It is our intent to preserve the character of the cabin for historical and educational purposes and for the enjoyment by all while keeping the long-term maintenance and preservation costs at a minimum. Wood siding would require frequent painting and repair, whereas Hardie siding will last more than fifty years without any maintenance. Along these same lines we decided to make adaptations in our cabin restoration that are not replications of the original cabin construction, such as, treated lumber for floor joist instead of logs. The cabin originally had a wood shingle (shake) roof, which only last a few years. Sometime in the life of the cabin the wood shingles were replaced with corrugated metal roofing material which we replaced with new metal. We don't think these choices significantly impact the character and historical nature of the cabin.

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Good observation. We had to remove the old flooring to replace rotted out log beams in the cabin. The old flooring was not re-usable and therefore we had to purchase new wood for the flooring. When we cut a path through the woods to bring electricity to the cabin site, we had to cut down several mature walnut trees. We discovered we could have these trees milled into flooring material for about the same cost as purchasing new pine or fir. We thought using the wood from the site fit in the colonial tradition of using resources that were available. This homegrown walnut provides a beautiful cabin floor.

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