The cabin of Count Eric von Rosen shows the fitness of the log house for woodland site 
The Revival of the Log Cabin 
THE CAREFUL ARCHITECTURAL TREATMENT OF THE LOG CABIN IN THE SCANDINAVIAN 
■COUNTRIES OFFERS VALUABLE SUGGESTIONS FOR COUNTRY HOUSES HERE IN CERTAIN 
PARTS OF AMERICA—SOME HINTS WORTH TAKING AS TO STRUCTURE AND DESIGN 
[Editor's 'Note -.—The increasing interest in Denmark, Norway and Sweden to develop the ancient type of log cabin has led to the production of modern 
structures particularly fitted to forest districts. The traditions of previous building have been strongly adhered to and only such modifications as 
modern requirements demand have been made. While woodland homes, hunting lodges and camps of various sorts have been designed by American 
architects in a variety of styles, is there not a pertinent suggestion for America, not only in adherence to elemental types in building, but also in con¬ 
struction of the type of house appropriate to the site? It is not suggested that the ideas contained here be followed to the letter, but is there not much 
that may be adopted to advantage as a substitute for the summer home so often built in formal design upon a natural setting? A concluding article 
.will deal with the methods of building and finishing log cabins. 
A LTHOUGH the title of this article 
may appear a little far-fetched, it 
will, I think, be found fully justified by 
the contents of the following pages, only 
the log cabin must be taken in a some¬ 
what wider sense than is generally the 
.case in America. Still I claim no more 
.for this name than is its ancient due and 
which I think present-day architects of 
distinction show an evergrowing will¬ 
ingness to grant. This is not only in the¬ 
ory, but also, which is more to the point, 
in practice, for houses of diverse pur¬ 
poses on the venerable principle of the 
.old log cabin or timber house of many 
centuries ago, are being built, only — the 
log cabin being subject to all things gov¬ 
erning laws of evolution, is being con¬ 
formed to the varied and increased wants 
of our time. 
Nor can anyone wonder at the log 
cabin again becoming popular. Timber 
is an excellent, and in vast territories the 
cheapest and most natural building mate¬ 
rial. I know of old timber houses which 
are centenarians four or five or six times, 
•over and which yet show no signs of old, 1 
.age; timber houses are warm in winter,' 
The doorways are decorated with iron work alle¬ 
gorical of the Count’s hunting expeditions. De¬ 
tails of these doors are shown above 
and cool in summer; and iast, though not 
by a long way least, they can possess an 
individual picturesque charm entirely 
their own. Added to these advantages 
the log cabin (in the wider sense of the 
word) when its interior is completed and 
equipped with some regard to past tradi¬ 
tion and in harmony with the esthetic re¬ 
quirements of the material, possesses a 
trusty, old-time homeliness, which I will 
defy any other style of house to outrival. 
And what home can almost instinctively 
bring its inmates in closer and more spon¬ 
taneous contact with the natural and, so 
to speak, inspire a life with nature, than 
a timbered house? 
History, also in the matter of the log 
cabin, has repeated itself and in a most 
literal manner. In days long gone by 
(I am here speaking of the Scandinavian 
countries) the King and the peasant both 
lived in log cabins. They were different 
more in dimensions and equipment than 
in plan and style. Each had a large and 
a small room and an open corridor or 
veranda — both words sound horribly out 
of place — the svalegang, constituting 
the accepted plan of the oldest preserved 
( 464 ) 
