Excited! New/Old Cabin

I am so excited!

For the past month or so, we've been in pursuit of an old log cabin that is just down the road from our son's house.

We first saw it about five years ago. At that time the cabin was in fairly good shape and we thought perhaps the owners were still taking care of it. Since then we've seen it decline each year as weather and wind took their toll. This winter the porch collapsed, along with an addition we surmised was a kitchen.

So we stopped to ask. Would the owner consider selling the cabin to us?

We need another room. I know it sounds odd when all our sons are grown and moved out. But those of you who are grandparents know how that goes: they married, had children. Instead of five sons, there are now about 20 people who come to stay--sons, wives and children. And last year the next generation began with the birth of our great-granddaughter Cadyn.

We weren't sure the current owner of the cabin would be willing to see it taken down and moved, but we were also worried that the cabin would not survive much longer. When we finally saw that the owner was home (a rare occurrence), Larry went to the door and rang the bell.

He was home. And he listened. And after several phone calls and visits, it's official: the cabin is ours! And at no cost.

With this condition: we have to clean up the site. There is a lot of debris from the old kitchen and porch and items left in the cabin by former inhabitants. We had already anticipated that this might be the case so it was easy to agree.

The cabin, according to the owner, is the oldest standing structure in our county. It was lived in as late as 1994. It has a fairly new roof which probably saved it from collapsing. The owner wants to keep the roofing tin to use on a barn. Fair enough.

There is a cut stone fireplace in the cabin, which we can also have.

Can you tell I am excited? I am. We took down a cabin in 2002-2003 and built the cabin room on our house, which you can read about in this post, and that project was one of the most interesting and exciting things I have done in my lifetime. That room has become the heartbeat of the house when company comes, with the fireplace built from fieldstone by Larry, its slate floor, dining table from my childhood , and other memorabilia. The new room we plan to build will be a guest room with a fireplace and several beds--and a second bathroom and closet space, both also much needed.

We estimate this to be a five-year project. The other log room took three, but with the bathroom and a big porch this will take a bit longer because we'll be doing it as we have the funds. We are also aware that this will likely be the last building project we take on, because in five years we'll be 64 years old. But finally, finally, our house will be big enough.

Can you tell I'm excited?