CABIN MISCELLANY
Native Stone Lends Charm and Ruggedness to Cabin
Fireplaces and Barbecues
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. Where stones of the proper size are not available, they are frequently blasted from larger boulders.
The various ideas for indoor and outdoor fireplaces and barbecues shown here have been sketched from photographs of fireplaces actually built in Western cabins. They show some of the wide possibilities of design and of decorative treatment. Among them, or from a combination of their various features, you should be able to find the design of your ideal fireplace.
This attractive all-stone fireplace shows what a little ingenuity can do in arranging a mantel without the use of wood or set-back in the masonry. A carefully selected long flat stone, imbedded in the chimney wall and supported by three oblong stones, makes the mantel and adds a touch of master craftsmanship to the entire fireplace.
A metal hood gives a rustic effect to this small fireplace and adds to its efficiency as well.
For a large cabin room this massive fireplace lends an air of warmth and comfort. The large mantel area is obtained by building the fireplace out into the room and setting back the chimney. Suggested by the fireplace at Rainbow Gibson’s Weasku-Inn, Grants Pass, Ore.
Increased floor area in the smaller cabin is obtained by setting the fireplace back flush with the walls. The chimney could have been set back still farther and covered, but running the stone work to the roof breaks up a long wall.
Hand-picked boulders, skillfully arranged and tapered toward the ceiling, make this fireplace look as if it had been transplanted from a frontier cabin. It is an effective and interesting treatment where a mantel is not desired. From the W. B. Jones cottage at Kaweah, California.
A huge oak beam, hand hewn, tops off this large fireplace and gives a massive effect in keeping with a large cabin living room. The warming-ledge with its old-fashioned cast iron kettle adds a note of charm.
Here is an interesting treatment of massive stones that shows still another mantel arrangement. In this case the mantel is a quarter log supported by two heavy hewn beams imbedded in the masonry. It fits in charmingly with the atmosphere of a log cabin. The bar support for kettles is even more pioneerish than a pot and crane and in keeping with rugged charm of the fireplace itself.