1808 Log Cabin Project | Log Home Diary: Entry #11 | Bob Timberlake

New Find — An Old Civil War Log Cabin

Log Home Diary Entry # 11

After dwelling on the legalities that have essentially put this project on hold (and will hopefully be settled in July 2010), I finally have some positive news to share: not one, but two old cabins to complement the Timberlake cabin I’ve been trying to build and provide additional lodging on the Justice Plantation property.

The first is an 1850s pre-Civil War Virginia log cabin that is, to say the least, beautiful. It has two full stories of 8-inch-thick, 12- to 18-inch-face oak logs with huge V-notched corners that will grade out 90 percent. What is rare about this log cabin is the long lengths are still there and have not been cut. The location on which this cabin was built lends itself to stories about the Civil War — specifically Stonewall Jackson. No one can prove the fact he stayed in the cabin, but it is certain that some of his men probably did through their travels in and around the Shenandoah Valley.

An old friend who helped me bird-dog for old structures back in 2001 to 2004 came across this cabin and gave me a call. He remembered me — and, boy, am I thankful. It’s been three years since I have had something this good and solid come my way. It has already been taken down and stored; all I have to do is load it on a semi. (This means no bees and no chance I’ll get into poison ivy!) These logs are all numbered and waiting for me to buy and load up.

And it gets better. Another friend of mine put me onto a cabin located here in North Carolina. This cabin is super: oak logs with long lengths, too — supposedly solid and with large faces. I haven’t seen it, but as soon as I talk with the people in charge, I’m sure I’ll be in the truck and on the road.

Who knows — with this luck, I just might find cabin number three!

Butch Phillips is the owner of Grandfather Mountain Log Homes.