tree bark this time of year |
| continue on to 2007 |
|
Local General Contractor, Tommy Shafer (photo on left), was hired to oversee the project. He began by laying a foundation just beyond the barn and looking towads the area where eventually we will build a "farm house" to live in. 
