[Illustration: Elevation]
[Illustration: Floor plan]
For the man who likes to go back to his favorite trout stream or hunting
country each year, yet who doesn’t want to go to the trouble and expense
of a permanent cabin, this little log and stone shelter is just about
perfect. Two men can build the whole thing in a few days, using only
materials that can be picked up right on the spot. Even the roof shakes
can be home-made.
Since a hunting lodge is used in cold weather, it would be wise to have
the floor raised off the earth a few inches, either with an all-around
stone foundation as shown here, or with a series of flat boulders. The
latter, however, do not keep out much of the cold.
Hunters don’t demand many luxuries when they’re out in the wilds, so
only the barest comforts have been provided here. By installing an iron
grill in the fireplace, most of the cooking could be done over the
coals, thus saving the space occupied by the oil stove.
There is just room enough for two single bunks or folding cots. To save
the trouble of packing in a lot of bedding, it would be a good idea to
use sleeping bags and air-mattresses.
for VACATIONS by the SEA
[Illustration: Elevation]
[Illustration: Floor plan]
Proper construction is a most important point in a beach house such as
the one above, because unless the house is well built, your vacation by
the sea can be a pretty miserable affair. Cold damp winds have a way of
finding chinks in the walls and sand _will_ blow under the windows
unless they’re properly fitted.
The board and batten walls of this beach house are as satisfactory as
any you can select. Moisture-laden atmosphere is not as likely to affect
this kind of material, especially if it is well painted. Incidentally,
when buying paint for your beach house, be sure to get the best, because
salt air is very hard on paint. Pay a little more at first and save the
work of a paint job next season.
A shake roof would look nice on such a house, and would be satisfactory
if the shakes were stained. Composition shingles, perhaps, would be a
good idea, too, but they do not make such an interesting roof.
The interior plan of this house makes it a good one either for week-ends
or for semi-permanent use. Indeed, if you like to commute, it could be
occupied all year ’round, since it has all the comforts of a modern city
home. There’s one master bedroom, connected directly with the bath, and
a large bunk room for guests. If bunks are used here, be sure to build
them along the lines of a ship’s berth, just for a nautical atmosphere.
As a matter of fact, a beach house is just the place where lots of
imagination can be used. Door knobs and other hardware of bright brass,
a colored ship’s lamp over the front door, and perhaps a couple of real
portholes instead of the small windows in the bunk room and the bath,
would lend a very salty air. Such items can be bought at any ship
chandler’s. The living room, for example, might have a “deck” of scoured
oak, with linoleum in the other rooms inlaid with anchors and other
seagoing devices. Lengths of fish net, complete with leads and corks,
make fine window drapes—and above all, get a small ship’s bell to call
all hands to meals.