Houses Made of Poles
By Lola A. Pinchon
[In this article descriptions are given of several shelters suitable for a resort, but the reader may select any one of them that answers his needs and build a camp house, or fit up a more substantial one to make living quarters for the whole year.—Editor.]
Being forced to take the open-air treatment to regain health, a person adopted the plan of building a pole house in the woods, and the scheme was so successful that it was decided to make a resort grounds, to attract crowds during holidays, by which an income could be realized for living expenses. All the pavilions, stands, furniture, and amusement devices were constructed of straight poles cut from young growth of timber with the bark remaining on them. Outside of boards for flooring and roofing material, the entire construction of the buildings and fences consisted of poles.
The Frame Construction of the House Made Entirely of Rough Poles, the Verticals being Set in the Ground, Plumbed, and Sighted to Make a Perfect Rectangle of the Desired Proportions
A level spot was selected and a house built having three rooms. The location was in a grove of young timbers, most of it being straight, and 13 trees were easily found that would make posts 12 ft. long, required for the sides, and two poles 16 ft. long, for the center of the ends, so that they would reach to the ridge. The plot was laid out rectangular and marked for the poles, which were set in the ground for a depth of 4 ft., at distances of 6 ft. apart. This made the house 8 ft. high at the eaves with a square pitch roof; that is, the ridge was 3 ft. high in the center from the plate surfaces for this width of a house. The rule for finding this height is to take one-quarter of the width of the house for the height in the center from the plate.
The Steps are Supported on Pairs of Vertical Poles Set in the Ground to Make Different Levels
The corner poles were carefully located to make the size 12 by 24 ft., with a lean-to 8 by 12 ft., and then plumbed to get them straight vertically. The plates for the sides, consisting of five poles, were selected as straight as possible and their ends and centers hewn down to about one-half their thickness, as shown at A and B, and nailed to the tops of the vertical poles, the connection for center poles being as shown at C.
The next step was to secure the vertical poles with crosspieces between them which were used later for supporting the siding. These poles were cut about 6 ft. long, their ends being cut concave to fit the curve of the upright poles, as shown at D. These were spaced evenly, about 2 ft. apart from center to center, on the sides and ends, as shown in the sketch, and toenailed in place. The doors and window openings were cut in the horizontal poles wherever wanted, and casements set in and nailed. The first row of horizontal poles was placed close to the ground and used both as support for the lower ends of the siding and to nail the ends of the flooring boards to, which were fastened in the center to poles laid on stones, or, better still, placed on top of short blocks, 5 ft. long, set in the ground. These poles for the floor should be placed not over 2 ft. apart to make the flooring solid.