Arnold, CA…Our hope on this build is to stay focused on what is possible with labor, simple tools and what can we do to make at least some progress each day. It was another long workday before we could get to Chainsaw Cabin build therapy. Artificial sun was our only choice to work in.

Logs are heavy and just moving them around by hand takes time. You can spend lots of money to be able to move them easier or just slow down and move them with leverage, simple tools and cut them down to lumber where you can just carry the boards off by hand.

I am finding though that after spending hours at a keyboard and staring at screens the switch to hard physical labor is wonderful. The modern world has told us we need all this stuff to be happy. History though teaches us that the simple things may provide longer lasting contentment.

To be able to stay warm, safe & dry in a home you built or could easily afford is a timeless basic need. Ironically in our modern world the timeless basic needs are as hard to come by as ever. This isn’t something you can build with your smartphone, there isn’t an app for this.

Hopefully at Hewn we can force ourselves to focus on the things in life that money can’t buy.

About The Chainsaw Cabin
The Chainsaw Cabin is our first building, a small 120 square feet shed/cabin on Hewn Hill. All lumber will be hand milled with a small inexpensive electric chainsaw. This is to see if anyone can build a small functional building with literally tools you can find at a garage sale and our only costs will be roofing, fasteners & glass for windows.

Henry David Thoreau’s cabin was only 10 x 15 and not much bigger than you can legally build today without a permit in most counties. For the Chainsaw cabin while it will only be 10 x 12 it will have a sleeping/storage loft. So if you are staying for a night or two at least you will have separate work, living & sleep areas.

We are starting with outbuildings to get the property functional. Places to store tools, a solar shed & a place to sleep if need be. This is phase one and we hope to get that done this year starting with the Chainsaw Cabin then learning how to build a log structure on our next shed.

Next year, Lord willing we will start on our main two story, traditional log cabin built with logs from the property and probably a few other locally sourced ones as well.

About hewn.co
At Hewn we are going take you on a journey to see if it is still possible to build a functional, small homestead that anyone, even someone making minimum wage can build and own. We are going to try this in California no less. Join us as we attempt to build an off grid, solar powered, rustic, pioneer style homestead.

#OffGrid #TinyHome #HewnTV