“ Native stone, gathered from near the site, seems to be the most popular material for the cabin fireplace or barbecue. Skillfully handled, it may be adapted to a variety of artistic treatments, and it lends to the cabin, inside and out, the atmosphere of ruggedness sought after by most cabin builders. Sometimes the stones are gathered one by one over a wide area for their appearance, beauty and other characteristics, so the fireplace itself becomes almost a collector’s item to those who have gathered far and wide the material for its construction. ”

“ Outdoor grills range from the simplest form U-shaped brick cooking place, covered with a heavy steel screening, to huge affairs of brick 54 or stone with chimneys and dampers, Dutch ovens built into the sides, warming places for plates, and perhaps a roaring separate fireplace to soften the chill of the evening air. All of them are relatively easy to build and reasonably inexpensive. However, you must keep the fire hazards in mind, and in the National Forests, before you begin to build, have your forest officer approve your plan and location. ”

“ Here, for example, is a cabin that might be too small for two persons, while as a matter of fact it will sleep six without crowding at all. That’s not just a theory, because a similar cabin has been used for several years up in the Mt. Rainier country with great success. It’s just the easy-going, unpretentious sort of place a man would love, where he can wear old clothes and let his whiskers grow, and the odors of coffee and sizzling bacon are sweeter than the most exotic perfume. ”

“ If the cook is to have as good a time as the rest of the family, the cabin kitchen should be modern and conveniently arranged. A wood burning cook stove does not add to the pleasures of feeding the family and guests. But a possible point to consider: a kitchen range is an excellent added heater in a cabin that is to be used in cold weather.
Today’s cabinet type oil range, with burners and fuel reservoir concealed, is as attractive in appearance as the modern gas or electric range. Burners are quick in performance and adjustable to any degree of heat desired. ”

“ The winter climate is an important factor if you build in the snow country. In the mountains you may get snow ten feet or more in depth—and ten feet of snow weighs a lot. That requires extra sturdy construction of the cabin roof.
Actually, in a National Forest you’ll find that a good deal of the selection has been done by the Service for you. About all you have to do is to find the particular one that is most pleasing to the whole family and offers the greatest possibilities consistent with the money you have to spend. You can be absolutely sure that you will get the lot you pick out. ”

“ There’s one master bedroom, connected directly with the bath, and a large bunk room for guests. If bunks are used here, be sure to build them along the lines of a ship’s berth, just for a nautical atmosphere.
As a matter of fact, a beach house is just the place where lots of imagination can be used. Door knobs and other hardware of bright brass, a colored ship’s lamp over the front door, and perhaps a couple of real portholes instead of the small windows in the bunk room and the bath, would lend a very salty air. ”

“ The distance from sources of supply is also an influence, because materials hauled only a few miles would cost far less than if they were shipped a hundred miles and then transported by truck to the cabin site. Really, the only satisfactory answer to the cost problem is to take your plans to a builder in the neighborhood of your locality and get his figures. Or if you plan to do some of the work yourself with local labor, your lumberman may be able to help you with cost estimates. If you want an individual and specialized design, the services of an architect should be seriously considered. ”

“ The exterior walls of this cabin have been treated in an unusual manner which makes something quite unique out of what might have been just another cabin. The end walls, chimney and porch are constructed of rough-hewn stone, while the front and rear walls are board and batten. The roof could be shakes, shingles or slates. Of course, this same cabin could be built any one of a number of ways, using logs or shingles instead of the stone and wood combination. The front door, to carry out the atmosphere of simplicity, should be of planks. ”

“ In most cases, if you use your cabin only in summer, the fireplace will provide sufficient heat, especially if you have the air circulating kind so located that the warm air can be utilized in adjoining rooms. If more heat is required, and it will be if you use the cabin in winter, investigate the oil-burning heaters that combine directed heat with heat circulation and heat radiation. Portable oil or electric heaters are also handy at any time of the year. Central heating is generally not necessary unless your cabin is to be used as a year-round home. ”

“ Government experts estimate the consumption of water per person in 24 hours is 4 to 8 gallons if only a hand pump is provided; if one faucet is installed, domestic uses require 7 to 15 gallons per person; if the house is equipped with hot and cold water in kitchen, bath and laundry, the consumption rises to 20-25 gallons, a family average of 100 gallons every 24 hours. That’s a lot of water to carry in pails or pump by hand.
If you build your cabin in the mountains, you may not have much success digging a well because bedrock may be close beneath the surface. ”

“ Anyone can go that far without the guidance of an architect or builder, but the added touches of an experienced hand, as evidenced in the porch rail, the little martin house on the roof and the stepped-back patio wall, are what give this cabin its distinctive charm.
As shown here, the walls are of board and batten, with hand-split shakes laid on the roof in an irregular pattern. The bird house is an attractive note frequently used on old-world houses. The quaint line of the chimney is achieved by extending the tile flues above the masonry and curving the concrete fill up against them. ”

“ If it is only a few hours away, so much the better. Within less than one day’s drive from most points on the Pacific Coast you can lose yourself in a paradise of forests, lakes and mountains, or stand on the ocean shore and hear the breakers boom. ”

“ One of the simplest foundations for the amateur builder is made by resting the sills on supports made of two large somewhat flat boulders. If your cabin site is on solid rock, then all that is necessary is to bed the bottom boulder securely on the rock. But if the terrain is ordinary earth, you should dig down past the “forest floor” of black humus until you reach rock, sand, gravel or other solid ground below the frost line. Then you pour concrete piers to the grade level and seat your boulders thereon, as shown in Fig. 3. Do not use any mortar between the two boulders. ”

“ Even though your cabin is beyond reach of gas and electricity, you need not be without modern kitchen conveniences. Oil burning ranges and refrigerators provide the same service as found in a modern city home.
If you are going in for real cabin comfort, you will naturally have running water in the 50 kitchen and bath. The next step in comfort is an adequate supply of hot water. Electric, gas- or oil-burning equipment will give you all the hot water you want.
With an insulated storage tank you can have automatic hot water with an electric heater. ”

“ The design of the barbecue grill or outdoor stove is a matter for your own taste. For comfort’s sake you will want to have the grill top 55 about the height of your kitchen stove. Build up the firebox so that when the coals are glowing, they will be about eight inches below the grill, which should be made of 3/16-inch steel rods spaced about one inch apart in a metal frame. A groove or seat for the grill may be made in the masonry, or you may provide supports by imbedding projecting pieces of iron in the firebox walls. ”

“ If you are building within range of power lines, by all means install electric lights, even if it costs a little more than you had planned to spend. If you want primitive effects, you can get them very effectively by a proper choice of fixtures without sacrificing good lighting.
Next best to public utility power is your own private electric plant, operated by a gasoline engine. Such an installation, consisting of engine, generator and storage battery, may be had for as little as $75.00, not including wiring the cabin itself. ”

“ In this “cabin in the clouds,” resembling some of the mountaineers’ huts in the Alps, every effort has been made to keep the atmosphere as rustic and as rugged as possible, at the same time providing all the conveniences of a comfortable modern home.
The walls, the designer says, should be of stone, 16 inches thick. The roof should be of redwood shakes or slates, but remember that any roofing must stand storms and very high winds in the mountains. The railing of the car shelter is of stone, also, with roof supports of heavy hewn redwood timbers. ”

“ Construction is entirely of wood, in a fashion reminiscent of Japanese houses, with wide doors and a broad, low roof. The easiest and most pleasing finish, both outside and inside would be plywood. The waterproof variety is durable and not costly, and it is so easy to apply that any amateur can turn out a pleasing job. Plywood is adaptable to any of the regulation wood-finish treatments from oiling or staining to painting, and will last indefinitely.
The roof would be attractive if covered with a brightly colored composition roofing, or with stained shingles or shakes. ”

“ Any blacksmith can forge one of octagonal tempered steel. Suspend it by a steel wire from a wrought iron bracket.
A handy supply of wood is a great convenience in the cabin. So, plan a woodbox when you plan the fireplace. Here is one built in the fireplace wall. You can put a door on it, if you wish, but the exposed wood does not look out of place in the cabin. Don’t overlook the possibility of a two-way woodbox that can be filled from the outside or from the garage or wherever the wood is stored. ”

“ Construction of the outdoor fireplace is much the same as that of an indoor one except that the chimney and flue are not carried to such a height. Nor does the footing need to be as thick unless your fireplace is very heavy. A concrete base eight inches thick with four inches of this above ground is usually ample. You may use the chimney of your cabin fireplace for your outdoor fireplace or grill but be sure to provide a separate flue. ”

“ This is the proper way to apply half-round siding to the studs. The log ends add a very realistic touch.
If you are planning to build a frame cottage or summer home, the field of design is, of course, limited largely by the amount of money you have to spend. If you are not an old hand at carpentering it would be well to get the assistance of a builder or a lumber company in selecting your materials. A man with a knowledge of building can keep you from making mistakes that might not be discovered until the house was built. ”

“ The broad flagstone porch is just the spot to spend lazy afternoons, and the living room is large enough for entertaining but not so large that it would be hard to heat.
According to the original design, this cabin might be built with a board and batten exterior, finished with a preparation of linseed oil and rotten stone—or it would be beautiful covered, roof and all, with silver-weathered shakes or shingles. In either case, the trim should be in a bright color for contrast, and the chimney would be best if built of rough field stones. ”

“ Fireplace tools that stay up out of the way when not in use may be hand forged by any good blacksmith or wrought iron worker. A simple bracket with projecting prongs, as illustrated, is fastened to the fireplace wall and each tool hangs by a collar. Rough forged tools are more in keeping with the cabin effect than the factory-finished kind. If the maker is skillful enough, the heads may be made in various designs. Animal heads are popular.
Discarded railroad rails make excellent material for hand-forged andirons that are heavy enough and crude enough for any cabin. ”

“ The gas, compressed to liquid form in a steel cylinder, is piped to your stove like ordinary city gas. However, burners must be especially adjusted for it, or if you are buying a new stove, get one made for this fuel.
Refrigeration adds to the comforts of cabin life as much as to city life. If you have electricity, you can use the conventional electric refrigerator. Also available are mechanical refrigerators that use gas. Modern oil burning refrigerators also give effective performance and are usable anywhere, requiring no outside connections. ”