Find calm and comfort in a cozy cabin

By FRANCINE PARNES

Associated Press

Whether nestled by the mountains, woods or water, a cabin is both a cozy form of shelter and a rustic approach to architecture, all the more snug when jam-packed into not much more than a few hundred square feet.

Architect Dale Mulfinger and writer Susan E. Davis, authors of "The Cabin" (Taunton Press, $34.95 hardcover) _ which nearly begs the question why anyone would want to live anywhere else _ say that everyone has a cabin memory. Maybe it's a childhood summer camp cabin, with memories of bunkmates and toasted marshmallows. Maybe it's a secluded honeymoon cabin. Or maybe it's the humble getaway to which the family retreated when the kids were young.

Whatever its purpose, a cabin is typically constructed from basic materials. But a cabin is more than the traditional log structure of Abraham Lincoln lore. The authors found that a cabin can be converted from a picture-postcard Vermont country school or even an abandoned garage, or rigged from a do-it-yourself cabin kit. Several cabins pictured in their coffee table book were built by the owners themselves.

What gives a cabin its cabin-ness? The authors say a cabin offers simple shelter; its location is selected for its connection with nature; overlapping activities occur within the compact space; and everyone feels right at home.

Typically a crackling fireplace or wood stove enhances the welcoming environment. Poised to live in harmony with nearby nature, some cabins include a prominent porch, inviting activities to expand into the outdoors.

"Back to nature. Solitude. Simplicity. Escape. Intimacy. Self-sufficiency. Romance. Refuge. Resourcefulness. Nostalgia.

"These are the feelings that cabins evoke, and they're at the root of my passion for this elemental building form," writes Mulfinger in the introduction. He is based in Minneapolis, where he started researching cabins with his students at the University of Minnesota and subsequently became known as a "cabinologist."

"I've had an intimate connection with cabins my entire life," says his co-author Davis, based in New York. "When I was four in 1947, my parents put my brother and me in the back of a little Chevy coupe and we drove to Cape Cod from Rochester, N.Y. I spent my entire childhood all the way through college staying in cabins in Cape Cod." After her brother moved to Minnesota, lakeside cabins there enticed her.

"A cabin is among the most basic forms of shelter," Davis says. "You walk outside and you are immediately in nature. A cabin allows you to realize Thoreau's dream of escaping from the hectic pace of urban life. The cabin is a classic American getaway that offers a place for dreaming, inspiration and relaxing."

The log cabin became an American icon when its symbol was adopted for William Henry Harrison's 1840 presidential campaign, says Davis. "After that, various other presidents built on that heritage."

Log cabins were among the first structures that were built in the U.S., says Davis, adding that the earliest American log cabins were made by Scandinavian settlers. One cabin featured in the book takes its inspiration from the owner's Scandinavian background, showing off a diamond-shaped window and primary colors. The owner is Kristina Lindbergh, whose grandfather, aviation hero Charles Lindbergh, built cabins for her grandmother Anne.

When it came time for architect Jeff Shelden, who designs cabins for clients, to create his own, he used wood recycled from an abandoned railroad trestle.

The cabin, featured in the book, has less than 500 useable square feet. "A cabin is a pretty conceptual term," said Shelden in a telephone interview from Lewistown, Mont., where he is based. "One guy will think of a cabin, and by the time he is done with what he wants, he has built 9,000 square feet. And somebody else like us would have a lot less."

For Davis, "Doing the book really made me think about small spaces," she says. "We limited our book to cabins no larger than 1,200 square feet. That was hard, because there were many beautiful spaces up to 2,000 square feet. Some of the so-called cabins in the Adirondacks are actually 40-room extravaganzas, even though they are made out of logs. But we felt that the essence of a cabin is intimacy in a very small space. It's sharing warmth and shelter in a very small, enclosed space."

A guest cabin featured in the book cozies up to a Wisconsin forest with just 210 square feet, including bathroom shed.

"A cabin is a place to live differently from your normal life at home," Shelden says. "It's hard to say that about a lot of places because most people want to take it all with them. There's less space, there are different things to do. We'll watch wildlife or the northern lights, go for a walk, get in the hot tub. The television isn't there, the computer isn't there, the usual distractions aren't there."

The most common question that Shelden is asked when he is building a cabin for a client who wants one like his is: "`We really like this cabin, but can you make it bigger?' I say yes, but a bigger cabin on this model would be a completely different cabin."