PLANNING

PLANNING

The camp pa would build for our new lakeshore lot would be log construction. I don’t remember that there was any discussion about alternatives. In my recollection, that was the way houses, barns, saunas, & hunting camps were usually built by immigrant Finns. Grandpa’s house was log, later covered by metal siding. When pa obtained a piece of property for our home from grandpa in the 1930’s, the first building was a log barn. All of the buildings on grandpa’s farm (except the privy) were log construction. The newest building, a garage, was built with 2 x 4’s and boards.

A log camp would not be as easy to build as the now standard stud frame construction. But this didn’t dismay pa. He had learned the technique during his youth; witness all the log buildings at grandpa’s (animal barn, hay barn, wood barn, sauna, blacksmith shop, summer kitchen, and a garage). Of course I was tickled pink that we would have a log camp and was eager to help plan the layout. Given pencil and paper I had always doodled house plans rather than animals, cars or planes. Here was my opportunity to work on a real project.

It would be rectangular so you’ll ask, “How much planning could that take?” Just decide on the dimensions. In the ‘40s camps were still a modest size so pa thought 16 x 24 feet would be sufficient. Keep in mind, he was the one that would cut, move and work on the logs. But a room layout was needed to know where to cut window and door openings. This was right up my alley. I first divided the rectangle almost in half; the larger end for daytime activities and the smaller one for sleeping. It would be built on the highest part of the lot overlooking the lake. The long wall would be parallel to the lake for the view although the hillside was covered with tall jack pines and not much water was visible.

The larger south end would be for cooking, eating and socializing.(the cook stove, wood/coal heater, sink counter & cupboard on the east (woods) side, leaving space for a long table on the west (lake) side). The beds were on the north end, concealed by a bamboo blind that hung from a log beam tying the walls together. There were two entry doors, one in the middle of the south wall directly under the gable peak and a second on the wall facing the lake to enter a future sun porch. The result was a camp that could sleep 8 people on 2 double deck double beds and was roomy enough to cook for and feed a crowd. I was proud of the plan.

In DISCOVERY and PLANNING I have been writing about the early history of my family’s camp (later named Hill Top Haven) at Casey Lake. This may interest other Casey Lakers but my goal is to document it for the descendants of Gust and Eda Hill. My future postings in Carol’s Casey Lake Chronicle blog will continue in this line.