FRAME CABINS AND BEACH HOUSES
Frame-type cabins present no structural problems that are unfamiliar to anyone who knows the fundamentals of ordinary frame house construction. The essential details of building almost any sort of simple frame house are the same, the main difference being in your choice of exterior finish.
If your vacation home is a beach house, you may even find the regular type of stucco finish appropriate for your particular location. Or you may want to combine stucco finish with wood siding or with board and batten. The main objective is to keep the structure in harmony with its surroundings.
This is particularly true of simple cabins in the mountains. A brick bungalow, for example, would be splendid for warmth and strength for a hunting lodge, but it would be wholly out of place in the forest, as would ordinary concrete finish, stucco, or certain types of frame houses.
There are a number of western lumber companies that specialize in manufacturing novel types of siding designed primarily for cabins and other buildings with a forest background. Some of these cost only a little more than ordinary lumber and make a very attractive cabin.
Among the novelty sidings, you may buy rounded siding that gives the effect of smoothly finished half-logs, or “hewn” timbers that look exactly like hand-hewn logs. You can even get special end pieces which, when carefully attached, give the effect of projecting log ends. As you can see from the illustrations, this novelty siding can be applied by anyone who knows how to use a set of carpenter’s tools.
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.
One of the easiest and most effective cabins is built with a “board and batten” exterior. This consists of broad planks ... their width is a matter of your own judgment ... applied either horizontally or vertically. Between each pair of planks runs a strip of batten which may be nailed flat over the seam or, if you get the specially milled battens, there is a groove into which the wide boards fit. A combination of board and batten and stone construction makes an exceptionally attractive exterior if you use some artistic judgment in combining the two.
This is the effect obtained by use of hewn siding. It is applied like any other lumber, with extra end pieces to give illusion of a real log cabin.
If you are planning to use the house in the cold months, it is well to insulate the walls at least with heavy building paper. In very cold climates it is best to finish the walls on both the exterior and the interior, filling the spaces between the studs with one of the commercial insulating “wools,” made of wood fibre or asbestos. If you must save money, you can buy sawdust at the local mill and pack it in.
Hand-split shakes also make an attractive cabin finish. The rough pioneer effect of the crude shakes is quite in keeping with the wilderness atmosphere. These are applied in much the same manner as ordinary shingles.
Shakes, either hand-split or sawed, should be laid in a definite pattern.
RANDOM WIDTHS SAW-TOOTHED ANGLE BUTTS
Here is an example of charming effect obtained by using horizontal and vertical board and batten, combined with stone.
Any of the methods shown here is a satisfactory way to fit the corners when imitation log siding is used.
If you undertake the construction of a frame cabin without the assistance of an experienced carpenter or builder, you should keep in mind the minimum requirements set up by the Forest Service as standard specifications for cabins to be built in deep snow country:
All girders should be not less than 4×4 material spaced not more than 7 feet on centers.
All main posts supporting building should be not less than 4×4, spaced not more than 7 feet apart in any direction and should rest on rock or concrete base; this applies to open porches also.
All floor joists (including those under open porches) should be not less than 2×6 material, spaced not over 2 feet on center.
Studding in sidewalls, where siding runs vertically, should be spaced not more than 6 feet on center and should be not less than 2×4 material. At least one 2×4 should be placed around the building, horizontally, between the floor plate and ceiling plate, and the side boards should be securely nailed to this horizontal ribbon as well as the top and bottom plates.
On buildings where siding runs horizontally, studding should be placed not over 2 feet on center on outside walls and be not less than 2×4 material.
Double headers and proper bridging should be installed over all openings in outside walls. This is not necessary in partitions.
Rafters should be spaced not more than 2 feet on center and should be not less than 2×4 material on all spans up to 16 feet. All spans of more than 16 feet should use rafters of not less than 2×6 material and be spaced not more than 2 feet on center. Rafters and other members of the roof frame should be of selected, straight-grain lumber.
All ceiling joists should be good, straight-grained sticks not less than 2×4 material and spaced not more than 2 feet on center. Nail them securely to both rafters and plate. All buildings with a gable roof should contain ceiling joists. All spans of more than 14 feet should have collar beams to support the rafters.
THIRTY CABIN PLANS
a CABIN in the CLOUDS
The ideal mountain cabin should be almost a part of the rugged landscape that surrounds it, with rough walls and stout roof that seem to hug the rocks. The very majesty and sweep of the hills dwarf any attempt by man to build himself a tall, imposing mountain home—it is better to build for simplicity and strength.
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.
The living room centers around the massive fireplace, which should be of rough stone. It is flanked on one side by a built-in seat, and a wood box on the other, with an outside door. Walls should be finished in rough plaster or wood panelling, with ceiling beams exposed. All floors are of wood except the terrace, which is flagstones.
On the front a broad window overlooks the terrace and, presumably, a sweeping view of a valley. A big sliding door of glass opens on the terrace also.
Opposite the fireplace is space for two built-in bunks in an alcove, enclosed by a curtain hung from a ceiling track. The bunk room proper, with a dressing closet and clothes closet, contains two double-deck bunks.
The kitchen may seem a bit small, but it is larger than many found in modern city apartments, and much more convenient.