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I built a cabin using only hand tools and lived there alone for 12 years, 11 months and 10 days. It was by far one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. Since I was a kid, I envied Henry David Thoreau’s time living in his cabin. When I grew up, I decided to give it a try.
One of my favorite quotes from Walden about cabin living is:
I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practice resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms.
Thoreau spent a little over 2 years living in his cabin, and that’s all I planned to spend in my cabin. But, I loved the solitude so much that I ended up living there for 13 years.
The depth of what I learned about building, about myself, and about the rhythm of the woods is almost indescribable.
But, on these pages I’m going to teach you as much as I can about cabin living and building your own cabin in the woods.
Cabin Living
Preparation for building a log cabin. Before I built the cabin I had to find a place to put it, get the government’s permission, clear an area out, and get the logs ready. This page has those articles.