May, 1908 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



199 



How I Built My Log Bungalow 



" Anoatok," the " Home of Wind " 



By Edward Fesser 



HE first thing to do is to choose a site on a 

 side hill, and where there is a good spring 

 within easy reach. A well-built cistern will 

 supply enough water for every purpose ex- 

 cept drinking and cooking. The reasons 

 for building on a side hill are twofold. 

 First, it will insure perfect drainage; and, 

 secondly, there will be enough space left underneath the 

 building for a good sized cellar without having much ex- 

 cavating to do. After you have carefully drawn up your 

 floor plans, elevations and specifications, get some trust- 

 worthy builder in your neighborhood to help you construct 

 the framework, flooring, roof, inside sheathing and partitions, 

 and have a first-class mason build your foundation walls, 

 stone chimney and fireplace. Owing to the fact that in some 

 parts of the country perfectly straight trees of equal dimen« 

 tion are scarce and hard to secure in quantities, the modern 

 log cabin is built of slabs. These slabs are nothing more 



than the refuse leavings of the saw mill, the first four out- 

 side slices of the log with the bark on, which are piled up to 

 be cut into firewood, and they can be procured in almost any 

 quantities. If a careful selection be made from these piles 

 enough good slabs can be selected to cover the whole exterior 

 in such a way that they will have the appearance of whole 

 logs. The wood should be chosen with the roughest bark 

 for the exterior and the smoothest for the interior wain- 

 scoting — chestnut, hickory and oak are the most durable for 

 outside wear. 



Great care should be taken in constructing the chimney, 

 otherwise it will surely "smoke" and prove a source of end- 

 less discomfort. The main construction is done in rubble- 

 work; the larger and rougher the stones the better. These 

 are carefully laid in with cement, after which all the cement 

 showing from the outside is dug or scraped away before it 

 has firmly set. The inside wall of the chimney should be 

 made of brick or tiles, or the whole inside surface smoothed 



BED- 

 ROOM 

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\ ROOM\ KITCHE 

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" Anoatok," the " Home of Wind " : the Author's Home-built Studio-bungalow at Kensico, New York 



