HOW TO MAKE A POLE HOUSE AND HOW TO MAKE A UNIQUE BUT THOROUGHLY AMERICAN
TOTEM LOG HOUSE
A POLE house is a log house with the logs set upright. We call it a pole
house because, usually, the logs are smaller than those used for a log
house. The pole house (Fig. 250) is built in the manner shown by Figs.
171, 172, and 173, but in the present instance the ridge-pole is a log
which is allowed to extend some distance beyond the house both in front
and rear, and the front end of the ridge-pole is carved in the shape of a
grotesque or comical animal's head like those we see on totem-poles. The
roof is made of shakes (see Figs. 126 to 130) and the shakes are held in
place by poles pegged onto the roof in much the same manner as we have
described and called _les péches_ for the Kanuck. This pole cabin may have
an old-fashioned Dutch door which will add to its quaintness and may have
but one room which will answer the many purposes of a living-room,
sleeping-room, and dining-room. A lean-to at the back can be used for a
kitchen.