Old Lady's Parents Build A Log Cabin

Jeanette lives in a log cabin in the middle of the woods, near Blythewood. She and my father built the log cabin from scratch -- they felled the trees, stripped the bark, cured the logs, and hoisted them up with a pulley. This is a picture of the log cabin today:

This was a decade-long project, started in 1980, and finished around 1990. A little back story: Back in the 1970s, after a difficult divorce, my father began dating. He was introduced to Jeanette by a mutual friend who, quite rightly, felt they were meant for each other. They both liked camping, hiking, gardening -- anything outdoors. Jeanette had some family land near Blythewood, and they would go camping there almost every weekend, sometimes bringing my younger brothers. They dated exclusively for several years, but even that long after the divorce, my father was shy about marriage. Still, when Jeanette announced she would be buying a trailer and moving to the woods, that's all it took for my country-boy father: Oo Baby, I think I want to marry you! They got married and they both moved to the trailer in the woods.

L-R, Brother Bill, J'net, Brother Louis and I,
and Father Bill

L-R, Brothers Louis & Bill,
Camping Out

According to J'net, my father originally wanted to build an addition to the trailer, but she put her foot down on that idea, and squashed it around for good measure. If they were going to build something, it had to be a real house.

She wasn't sure if Daddy had in mind a log addition to the trailer, but it didn't take him long to decide that he would like to try building a log cabin. He told J'net that, when they were young, he and his brothers had built a fort or cabin using large pine branches. That one didn't last, but he thought he could use some of the same building ideas they had used, only with pine logs instead of branches.

Clearing The Land (trailer in background)

He practiced and refined his techniques by building a small, approximately 8'x8' log shed. (The shed is still there, being used for storage.) When he started, he wasn't sure he would be able to build a proper log cabin, but Jeanette said, by the time he got the logs half-way up the practice shed, he knew they could do it. I believe she said they started the house then, while he finished the shed. Makes sense, since it would take more than a year just to clear the land and finish the foundation.

Still Clearing, Foundation Blocks Are Ready

My brother, Glen, did a terrific brochure about the project for one of his graphic design classes at Clemson, with more specifics about the building process. Jeanette said each log needed at least a year to dry out, cure, before it could be used. They also had to skin the logs, remove the bark, by hand, using knives and homemade tools. And they were doing all this in their spare time, after working full-time jobs.

We all helped, some more than others, but Daddy and Jeanette did most of the work, by far. I was in California that decade, first in law school, then as an associate at a large law firm, but I was still able to visit and help with some stages: I was there for the roofing, and for some of the Perma-Chinking.

One day I'll figure out how to add a slide show function to the side bar, to better show these pictures, but for now, I'll just stack them below:

Laying Foundation Blocks

Mixing Cement

Stacking Logs

Drilling. Or Something.

Windows And Doors

Brothers Bill & Louis, My Father (Bill) In The Middle

The Log Section (Great Room) And Upper Floor Are Finished,
Roofing Starts

Ready To Move In

Just the middle section, the great room, is log; the side wings and upper floor are standard wood frame. My father also built those sections, but hired contractors for the electrical, plumbing, and other specialized work. He said they all were amazed by his construction, and would marvel at how strong and level everything was, "Not like Spring Valley" (a local subdivision).

My father only got to spend seven years in the cabin; he died in 1997. But that cabin will outlive all of us, and it will be a monument to Bill and Jeanette for generations to come.