Friday, November 4, 2016

My Cabin in the Woods

   For over 25 years I have dreamed of owning a campground and cabins. I followed this dream 10 years ago when I got a piece of property in the Cherokee National Forest. I was going to build a small cabin to live in but when I talked to a bank about getting a loan to build the business they said they would only loan on a completed structure and not the land. I decided to build a large 6 bedroom bed and breakfast FIRST when I really wanted to do that last. I used up all my money framing it up and drying it any but I never finished it. Without it being finished, I couldn't get the loan but I really didn't want to go in debt. That was 8 years ago when I stopped working on it.
   With my bike being broke down recently and needing basically another motor rebuild, I decided to make use of my down time and do some more work on it. First thing I had to do was clean the roof. It had 8 years of mildew and looked pretty bad. I scrubbed it with bleach and was amazed at how well it looked under that grime. 
  
  Next I was trying to button it up and to keep the animals out since I haven't had doors and many of the windows are out.  I actually had a bear hibernate in it one winter before, I finished a couple pieces of missing metal on the red roof but water had gotten under the felt paper and rotted some plywood so I had to replace 4 sheets.

 I installed a couple of windows then I got distracted. You see when I work on my place, my ideas change as well as the materials I come up with. 
   It started with a Craigslist add for some vinyl windows for sale. I went to look at them and they were a huge savings. Over 1000 dollars in windows for only 200 dollars. They would mean changing the design do I worked a few days and got it ready. The original window opening was 36 inches wide by 52 inches tall. My new window ( for the master bedroom) are 11 feet wide and 6 feet (72 inches) talk! Oh yea! 
   This is the old bedroom window opening. The small window opening is for the bathroom.

    But now with all this view, I needed to clear some of the mountain side. You couldn't see the forest through the trees! I cleared about 1/4 of an acre just for a better view. I plan on planting some fruit trees that will attract wildlife.
   Now that the view was taken care of, I moved into the bathroom area and tried to figure out the layout. I was going to put in a Jacuzzi tub but I never really liked those.  I started searching for other ideas and came across this baby. A claw footed cast iron tub from the 1800's. Perfect for my place.
  Of course, soaking in this tub with only one window to look out just isn't as soothing as if I had TWO windows so I went to work opening another window. Problem is, this window would be going through the roof side so I had to build a new dormer but hey, I built the other 5 already. How hard could number six be?
  If you noticed on my picture above when I was washing the roof, the left dormer and window was not there.
Here you can see the two bathroom windows, same size 3 foot by 3 foot each. Will be a nice view of the forest when I bathe. Just following my dreams one day at a time.

17 comments:

  1. Looks good Kevin keep following your dreams they seem to take you to beautiful things and there is no limit to imagination. ..FWF

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  2. I love this! I absolutely love this! I am going through a completel renovation myself on 4.5 acres. Its truely a workout but a complete dream. I so love what you have done.

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  3. What the? I want to see pictures of the finished product.

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  4. I think the Bears gonna absolutely love that tub

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  5. Very nice, I am glad you are having a dream come true!!

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  6. Looks great.....when your finished we will come visit !!! Rick and Debbie from Nova Scotia..

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  7. Trust you made it back to the mountains with your tub safely. Great to meet you and thanks for driving over here. Good luck.

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    1. A little history for ya; your tub came out of the Boyd Tavern, http://boydtavern.net/
      Your project looks great. Let me know if you need any help with a vegetable garden(raised beds), drip irrigation, berries, and the like...

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    2. Thanks so much Herb, I will be planting so fruit trees and other things that attract wildlife on the mountain side.

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  8. Hi Bean're, Are you seeing or smelling any forest fire smoke your way? Take care, Herb.

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