If you add up all the hours it took to build our cabin I suspect it totals about 1 full year. My wife would say 1 full year, 24/7. It did take some time but to be fair the cabin has some interesting elements that you just don't build overnight. So if you're thinking about building your own mountain cabin or buying one already built there's lots to consider.
Planning took a lot of time and energy because we spent several years gathering magazine articles about cabins, taking photos of specific elements of other cabins that we liked, buying lots of cabin books, researching building techniques, and drawing countless sketches of our future cabin. It was a lot of work but helped us focus and pin point our final plan.
The flow of the cabin works well for our lifestyle. You enter through our front door which actually most people would call the back door because it faces the mountain while most people think the view side of the cabin is the front...now I'm confused. They say a picture is worth a thousand words so I'll add some pictures and keep the verbiage under a thousand words.
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| Barn wood wainscoting |
When you enter you're greeted with the warmth of weathered wood and rustic charm. A lot of the elements in the cabin are from old material repurposed. We used 100 year old unstained barn wood as our wainscoting. The wood was harvested from a barn a couple of miles down the mountain so it's special because it has been a part of the area for many years and a landmark on our many visits to the property. Our floors were milled in Roaring River from North Carolina pine. Each floor board, in different widths, was installed using square antique nails. We inlayed a compass in the floor using holly and walnut as accent woods to show the placement of the cabin (southern exposure).
The fireplace is wood burning and took the most time to craft. Most of the stone is lightweight man-made stone with natural stone from the property mixed in for detail. The firebox uses a high efficiency slow burn system that helps heat the 1500 sf cabin.
The kitchen is built for the gourmet chef. It has a very large island for food prep and storage, a gas stove with electric oven, wormy chestnut cabinet doors, including an old Hoosier kitchen cabinet, and a pantry that is secured by an old country store screen door. The ceiling is made of rusted tin from an old NC barn near Raleigh. The countertop was fashioned from oak taken from an old home in Boone then sealed and edged with walnut. Our copper farm sink makes for easy use.
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| Kitchen pantry screen door |
The dining room is small and open but super functional. We enjoy our meals with a view of the mountains beyond. The table seats 6 and is made from a hemlock slab and old locust legs. Chairs were recycled and new leather cushions were attached.
The living room is cozy. The sofa and matching chair are craftsman style and came from my parents home. The fabric has a bit of a native indian design. The view from the living room looks out onto a spacious covered porch and over the mountains too.
We designed a guest room just off the entrance foyer as well as an adjacent guest bathroom with walnut countertop. A cedar tree and branch from Chapel Hill provide support for the vessel sink and base. The shower is tiled with travertine and enclosed in glass.
We included an 18' cedar tree in the living room to help support the upper loft floor and accent the stair system at the top. The stair steps are hand hewn pine slabs with pine posts. The railing is made up of rhododendron branches and twigs that add a warm rustic feel as you travel to the second floor. The wall leading upstairs displays our family photos that include several generations.
The loft was designed as a reading area and a home office. The desk is topped by more rusted tin that is used as a message/photo center. An old barndoor covers hidden storage above.
The master suite is located on the upper level as well. The bedroom is paneled in rough white washed pine to give the appearance of an old barn interior. Our large open closet is separated from the bedroom by a short free standing wall. This allows for good circulation and ease of access with no doors to get in the way.
Our master bathroom includes a clawfoot tub that we found near Boone. The cabinet is custom built with wormy chestnut wings on each end of a ceramic sink. Plenty of storage is available in the cabinet as well as a recycled bathroom wall cabinet.
All ceilings, except the kitchen and bathrooms, are made of tongue and groove pine. This pine came from a mill at Roaring River too. The wood was sealed and left its natural tones.
The cabin is heated by a geothermal heat system that uses the constant 55 degree temps of the sub-surface earth to provide 68+ degree comfortable heat. Our heating cost for last winter was $50 per month. The system provides air conditioning but we haven't used it because of our comfortable high altitude climate.
Our cabin has been cozy, functional and efficient and will serve us for years to come. There's nothing like it to enjoy the view, read a good book or sit in front of the fireplace with a glass of wine.
To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong. ~Anonymous
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