Cabin Plans
Our inventory of cabin plans and cabin floor plans continue to grow. We currently feature everything from small cabin plans to cabin house plans. We are also searching for log cabin plans and log cabin floor plans, and will display them as soon as we have some available.
Common Characteristics of Cabin Building Plans:
- Often built near water
- Tend to have a small footprint
- Often serves as a vacation home
- Tend to be traditional in style
Click on the button below to browse our cabin floor plans!
What follows are excerpts from “The Cabin”, written by Dale Mulfinger and Susan E. Davis, and published by Taunton Press in 2001. Taunton Press
For the Love of Cabins
We
all have a cabin memory. Or a cabin dream. The little place where the family vacationed
when we were young. Tiny cot-filled cabins at summer camp. The honeymoon cabin.
The cabin we built when the kids were small- or the cabin we want to build when
the kids are grown. We remember our own cabins, or we recall some shared national
memory, like Lincoln’s or Thoreaus’s cabin.
The truth is, in function- if not always in form- modern cabins are no different from those historical ones, except that people today usually don’t live in their cabins full-time; we escape to them instead. Retreating to these tight, safe quarters in the woods, by the water, in the mountains gives us the pleasures of an older, slower lifestyle. Usually it’s just for a weekend, though some of us manage to escape there for good.
The Special Qualities of Cabins
Though they may look very different from north to south, mountain to field, there’s
something special about cabins, something that sets them apart from small houses.
It’s often only a matter of the feeling a cabin evokes. While there are no clearly
defined rules about what makes a cabin unique, there are several characteristics
that make a cabin a cabin. Although all cabins may not share all of the following
features, each cabin conveys the very essence of a shared spirit.
The site is chosen for its natural beauty. A cabin offers easy
access to the outdoors, both through exterior rooms and through great views from
inside. A cabin adds to the land, never dominating it.
A cabin provides simple, basic shelter. It isn’t fancy. It doesn’t
try to make a social statement, as houses often do. A small, efficient floor plan
is all it needs.
Overlapping activities take place within the compact quarters. Thus
a cabin promotes companionship and community spirit.
Everybody feels at home right away. A cabin’s furnishings are
simple, often treasured family hand-me-downs. Its sleeping lofts, tucked under
the eaves, evoke memories of childhood. Its fireplace or woodstove provides physical
and emotional warmth.
Choose a Beautiful Setting
Every place offers its own pleasures: watching the sun rise over the Atlantic, fishing in the mountain river that rushes past the door, or taking in the mirrored serenity of a deep-woods lake. All you need is the desire to be part of it. Fortunately, a lot of places can still be called cabin country- anywhere a person can retreat into unspoiled beauty and seclusion. And today’s cabins can be built without destroying the natural beauty of the site.
Respecting the environment is only one part of the unspoken code of cabin building. Another part is that no matter where it’s built and whatever it’s built of, a cabin should enhance the landscape, not overpower it. The best cabins don’t overwhelm the land, they blend into it.
Building with Nature
The site itself often determines a cabin’s design. A Colorado mountaintop will inspire a different design than the shores of a Minnesota lake, the Louisiana backwoods, or the stark Utah desert.
Simple, No-Frills Shelter
European settlers were the first to build cabins in North America- simple cubes or rectangles constructed much as their ancestors had built them. The size of available trees and the length and weight of a log that two people could carry determined the modest size of the earliest cabins, usually one room wide and two rooms deep. Gently pitched roofs were easy to build, shed rain and snow, and provided enough room upstairs for a loft, where children slept or the family’s few possessions were stored.
These primitive cabins had only a doorway, often covered with skins, and no windows at all. It was well into the nineteenth century before cabins got even tiny windows, which in those days were paned with greased paper to repel water. Eventually, wooden shutters were added to provide nighttime insulation and defense against winter. Later, double-hung or hinged windows let in fresh air. Things really haven’t changed all that much when it comes to building cabins. A cabin still offers protection from the wind, rain, cold, and heat and, like the log cabins of yore, provides at least minimal creature comforts.
Small Means Flexible
Because cabins are small, they have to be flexible- and versatility is the key. Built-in storage and furniture are obvious solutions. A window seat can hold firewood or wet boots, board games or frying pans. Drawers, a pantry, or firewood may be tucked underneath the stairs. A closet might double as both attic and cellar. All that’s needed is some thought about the most efficient way to make use of the space.
Close Quarters Bring People Together
Efficient use of space has a powerful effect on people in the cabin. Tight quarters promote closeness and companionship. That’s why cabins are important places for people to bond with other people- not just with nature.
