Alaska on my mind…

Dwellings are a very important part of Sourdough Culture. We are fortunate to have a collection of historic cabins in this area. Kenai Kasilof, & Soldotna all have cabin parks, cabin museums and other preserved buildings.

Dean & I have done two historic cabin repairs over the years. Recently we restored a roof on a cabin in Kenai. Several years ago we replaced a rotten base log in a cabin in Soldotna’s Cabin Park. We have to be careful to keep historically accurate in our repairs.

I enjoy working on these old buildings. I’m touching wood, trees that were living in the 1800’s. It’s standing history that I get to play a tiny role in protecting. Think about all the happenings that these buildings survived. Everyday human events, epic volcanic eruptions. The biggest earthquake in Alaska’s history. Three major cultures: local first peoples the Dena ‘ina Athabascan, Russian traders and settlers, then other English speaking settlers evolving into Americans. All have left their indelible marks locally.

Often you can still see the cut marks from hand hewing. And the craftsmanship is always an adventure. I love the dovetailed corners on many of these old cabins. Some have no spikes holding them together only joinery. Chinked with moss or mud, long gone over with the passing of time. Some have been restored and continue as dwellings today. Others are preserved for posterity, lest we forget where we came from.

In the era these old cabins were built, there were no lumberyards or metal shops around. Trees were cut and hewn for walls and roof supports but there’s nothing suitable for sheathing. So these resilient old souls hauled sod up and covered their roofs with living material. Complete with wildflowers. This shed the weather reasonably well and kept the cabins warm in the winter, cool in the summer.

Another standout detail of these old homes was the overall height. These buildings were shorter than typical modern buildings. Doors between 4-5 feet tall, walls under 8′, often 6′ or shorter. Materials to build were hard to come by, it took brute strength and a lot of elbow grease to build. So making shorter buildings helped conserve energy. Mostly these smaller structures were easier to keep warm. After all, you really only needed a space for your meager belongings, a bed to sleep in, some place for your dogs and stay out of the severe cold.

Hand hewn cabins are one of my greatest loves in architecture. Our modern day construction technology may be different but the same love and care goes into each log I prep for a cabin I’m building.