Within a 4-season northern temperate zone, the Cabin is situated
beside a river that defines a hollow basin enclosed by an upper ridge,
with peaks in the range of 4100 - 5000 feet elevation. The slopes of the
ridge are generally covered by a predominantly deciduous forest.
Cabin elevation I would place at 3800 feet. The basin is accessed by a
dirt road that follows beside the river for about 4 miles, leaving the
main highway at elevation 2000 feet, near a small village. I typically
drive my AWD Ford Explorer, which rarely sees
such service in the city. The road resembles a two-track fire road,
as commonly seen in US National Parks and National Forests. The location
is highly reminiscent of the western slopes of the Appalachian ranges of
Virginia, West Virginia, Eastern Kentucky and Eastern Tennesssee.
The Cybercabin Terrain Topographic Map,
my
best attempt to describe the lay of the land in a 4 x 5-mile area including
the Village and the Cabin on 25 - 26 Nov 1998. Image is a bi-level .gif,
1000 x 1379 pixels, 59 KB--It fits my 1024-wide browser screen with no
horizontal scroll.
I'm in the process of adding clickable links to related stories
about places in the Diary.
The VRML World is something
I rigged over 8 - 10 Jun 2000. I found my browser ready to go to
read this file, which was generated from a 32 x 24 altitude map matrix
obtained by printing the above sub-map on graph paper. A lot of "hand"
labor.
The Cabin itself sits a safe height above the river, on a flat area
which includes a grassy clearing of many acres outside the front door,
which faces to the northeast. Trails, which I have marked, extend across
this clearing and on to some of the more notable rock-outcrop summits along
the ridge. The road terminates at the general area of the front dooryard,
which extends towards the river to the outhouse and woodshed, located among
numerous coniferous and willow trees. There is a rear dooryard, extending
from the back door to a path down to the river, from which water is gathered.
There is no well; the water supply is filtered for drinking purposes.
Visualization of Cabin, 24 July 1998 -- basis for color icon,
created 25 July 1998.
The Cabin is a wooden frame structure, of joined timbers defining
the essential shape, clad with layers of insulative batting and stained
cedar clapboard and an asphalt roof. I have since realized that the traditional
construction of such a dwelling is chinked logs, with a wood-shake roof.
However, the more modern construction materials were a very distnct part
of the dream that inspired this project. The windows
are wooden single-pane and capable of opening to let air pass through the
outside screens. The doors are of solid wood plank construction, and each
have secondary screen doors for additional ventillation. A single-flue
fieldstone chimney to the right of the front door, when walking in, carries
the fumes of both the central fireplace/hearth and the adjacent cookstove.
Floor plan, of a 450-square foot interior space, created 22 - 25
March 2001
I came to realize that the dining room table would not fit in the
area of the
kitchen, as originally envisioned.
To the right, as one walks in the front door, as noted above, one sees the hearth and fireplace, from which heat is taken in colder months. Straight ahead is the kitchen wing, with its old-fashioned cast iron stove and working counter on the right, connected by a horizontal pipe to the chimney flue. Immediately opposite the stove and counter area is a full-height pantry cabinet, for the stocking of non-perishable foodstuffs. On the far side of the pantry wall, one encounters a window with space for a washtub below, followed by the the water filter and cistern. Heading back across the plank floors, which are set on timber joists well above the ground on pilings set into poured foundations, one sees the front window, which looks out upon the clearing and the ridge. Within this main room, and along the front wall beside the front door in the direction away from the fireplace, is the slipcovered sofa, a very plush resting place. One can look over the back and out the front window, where the rising sun appears over the ridge in the mornings. Next to the sofa is my rack of reading materials. Opposite the sofa is a window looking back, to the left of the kitchen wing, and into the trees and ravine of the river. To the right of the window and at the "center" of the Cabin space is the dining area, with its table and benches. On the far wall of the main room, and without windows, an additional low, sloping-roof extension encloses a narrower alcove, into which my twin-size, rough-timber bed is placed, along with a stand just large enough for a book and a kerosene lamp for reading. Thus, there is a sense of separation from the room for sleeping purposes, yet I can see the sun of a new day, when it pours in the window.
Another visualization; an isometric sketch, "finished" on
24 May 2003. I guess we're talking some lumber here.
See the entire image here--but be warned,
it's about 450K.
The case is thus made for broadband...
Back to the Cybercabin
