On Jun 15, 6:50*pm, "Don White" wrote:
"Frogwatch" wrote in message

...



When we were first married in 1979, we lived in Casper, *Wyoming where
i was an oilfield engineer. *We would go up on Casper Mt and go cross
country skiing or simply wander around and enjoy the peace and views.
Three years ago, while looking thru Wyoming property on Craigslist, I
saw a pic of a cabin and I immediately recognized it from those days.
We took a trip to WY and bought the place, 4 acres half level with
Aspens and half with a mild slope with Lodgepole pines. *Year-round
access on a paved road at 8500' it is immediately adjacent to miles of
snowmobile trails. *The view is astonishing looking southward toward
Muddy Mt. *Wildlife is prolific with deer wandering across the place
every day and bears are a problem. *Mountain lions have been a problem
off and on and this year they have wolves.
So, what is the problem? *The cabin. *It is made from hand cut logs
cut on site. *It's age is unknown with one source saying it was built
in 1903 but the earliest official record is from 1953. *It is roughly
400 sf with a fireplace of on-site stone and has a huge porch added at
a later date. *The floor was also added later as the original cabin
was built on the ground with no foundation. *It is falling down from
rot in some of the logs.
Before we bought the place, I had a local guy inspect the cabin and he
said it is a lost cause and his best advice was to "Tear it down, burn
it down or allow it to fall down". *We discussed this with people on
the mountain (some seriously crazy people there) and many of em were
appalled at us tearing it down until they see its interior condition.
Unfortunately, I fell in love with it.
I can put my hand on the logs and I just know it was built by two guys
in a couple of weeks and they had very few tools except their axes.
Touching the logs and seeing the axe marks you can almost feel their
presence. *Inside, two enormous logs span the space above to hold up
the roof logs and these logs have depressed on one side due to rot in
side logs so the whole structure leans, *The roof sags a lot in the
middle. *Snow load in the winter is as much as 6' but is dry snow.
After spending time there for two summers, I can no longer allow it to
fall down. *Without my wife's knowledge, I applied for a building
permit to re-roof it and replace the logs. *The county there called me
back telling me that if I got a permit for this I could not get a
permit to build a "real" cabin my wife wants. *My wife and kids do not
like the old cabin and want to see ti go or ignore it and allow it to
fall down. *I simply cannot do this, it has to stay somehow. *Somehow
I think I am destined to rebuild it and I have no enthusiasm for my
wife's "dream cabin". *Am not sure how to deal with this.
BTW, where the pavement ends just beyond our property, it is dirt road
for 10 miles to junction with a paved road at which intersection is
Dick Cheney's mailbox.

Oh boy. *This type of dilema is always in the paper here.
We have an active heritage society who want to preserve all the old historic
buildings and a bunch of developers who want to knock 'em all down for
highrise development. On and on it goes with all taking sides, city council
and the province get in the middle etc.
As for your situation...would you feel lonely taking your vacations up there
by yourself? ( except of course the 'old ghosts' to keep you company)

It is a cool place cuz our nearest neighbor lives in a one room log
cabin and claims he is
"the infamous Tom Horne's grandson" (google him). Next nearest
neighbor is a woman who lives in a one room cabin with no power or
water all year. She has a dog that is half wolf and looks like a
wolf. She sees "little people" behind the trees and claimed to have
dated Dick Cheney in high school a fact later confirmed by others who
said "that Frannie was a real looker in high school" A woman about
1/4 mile away has a modern log cabin whose interior walls are covered
with animal hides, mostly road kills she says but she had dozens of
ancient rifles on the walls too. I can imagine her as being Sarah
Palin's mother. She wants to take my 12 yr old daughter hunting. Her
son came over one day with a .69 cal blackpowder flintlock he hunts
with.
My wife likes it there so much that if I mentioned moving there she'd
have the truck packed before I finished the sentence cabin or not. I
am a Florida native so more'n two long winters would make me nuts.

On Jun 15, 6:50*pm, "Don White" wrote:
"Frogwatch" wrote in message

...



When we were first married in 1979, we lived in Casper, *Wyoming where
i was an oilfield engineer. *We would go up on Casper Mt and go cross
country skiing or simply wander around and enjoy the peace and views.
Three years ago, while looking thru Wyoming property on Craigslist, I
saw a pic of a cabin and I immediately recognized it from those days.
We took a trip to WY and bought the place, 4 acres half level with
Aspens and half with a mild slope with Lodgepole pines. *Year-round
access on a paved road at 8500' it is immediately adjacent to miles of
snowmobile trails. *The view is astonishing looking southward toward
Muddy Mt. *Wildlife is prolific with deer wandering across the place
every day and bears are a problem. *Mountain lions have been a problem
off and on and this year they have wolves.
So, what is the problem? *The cabin. *It is made from hand cut logs
cut on site. *It's age is unknown with one source saying it was built
in 1903 but the earliest official record is from 1953. *It is roughly
400 sf with a fireplace of on-site stone and has a huge porch added at
a later date. *The floor was also added later as the original cabin
was built on the ground with no foundation. *It is falling down from
rot in some of the logs.
Before we bought the place, I had a local guy inspect the cabin and he
said it is a lost cause and his best advice was to "Tear it down, burn
it down or allow it to fall down". *We discussed this with people on
the mountain (some seriously crazy people there) and many of em were
appalled at us tearing it down until they see its interior condition.
Unfortunately, I fell in love with it.
I can put my hand on the logs and I just know it was built by two guys
in a couple of weeks and they had very few tools except their axes.
Touching the logs and seeing the axe marks you can almost feel their
presence. *Inside, two enormous logs span the space above to hold up
the roof logs and these logs have depressed on one side due to rot in
side logs so the whole structure leans, *The roof sags a lot in the
middle. *Snow load in the winter is as much as 6' but is dry snow.
After spending time there for two summers, I can no longer allow it to
fall down. *Without my wife's knowledge, I applied for a building
permit to re-roof it and replace the logs. *The county there called me
back telling me that if I got a permit for this I could not get a
permit to build a "real" cabin my wife wants. *My wife and kids do not
like the old cabin and want to see ti go or ignore it and allow it to
fall down. *I simply cannot do this, it has to stay somehow. *Somehow
I think I am destined to rebuild it and I have no enthusiasm for my
wife's "dream cabin". *Am not sure how to deal with this.
BTW, where the pavement ends just beyond our property, it is dirt road
for 10 miles to junction with a paved road at which intersection is
Dick Cheney's mailbox.

Oh boy. *This type of dilema is always in the paper here.
We have an active heritage society who want to preserve all the old historic
buildings and a bunch of developers who want to knock 'em all down for
highrise development. On and on it goes with all taking sides, city council
and the province get in the middle etc.
As for your situation...would you feel lonely taking your vacations up there
by yourself? ( except of course the 'old ghosts' to keep you company)

sorry, Frogwatch on Katie's computer.

On Mon, 15 Jun 2009 17:55:26 -0700 (PDT), Katie Ohara
wrote:



My wife likes it there so much that if I mentioned moving there she'd
have the truck packed before I finished the sentence cabin or not. I
am a Florida native so more'n two long winters would make me nuts.

Make sure she's not just hoping to ditch you to go snuggle with Dick.

"Katie Ohara" wrote in message
...
On Jun 15, 6:50 pm, "Don White" wrote:
"Frogwatch" wrote in message

...



When we were first married in 1979, we lived in Casper, Wyoming where
i was an oilfield engineer. We would go up on Casper Mt and go cross
country skiing or simply wander around and enjoy the peace and views.
Three years ago, while looking thru Wyoming property on Craigslist, I
saw a pic of a cabin and I immediately recognized it from those days.
We took a trip to WY and bought the place, 4 acres half level with
Aspens and half with a mild slope with Lodgepole pines. Year-round
access on a paved road at 8500' it is immediately adjacent to miles of
snowmobile trails. The view is astonishing looking southward toward
Muddy Mt. Wildlife is prolific with deer wandering across the place
every day and bears are a problem. Mountain lions have been a problem
off and on and this year they have wolves.
So, what is the problem? The cabin. It is made from hand cut logs
cut on site. It's age is unknown with one source saying it was built
in 1903 but the earliest official record is from 1953. It is roughly
400 sf with a fireplace of on-site stone and has a huge porch added at
a later date. The floor was also added later as the original cabin
was built on the ground with no foundation. It is falling down from
rot in some of the logs.
Before we bought the place, I had a local guy inspect the cabin and he
said it is a lost cause and his best advice was to "Tear it down, burn
it down or allow it to fall down". We discussed this with people on
the mountain (some seriously crazy people there) and many of em were
appalled at us tearing it down until they see its interior condition.
Unfortunately, I fell in love with it.
I can put my hand on the logs and I just know it was built by two guys
in a couple of weeks and they had very few tools except their axes.
Touching the logs and seeing the axe marks you can almost feel their
presence. Inside, two enormous logs span the space above to hold up
the roof logs and these logs have depressed on one side due to rot in
side logs so the whole structure leans, The roof sags a lot in the
middle. Snow load in the winter is as much as 6' but is dry snow.
After spending time there for two summers, I can no longer allow it to
fall down. Without my wife's knowledge, I applied for a building
permit to re-roof it and replace the logs. The county there called me
back telling me that if I got a permit for this I could not get a
permit to build a "real" cabin my wife wants. My wife and kids do not
like the old cabin and want to see ti go or ignore it and allow it to
fall down. I simply cannot do this, it has to stay somehow. Somehow
I think I am destined to rebuild it and I have no enthusiasm for my
wife's "dream cabin". Am not sure how to deal with this.
BTW, where the pavement ends just beyond our property, it is dirt road
for 10 miles to junction with a paved road at which intersection is
Dick Cheney's mailbox.

Oh boy. This type of dilema is always in the paper here.
We have an active heritage society who want to preserve all the old
historic
buildings and a bunch of developers who want to knock 'em all down for
highrise development. On and on it goes with all taking sides, city
council
and the province get in the middle etc.
As for your situation...would you feel lonely taking your vacations up
there
by yourself? ( except of course the 'old ghosts' to keep you company)

It is a cool place cuz our nearest neighbor lives in a one room log
cabin and claims he is
"the infamous Tom Horne's grandson" (google him). Next nearest
neighbor is a woman who lives in a one room cabin with no power or
water all year. She has a dog that is half wolf and looks like a
wolf. She sees "little people" behind the trees and claimed to have
dated Dick Cheney in high school a fact later confirmed by others who
said "that Frannie was a real looker in high school" A woman about
1/4 mile away has a modern log cabin whose interior walls are covered
with animal hides, mostly road kills she says but she had dozens of
ancient rifles on the walls too. I can imagine her as being Sarah
Palin's mother. She wants to take my 12 yr old daughter hunting. Her
son came over one day with a .69 cal blackpowder flintlock he hunts
with.
My wife likes it there so much that if I mentioned moving there she'd
have the truck packed before I finished the sentence cabin or not. I
am a Florida native so more'n two long winters would make me nuts.

I think you mean Tom Horn. No 'e'. Great Steve McQueen movie.

"Frogwatch" wrote in message
...
When we were first married in 1979, we lived in Casper, Wyoming where
i was an oilfield engineer. We would go up on Casper Mt and go cross
country skiing or simply wander around and enjoy the peace and views.
Three years ago, while looking thru Wyoming property on Craigslist, I
saw a pic of a cabin and I immediately recognized it from those days.
We took a trip to WY and bought the place, 4 acres half level with
Aspens and half with a mild slope with Lodgepole pines. Year-round
access on a paved road at 8500' it is immediately adjacent to miles of
snowmobile trails. The view is astonishing looking southward toward
Muddy Mt. Wildlife is prolific with deer wandering across the place
every day and bears are a problem. Mountain lions have been a problem
off and on and this year they have wolves.
So, what is the problem? The cabin. It is made from hand cut logs
cut on site. It's age is unknown with one source saying it was built
in 1903 but the earliest official record is from 1953. It is roughly
400 sf with a fireplace of on-site stone and has a huge porch added at
a later date. The floor was also added later as the original cabin
was built on the ground with no foundation. It is falling down from
rot in some of the logs.
Before we bought the place, I had a local guy inspect the cabin and he
said it is a lost cause and his best advice was to "Tear it down, burn
it down or allow it to fall down". We discussed this with people on
the mountain (some seriously crazy people there) and many of em were
appalled at us tearing it down until they see its interior condition.
Unfortunately, I fell in love with it.
I can put my hand on the logs and I just know it was built by two guys
in a couple of weeks and they had very few tools except their axes.
Touching the logs and seeing the axe marks you can almost feel their
presence. Inside, two enormous logs span the space above to hold up
the roof logs and these logs have depressed on one side due to rot in
side logs so the whole structure leans, The roof sags a lot in the
middle. Snow load in the winter is as much as 6' but is dry snow.
After spending time there for two summers, I can no longer allow it to
fall down. Without my wife's knowledge, I applied for a building
permit to re-roof it and replace the logs. The county there called me
back telling me that if I got a permit for this I could not get a
permit to build a "real" cabin my wife wants. My wife and kids do not
like the old cabin and want to see ti go or ignore it and allow it to
fall down. I simply cannot do this, it has to stay somehow. Somehow
I think I am destined to rebuild it and I have no enthusiasm for my
wife's "dream cabin". Am not sure how to deal with this.
BTW, where the pavement ends just beyond our property, it is dirt road
for 10 miles to junction with a paved road at which intersection is
Dick Cheney's mailbox.

I'm Ass-U-Ming you really are asking for building advice here and not just
political claptrap that has been already posted.

Here's what I'd do.

First, I'd wear a motorcycle helmet and full face shield whenever I go get
the mail.

Second, I'd consider making the original cabin part of a newer cabin,
keeping the most of the components you can, removing rotted and weak
members, and bringing in some new technology such as water and electrical
amenities while you have it all apart. The old redo will probably cost as
much as the new addon, but will give you a nice result. Even have the new
half made to match and imitate the old. Second thing would be to build a
totally new structure, and restore the smaller one, and utilize it as a
guest house, remote bedroom, party room, or such. Maybe even do an
underground bunker walkway so you don't have to go out in the winter weather
to go from one to the other.

All that limits you is time, money, and creativity. I like the
restoration/second building idea myself.

Keep us posted.

Steve