How to Build Cabins > Pre-Cut Log Cabins

Another type of log cabin of interest to the modern owner is the pre-cut variety. Real logs, usually cedar because of that wood's resistance to decay and insect attack, are employed. The corner notches and other constructional details are cut at a mill. The logs ar­rive at the cabin site ready to erect without laborious chopping and sawing. Some companies provide expert supervision or labor when the customer desires it, and deliver the cabin complete, even to furniture.

Hunting and fishing lodges may be of logs or of sim­ple frame construction, with an outer wall covering of almost anything from log siding to plain boards set

Simple cabin with kitchenette. This makes an especially attractive summer home. The floor plan shows the disposition of inside space.

horizontally or vertically. Such lodges frequently con­sist of a single room, with cooking and bunking facili­ties arranged to make the most of the space available. Sometimes a type of construction is used that permits the lodge to be torn down and moved to another lo­cation. This is a valuable feature because a good hunt­ing or fishing locality may not always remain that way. A hunting or fishing lodge does not differ fun­damentally from a simple cabin, tourist home, or sum­mer cottage, so that designs for these structures may be used interchangeably.

Bungalows and summer cottages may be of logs, but more frequently are frame structures with outer wall surfaces covered with log siding, plain siding, shingles, or plain boards arranged in a pleasing manner. They can even be of stone, when such construction is eco­nomically possible. Rammed earth is another cheap but little-used type of wall construction that might be employed.

Because the motorist of today demands something better than a tent and cheaper than a conventional hotel, tourist cabins have become a familiar sight along our highways. A really attractive tourist home can be built for $200 or so, and will pay for itself in one sea­son if it is built at a strategic point. The same funda­mental designs employed for vacation homes can be utilized for tourist purposes, with some alterations in interior arrangement.

Wayside stands, where farm products and refresh­ments are sold to motorists, are offshoots of the genu­ine cabin. Their construction is not essentially differ­ent. Provide any simple cabin with an open front, a counter, and perhaps a projecting roof, and you have

Cottage built of sawed lumber. It makes a desirable hunting lodge or vacation cabin. Its simplicity is evident in the floor plan.

Then there are service stations, ice houses, comfort stations, and other similar small structures that are cabins in design and construction. Frequently such

Cottage built of sawed lumber. It makes a desirable hunting lodge or vacation cabin. Its simplicity is evident in the floor plan.

buildings are made to harmonize with near-by tourist homes or wayside stands.

Whether you are building a hunting lodge or a way­side stand, strive above everything else for attractive­ness and sound workmanship. The highways and hills and woods are cluttered with eyesores, dumpy-looking shacks, once smeared with gaudy paint and then left to shift for themselves. The builders apparently had no eye for pleasing appearance, and were ignorant of the fact that such structures repel rather than attract. The wayside stand, for instance, that looks like a squatter's shack is more likely to drive customers away than at­tract them.

This matter of attractiveness is of prime importance when the cabin is in the city. Yes, log cabins are erected on city lots. They are used as garages, work­shops, guest houses, stores, and the like. Attractive city cabins have been built of discarded poles purchased from a local telephone or electric company.

Another city use for the log-cabin idea is the cabin room located in a residence or public building. A mil­lion-dollar Y. M. C. A. building in a large city has a log-cabin room for the use of its younger members. The walls are built of real logs, and there is a massive field-stone fireplace. It is an experience to be remem­bered to step from the cold, severe hallway into this delightful room that harks hack to the days of buffalo hunters and Indians. The basement recreation room or the den in any part of the home can be made a replica of the interior of a real log cabin, by using genuine logs or log slabs for the walls and ceiling. Another pleasing treatment is the use of log siding on the walls. Such rooms should, of course, contain massive fire­places of natural or field stone, and be furnished with rustic chairs, benches, tables, and lighting fixtures. So if you cannot build a cabin in the woods, you may want to do the next best thing and tuck one away somewhere in your home. It will, at least, help you imagine that you have escaped from the rigors of everyday life.

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How To Build A Log Cabin