Hometown NH Cabin (24x24??)

[Starvin]

Hello All!

I have been lurking on this forum for several years collecting inspiration for what has always been a dream of mine: to build an "off-grid-ish" cabin in/near my hometown in Western-Central, NH. As of recently though, I can now say that my cabin project is becoming a reality!

Quick history: I grew up in rural hill-country NH on a 300+ acre dairy farm with parents, grandparents, uncles/aunts & cousins. Most of my spare time (when not working on the farm!) as a kid was spent off in the woods. My grandfather and mother had a passion for knowing the terrain and really instilled that in me at a young age. As a result, I grew up with a very large "backyard" riddled with mountains, fields, streams, swamps, forest, boulderfields, etc. When my grandfather passed this fall it was fate when, while at his memorial service, I ran into an old family friend that had held onto a 5+ acre piece of property in my "backyard" when his family sold the old homestead 30+ years ago. He offered an (in my opinion) very low asking price that enabled a cash transaction for me so I scooped it up!

The property: 5+ acres of wooded lot, approx 350'+ x 900'+. The property has 350'+ frontage on what is called a "Class 5" road, which is essentially a seasonably-maintained dirt road that is unplowed in the winter. After our property the road turns into a "Class 6" jeep road and heads into thousands of acres of forestry land with hiking trails, snowmobile trails, etc. The first 2/3 of the land is sloping upwards off the road (south-facing!), and the last 1/3 is flat, which is where the proposed cabin lot is. The lot was sheep pasture in the early 1900's, as was most of the surrounding area. At some time in the mid 50's it was mostly abandoned and as a result I have some very mature pines on the property! There is potential for great hilly views from the cabin lot, but I am a little concerned about water access, given the higher elevation.

The plan: My lovely wife & I plan to build a modest cabin/cottage to enjoy on weekends and stay in with the (some day) kids when we visit my parents. We will be using the pine to mill our own lumber for the majority of the structure, which will likely be a variation 24x24 or 20x30. There is power at the road, but I intend to run all propane appliances (maybe even lights?), and eventually install a whole-house Generac. Heat will be mostly wood; maybe propane wall units in sleeping areas. Water as I said is somewhat of a concern; I may have to opt for a spendy artesian well set-up. Waste system will likely be composting with eventual septic system/leech field.

The design: TBD. I have been playing with SketchUp and have come farthest along with a 24x24 1.5 story design. Open floor plan with a lofted bunkroom and bedroom upstairs. I cant seem to figure out to upload attachments, otherwise I would post a PDF for critiques.

The progress: We have been focusing on thinning out the trees and laying out the driveway. We (wife, mom & dad) probably have 24 hours total into it at this point. We have been granted a driveway permit and have completed the grubbing for the driveway. Once "mud season" us over, I will order a tri-axle of hard-pack driveway mix and a culvert. Then we will be able to get equipment in to at least rough-in a driveway accessible by 4x4 pickup truck.

The timeline: I want to cut, skid & mill my lumber this summer/fall so it can season for building next year. I also want to get the driveway pickup truck worthy by the end of the fall. After that, who knows. Hope to get it weather tight by the end of next summer?

Here are some pictures to start with that brings you up to date:

Looking east. Property is across the street from where I am standing, sloping up away from the street


About halfway up the slope into the property, looking south back to the road. This is about where the mature pines start. About 50% of the property is mature pines like you see here


At the top of the slope, again looking south. This is where the cabin will be. Note the hills in the distance for  potential views!


The first 100+ feet into the property were cleared at one point in recent history and as a result are now densely-populated hardwood saplings. We have many man-hours into "thinning" and will have many more before we are done. Forestry is one of my interests so my plan is to manage the property for future lumber & firewood


In winter the snowmobile trail runs right across the road from the property. Here you see some of the mountains I will get a view of from the top of the property once the trees are thinned.


Here is another shot from the top of the property at the proposed cabin site. We've had a heck of a winter in New England, so progress in Feb/March has been slow


Here is a before and after shot that represents a few hours of clearing for the driveway. Here I am standing at the entrance of the property from the road, looking up.


More driveway rough-out. Lots of rocks in NH!


About halfway up the driveway, looking up to the cabin site (top left)


Last one for now; picture from last weekend. Wife & mom after lots of cutting and burning

[hpinson]

Welcome, and what a lovely property. Makes me quite homesick for New Hampshire - grew up in East Kingston - which is a bit south of you I guess. Your white pines are amazing - and will grow huge!

It looks like you are on broken granite and close to bedrock. It's very likely there would be groundwater-- all that snowmelt ends up somewhere, and maybe not so deep, but also very likely would require drilling though hard rock to the depth of a yielding fracture.  Have you talked with any local drillers?

Unfortunately, we do not allow file attachments to be uploaded and stored here, but if you can store your attachment elsewhere, like you did pictures, and link to it, that works well.

We have quite a few Sketchup users on this forum.  Please post your cabin plans - always lots of interest and comments.

[Starvin]

Thanks!

I have not talked with local drillers. I am half embarrassed to bring them up there until I have more of a proper driveway.

Here are some SketchUp shots

[Don_P]

Nice looking piece of land. It looks like the stairs are quite steep... go a little longer and get a comfortable set in? It also doesn't look like you would need the shed roof over them in order to get sufficient headroom? I'd figure out a structural ridgebeam for the roof you have. A little work around the woodstove to get a bearing up from there would likely do it. NH is one of the states that does have a native lumber law, you can use your own trees and self grade I believe. Do be careful with white pine, it has fairly low design strength values, grading is pretty critical because of its' knot structure when using it for beams, joists and rafters. It does look like there are a number of nice mature trees that will produce some good higher grade material though. I prefer using it as heavy timber to get a better section, built up post and beam is another way to distribute the knots and improve it's strength, just tossing ideas out.  Am I also seeing some good red maple? If so much higher design values and nice trim/cabinet/flooring from the boards. Plenty of rock, looks like you are at the far end of the rock that starts on our property  Material for a good stone foundation.

[Starvin]

Hi Don! Thanks for the input. Yes there are quite a few red maples and some oak but they are all "pasture grade" as we call them... pretty gnarly stuff. The plan for construction is to do a hybrid of "post and beam" for the critical structural members (using "Timber Framing for the Rest of Us" techniques by Rob Roy) and balloon framing using the white pine. We've built a number of large sheds/small barns on my family's property with milled white pine from their property, so I am fairly confident in this system.

I am looking forward to tweaking the design a little more and hearing everyone's feedback!

[flyingvan]

 I agree with the stairs being too steep.  You could extend out into the airspace above the livingroom without taking up any floor.  That said---

   I LOVE your fireplace location and overall space.  Putting it in the center of (basically) a cube is wise----you will have very good heat distribution, and no drafting issues.  It's very similar to our Cuyamaca Cottage build.  You might think about three other things--

1) Get a fireplace that drafts outside air (instead of pulling in cold air from all the windows and doors)

2) Soundproof the interior walls around the upstairs rooms.  It will make the place feel bigger since sounds are muffled, and at the same time keep the upstairs sleeping areas from getting too hot when the downstairs is comfortable.

3) Run a 10" insulated duct from a register as close to the peak as possible, down through the upstairs closet, and out another register in the kitchen ceiling.  Get an inline duct fan and a 110v thermostat switch, also mounted near the peak.  WHen the ceiling gets hot enough it'll circulate the air, whether the heat comes from the fireplace or if you add a gravity wall furnace (which could go on the wall near the fireplace---great to have, when the fire dies down it will just take over)

   Another design element we tried for Cuyamaca Cottage, and really like, is the 'reading nook'.  It gives somewhere else to go other than the living room or bedroom.  I imagine you have a large beam holding the upstairs up---just cantilever the upstairs floor joists from under the bedroom out 48" over your three barstools, a little wider than the bedroom so access would be through the upstairs hall

[Starvin]

Thanks flyingvan, great feedback!

[paul s]

It really looks like NH, I think I saw a few Minute Men behind the rock wall.  Looks like they are ready for the redcoats to come down the road and give them ball for ball.  Oh, I am sorry that is tomorrow, sorry Mr. Longfellow.

Paul

[Starvin]

First "construction" project on the property this weekend. Moved a lot of rock. I saw rocks coming out of the dirt when I closed my eyes to sleep on Saturday.

My biggest expense on the property since buying it:
Culvert - ~$275
Gravel - ~$375 (I only used about half of the load for the area int he pictures)

[pocono_couple]

looks great..  i used to live in Wolfboro , and my son lives in the Plymouth area..   I suspect that one of these days he will be in a position to start a building project in the area.. can't wait to lend him a hand!    good luck with your project..  the pics that you posted enable us to really understand what you are doing.. looking forward to seeing lots more!  jt

[Woodsrule]

Looks good, so far. We built a mini-cabin in Charlestown a few years ago on 10 acres. The hardest part was the land clearing, road building and tree removal, so chin up - it gets easier as you go! Good luck.

[Starvin]

Thanks for the motivation guys!

More progress on the driveway this weekend. Dug/pushed around a few big rocks and stumps. We got the tractor all the way up the 500' path to the cabin lot. That was a major milestone.

Next step is to get the neighbor's excavator in there to pull the half dozen or so big rocks and scalp the top layer of organics off. Hopefully that will happen over the next month.

The neighbor's new portable sawmill was also delivered yesterday... hope to be milling some of the lumber in July!





Cabin location is up on top of the knoll to the left.


The black flies are pretty nasty this time of year...


Made it to the top! Future front porch of the cabin will extend out over where my mother is standing, looking out over the hills.


The only smooth, straight section of driveway!

[midrover170]

Nice progress! If it's not too much work, you can send that tractor to Idaho when you're finished with it 

[MountainDon]

Stop in NM on the way   

No black flies here either

[Don_P]

Yup, you're on the same rock as here, very similar looking. In the pic of you pushing the rock, I'm seeing some interesting trees if you want to go rustic. The pistol butt tree on the left of pic, if you can round up a few of them could either be used as a cruck frame or some really neat braces if slabbed (depending on the throat of the mill). over the canopy is a wide Y fork in a tree, It could be slabbed to say 8" thick with natural edges and sitting under a 8x wall plate beam, naturally Y braced stronger and prettier. I've started bucking logs differently.

[Starvin]

Yup, you're on the same rock as here, very similar looking. In the pic of you pushing the rock, I'm seeing some interesting trees if you want to go rustic. The pistol butt tree on the left of pic, if you can round up a few of them could either be used as a cruck frame or some really neat braces if slabbed (depending on the throat of the mill). over the canopy is a wide Y fork in a tree, It could be slabbed to say 8" thick with natural edges and sitting under a 8x wall plate beam, naturally Y braced stronger and prettier. I've started bucking logs differently.

Good eye Don! I like the way you think. This pistol-but tree definitely has some potential, but I am not sure if the neighbor's mill will be able to slab it out, i think he is at 36" max.

Regarding the Y over the tractor, that is an old hollowed-out Oak (shown to the left of this picture). Believe it or not, there are still some leaves in its canopy!

[Starvin]

Neighbor cleaned up about 1/2 the driveway yesterday with his excavator. Really starting to look like something.

[Starvin]

Excavator work is done! We can now get a pickup all the way to the top where the cabin will be.


The excavator is sitting right where the cabin will be, facing the same direction.




Can barely tell from this picture, but he did some nice thumb-work with the machine to create a little rock retaining wall to the right where the land was originally off-camber




The next expense will to be a half dozen loads (maybe) of "ledge-pack" for the driveway material. It is more or less 2"+ stone that does a good job of locking together and not washing away in the big storms we seem to be having.

[UK4X4]

Love the road, just needs some hardcore and an excuse for a 4x4 or adding some mud tires ,
one of my favorite parts of our build was clearing the space and seeing the land we had to work with laying out lines and seeing what we had to work with


Is that a weimeraner I see checking out the new road ?

We have two of the buggers and they love the woods !

[Starvin]

Love the road, just needs some hardcore and an excuse for a 4x4 or adding some mud tires ,
one of my favorite parts of our build was clearing the space and seeing the land we had to work with laying out lines and seeing what we had to work with


Is that a weimeraner I see checking out the new road ?

We have two of the buggers and they love the woods !

Howdy UK4X4! Yes, that is my folks' Weim "Henri". He's a good pup as long as you can keep him away for the porcupines!

There is plenty of 4-wheeling to be had. The property is on a "Class 6" town road which is an unmaintained public way. Miles and miles of great 4 wheeling. I've had a few jeeps in my time and still have a big group of friends up 4-wheeling a few times of the year. Here are some pics if you are interested (based on your handle, i assume you are!):

[UK4X4]

These are my two, Diesel whos 11 and Gunther who's just 2, my best buddies and family personal protection


Nope know nothing about offroading !

[Starvin]

awesome pups and great wheeling pictures!

[DavidRaftery]

Hi ! You have a beautiful piece of property with lovely views from the top. You've made great progress so far clearing trees and putting in your access road. I hope the logging goes smoothly for you as well.

We are going to be neighbors! My NH land is fairly close to Mt Cardigan. I am hoping to get my septic system installed and foundation poured this June - banging nails by the 4th of July!

[Starvin]

Thanks David! I am enjoying following your thread as well. I went to school neat Cardigan Mountain, that are is beautiful. I am about an hour south of you; south of Lake Sunapee.

Folk's took their truck all the way up to the cabin site yesterday. Big milestone!


The "chute"; first thing headed back down from the top

[Starvin]

Nice and flat at the top: