A Mountain Home

A Mountain Home. Keeping it Warm. All the materials Martin Brinegar needed for building a cabin were here on this farm—trees, rocks, even clay. Martin Brinegar began building this cabin in 1886. Working in his spare time, it took him three years to finish the original cabin — a main room and a loft. . . Martin collected stone to first lay the foundation and to later build the chimneys. Next, he cut chestnut logs and hewed them by hand on two sides. Then he notched the ends. With help from his neighbors, Martin stacked the logs to form the walls. He chinked the logs with clay and covered the roof with oak shakes (wooden shingles) that he split with a froe. . . Martin covered the logs with clapboard siding on the outside and paneling on the inside to help insulate the cabin from the bitter winds that are common here in the mountains. Martin took his own trees to a local saw mill and had them cut into boards for the floors, siding, and paneling. . . Martin later added the shed addition—the second, smaller room. This room was divided into a kitchen with its own fireplace and a bedroom.