Arnold, CA…Yesterday was our third in a row working on the Chainsaw Cabin.  It was also the day we got the least done.  Mainly because we broke the oldest rule in cutting things….”Measure twice and cut once” and all that.  Even worse I did measure twice and I got it wrong twice….sigh.  But we did get one floor joist installed and made coffee on our high tech, natural and organic cooking system.

One nice moment was when I was taking a break sitting on some lumber.  The cool mountain evening was filled with the sounds of frogs from the lake, the coffee percolator bubbling away and some forest creatures in the trees.  Just sitting there sipping fresh coffee and taking in the moment reinforced the value of the things that money really 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.