Autumn at the Cabin

Mabry Mill - about 15 miles from us on the Parkway. It is one of the Parkway's most popular spots. I am ashamed to admit we had not visited it in many years until a few weeks ago. Now that the cabin is finished we have some living to catch up on.

This is the view from Rocky Knob on the Blue Ridge Parkway. It is about 10 miles from the cabin and has some very fine hiking. This was the old route for the Appalachian Trail many years ago.

Our neighbors at the top of the ridge have the best view. But waaay too much grass to mow. Hmmm, maybe it would be worth it to have this view every morning...

Susan is demonstrating how to lift the lid on her new firepit. Call me when the s'mores are ready.

Now I have 2 yards to rake - here and home. I don't mind the leaves hanging around, but they might smother the grass we have worked so hard to grow... so it looks like I must rake. But the good part is here I can just rake them into the woods - no bagging needed.

This cabinet is really the back half of another larger (deeper) one that was in Susan's family. It was too deep for the space we wanted to use it, so I took a circular saw and cut it in half. Even was able to salvage the drawer. I put a new back on the other piece and then realized that the back side was too nice to use as kindling, but it had no front. So I put some new pine boards to face it and for a new drawer front and slapped on a coat of paint, plus a little distressing to match the old part. Susan is happy with it and therefore so am I.

Summer

The cabin faces west and on a summer evening you won't find a better place to eat your ice cream than on the front porch.

We gave the hammock to Whitney as a birthday present and it took me a year to find a good place to hang it. (Well, I was busy building the cabin, so give me a break...) I don't even mind the septic tank lid as a footstool.

This is where we eat our meals... I could be eating the dog's food and not know it when looking out at this view.

Susan has worked hard on building a little stone wall (well... rock pile really, and I helped) along the edge of the "yard" before it drops off the side of the mountain. Our $5 yard sale chairs look inviting - especially when we are toting rocks and working like slaves. Maybe one day she will let me take a break and sit in one.
What do you do with many huge boulders left laying around after our well-driller excavated to get a flat place for his rig? Make a rock garden, of course. We found some half-price plants at Lowe's and moved a bunch of dirt around, and if the deer don't like what we planted - we may have a decent garden one day.

The screened porch is where we usually end up. It is like living in a treehouse. Without the bugs.

Life at the Top!

Finally we have finished our cabin in the mountains of Virginia! Yes, we still have a few things left to do - hang the front screen door, and cut up some leftover logs for firewood. But we are already able to sit back and enjoy this wonderful place.

Our dream of building a cabin in the woods started in 2006 when a friend said he would like to build a lodge in Craig county to be used as a site for events - weddings, group retreats, etc. That sounded like a good idea to me, and the time was right for me to start looking for a new project. So I began searching for some land. Craig County, however, did not offer anything I wanted (or could afford) so I looked in Floyd county and found a rustic "gated community" adjacent to the Blue Ridge Parkway and on the edge of Five Mile Mountain. The lots were smaller there and and more manageable, and definitely more affordable. I bought a promising wooded site at the end of a short road called Turkey Cove, which turned out to offer a wonderful view across 2 counties, once we cleared out about 75 trees for the septic field and cabin.

As I worked up a building budget I realized that there was no way I could have a corporate retreat or even a big cabin, so I revised my plans for a smaller place - a cozy shingle-sided cabin perfect for a family or a few couples to enjoy getting away for a few days. And what we ended up building, we feel is perfect for that.

As Susan and I started planning what to build we decided our place should look like it was built a couple hundred years ago. Apparent age, you might call it. Actually getting the look and feel of an old place but using modern standardized materials and working under today's building codes presented a big challenge. So we had to do some creative thinking and working. But by using "old-fashioned materials" like white cedar shakes - which would weather to a silver gray - wood windows, metal roofing, and on the inside flooring of random width wide oak from our land, simple 1x4 trim and casings, wooden counter tops, and vintage colors and wallpapers - we got a look that was more like simple farm-house than plastic subdivision house. Plus, the 2x6 framing we chose for energy efficiency had the added bonus of a more substantial feel and made nice deep window sills. We even reclaimed some old windows and a kitchen sink found on the roadside. While we included all the modern conveniences - fully equipped kitchen, baths, and heat pump - we tried to keep them non-obtrusive, or more vintage in look - such as a great claw foot tub (ask my wife about soaking in that with candles burning...very relaxing I hear.)

Another great thing about our place is the location. Besides the heated pool, tennis courts, fishing lake, and 100+ acres of ATV and hiking trails within the community, we are on the Blue Ridge Parkway - the country's largest National Park and one of the most beautiful drives in America, and within easy and scenic driving distance of many cultural, recreational, and historic attractions. For example, the town of Floyd (about 20 minutes) has small shops, several very good restaurants, and is home to the internationally known Friday Night Jamboree - a bluegrass and gospel music event held every week. Just 35 miles down the Parkway is Chateau Morrisette, a highly regarded winery with an excellent restaurant and fun tours and seasonal events. Then there is Smith Mountain Lake, a very popular recreational lake, which can be seen from our deck. Plus, the Roanoke Valley, which has the largest city in SW Virginia, is only 30 miles away, as well as many shopping, cultural and eating opportunities.

Whew! So much to do and so little time. That is just the short list of what is around. But what we really want to do when we are at the cabin is rock on the porch, swing in the hammock, soak in the tub, take in the view, and just enjoy the quiet life of mountaintop living...

So take a look at the pictures and enjoy the virtual tour. Or you can experience it for real - our place is available for vacation rental. Email if you are interested. bobbydobyns@cox.net

The big bedroom has an antique bed circa 1870 - but a very comfortable matress circa 2009.

Edmond the bear and Betty the duck make their home in our stairwell, along with Rudy, a 9-point mule deer buck.

The rooms all face east - so we get to enjoy the sunrise and the afternoon shade. This was taken on a very frosty January 1, 2009 - after our first night at the cabin.

Wild azalea in our woods

Syon Abbey is about 2 miles from us on the Parkway. It is a Benedictine Monastery - just completed and is an awesome sight to see - a gothic church on the edge of the mountain. They allow tours with an appointment. We have not been there yet, but we can hear the bells ringing across the mountains and coves, calling the monks to worship...

This old door was being thrown out by a neighbor and I jumped right on it. We (about 5 friends) worked off and on for a couple months stripping it, planning to paint it, but the thing looked so good and old we have decided we like it just as it is.