Tiny House Blog

by Ann Bucholtz

I bought the Little Cabin in 2003. It was a one room 20 x 30 ft. hunting cabin without indoor plumbing or electric and I paid $95,000. Utilities existed at the road about 100 feet from the cabin. My son and I used it as a summer camp cabin and each year I added an upgrade. One year water to a hydrant out back, another year electric to a power pole, another year a septic system. When visiting we would run a 100 ft electric cord to the interior to run a small electric heater (the wood stove was unsafe) and a small refrigerator. The homeowner’s association would not allow a compost toilet system because of my close proximity to the adjacent stream.

When I first bought the cabin, it contained old sleeping mattresses and had a broken window. Mice had moved in and it required deep cleaning to be habitable as a camp cabin. The cabin is situated on nearly 4.5 acres surrounded by National Forest, has year round access and is 3 minutes from a small Western town with amenities. Occasionally, the town runs horses and cattle down main street changing pastures! There is even a local rodeo every weekend in the summer as well as packhorse races for entertainment. Winter brings cross country skiing and animal watching.

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Guest Post by Gray Anderson

My name is Gray Anderson, and I am with Gable Log Homes, a cypress and cedar custom log cabin company based out of Sumter, SC. We have recently begun to offer an inexpensive, all materials included, cabin kit that can basically be stacked in one weekend, we call it the “Sportin’ Cabin.” The 16 x 20 cabin with a 6 x 20 porch (lofted sleeping area available to maximize floor space), are made from solid 4 x 8 precut cypress wall logs and can be assembled in one weekend. So this is not your typical wall siding made to simulate a log cabin, it is actually solid cypress logs from the base to the top of the gable! The cabins start out delivered to the site for $12,750, but we do offer package discounts depending on the number of cabins built. Basically, the more you build the more you save!

Not only is it inexpensive and simple to build, it is as sturdy as a rock. Our design for cutting and stacking removes the need for insulation, they do that themselves! I am even in the process of finding the right location to build my own Sportin’ Cabin. See construction photos here. Continue Reading »

Montana Mobile Cabins has been featured on the Tiny House Blog several times, in fact my very first post was about them. They are one of my favorite log cabin builders. Dawndi Kelm of Montana Mobile Cabins recently sent me a note about a cabin they have for sale and wondered if I would share it with the Tiny House Blog readers.

This cabin is a 14 foot by 20 foot beam style log cabin and is the perfect size for a small cabin or small home. Here are the details of the construction and if you would like to learn more click here for Montana Mobile Cabins website.

Floor System

• 2×6 16” on center floor joists
• Rim Joists 6×6
• Solid Floor Joist Blocking
• Floor: 3/4” tongue & groove OSB wafer board

Walls and Gables

• 10” square logs/beams, hand stacked, butt and pass corner
• Gables-framed – sided with reclaimed metal; excepting interior gable in loft, wood sided-board & bat; insulated with R19 fiberglass insulation
• Chinking throughout interior & exterior
• Window & Door Jambs-Resawn Lodgepole Pine/Fir

Loft (loft area approx. 10’x13’)

• Joists – 2×4
• Decking-2×6 rough sawn pine & fir
• Railing-2×6 rough sawn pine & fir
• Ladder to loft – rough sawn pine & fir-handcrafted

Roof System (8/12 pitch) – Ceiling

• Ridge Beam: Log
• Hand stacked Exposed Roof System: 2×6 rough sawn pine & fir mix
• Felt Paper: 1 Layer 30# Asphalt
• 2” Firestone foil back rigid insulation in roof
• Delta-rib metal roofing; color – Antique Bronze

Windows and Doors

• Windows: 3 Milguard vinyl double pane – sliding windows on main floor; 2 each in gable ends; 1 Alpine garden window on main floor
• Exterior Door: 1-36” Therma Tru Factory metal door with half light

Treatment

• Montana Standard Log oil applied interior & exterior

Price is $27,500 delivered inside the state of Montana. Please contact Montana Mobile Cabins for delivery pricing and information outside of Montana.

by Frank Mielke

*Updated with interior photos and more details

This cabin was built with “skinny-D” (my term) logs, cut on site, laterally down the center, to make two logs. The cabin is twelve foot by twelve foot, and the log work was done in less than six days. From standing timber to a log set in the wall takes an average time of one hour per log. If you are in a remote location, and have good timber, this is about the cheapest way to build a small cabin. This cabin is located about two miles off the Yentna River in Alaska.

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Now is the perfect time of year to curl up next to a woodstove in a tiny lakeside cabin. Lakefront Log Cabins, located in beautiful Lake Tahoe, offers customized precut cabin kits in several different sizes ranging from 12×16 feet to 18×32 feet. These cabins have been built for weekend getaways, hunting cabins and primary residences.

Lakefront has sent their cabin kits all over the country including Alaska. They are also working with customers in Canada and Panama. Each standard cabin kit is created from fresh milled logs and then precut by Amish craftsmen in Kentucky. Continue Reading »

On my road trip to the Grand Canyon and Zion National Park, I had to stop and take some photos of this darling little log home just outside of Cedar City, Utah. The Mini Pine Hollow log home by Pine Hollow Log Homes is 11 by 16 feet with a full loft and a 4 by 16 foot covered deck.

Pine Hollow offers this tiny cabin as a kit and will deliver it within 250 miles of Cedar City. It takes about two weeks to have a kit delivered. This particular home was unfinished inside, but the Pine Hollow website should have updated photos of the Mini log home soon.

The Basic Package includes:

• Blueprints
• Treated skids
• Floor framing
• 6″ starter/finish logs
• 6″ wall logs, gable ends
• 8″ oly screws/construction adhesive
• Calking for windows and doors
• Loft floor joists
• 2×6 rough sawn window/door bucking
• Windows and door
• Deck framing
• Roof framing with OSB sheathing
• Porch posts
• Porch framing with OSB sheathing
• Milled 3×2 handrail
• Dormer framing with 1×6 tongue and groove siding

Cost: $8,781.00 (plus 6% Utah sales tax)

The Deluxe Package includes:

• All of the above items
• 1×6″ tongue and groove soffit
• Batt insulation
• 1×6″ tongue and groove ceiling
• 2×6″ tongue and groove loft floor
• 1×6″ tongue and groove porch sheathing
• Tar paper
• Steel roof, trims, flashing and screws

Cost: $10,865.00 (plus 6% Utah sales tax)

Pine Hollow offers other log home kits, most around 1,000-2,000 square feet.

By Christina Nellemann

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