When does a cabin stop being a cabin?

[kalstar]

When my idea started it was a simple 20x30 1/2 story that I reduced to 20x26. The area I purchased my parcel of land requires a full foundation, so I figure with the topo I would build a garage under to hold the snowmobiles and such.  I then decided to go with the 2 1/2 story plan with an unfinished third floor walk-up. It is still 20x26 but with 2 small 2x10 one story additions on the first floor and a smal 4x10 front porch. It has all the creature comforts of home so can I still consider this a cabin? The dream is a cabin in the woods, not a vacation house.

[MountainDon]

Maybe it's a state of mind?

Any definition I've seen simply states a "small" dwelling. So what's small?

[waggin]

Maybe it's a state of mind?

Very Zen answer    You truly understand, Grasshopper.

I wouldn't have answered so eloquently & would have just said, "It depends."  For some, the cabin is 3,500 square feet with all utilities plus a big screen TV and can sleep 12 people.  For others, it's an uninsulated 8' x 12' building w/no utilities that you have to walk 1 mile through the woods to enjoy.  My family used to have a 20'x24' cabin that we jacked up & put a basement under; it was still a cabin.  Subsequent owners added on a major addition, and I would call it a house now.  They might call it their cabin.

[ScottA]

I think state of mind is correct. I'd also add that generaly a cabin will be in a rural setting.

[Don_P]

If I remember my history right a cabin was a crude shelter and people preferred to describe their shelter as a log house until Andrew Jackson celebrated his heritage. BA Mackie, the fellow that pretty much resurrected the log home hated the term and concept of the "Lawg Caybun" thinking it denegrated a fine home style. Mostly, I think its one of those things that lives somewhere twixt our ears  .

[poppy]

It seems that in these parts, a cabin is not a cabin unless it is built of logs.

Normally when I tell someone that I am building a cabin in the woods, they want to automaticaly put "log" in front of cabin.

The "city" folk who come to the country to build their cabin usually make them out of logs; otherwise they are building a house in the country.

What I am building and calling a cabin is what others would label a shack, which is insulting to me.  Damn city people. 

[MountainDon]

We refer to our 15.75 x 30 structure as a cabin. However, we have had visitors comment that it is much nicer than they expected, that it is more like a house. I suppose that's a compliment.  I think it's also illustrative of my comment that the definition is a state of mind.

I think even if I built a 1500 sq ft building up there in the mountains, to me it would be a cabin. So I suppose that reinforces the concept that a cabin should be rural.

[glenn kangiser]

Ours is around 2000 sq ft - never finished of course, but it is a cabin ...because I say it is...

[IronRanger]

When does a cabin stop being a cabin?

When you start living in it full-time.   

 

[rick91351]

Sounds sort of like to me it is sort of like one mans boat is another mans ship.

Webster
Main Entry: 1cab·in
Pronunciation: \ˈka-bən\
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English cabane, from Middle French, from Old Occitan cabana hut, from Medieval Latin capanna
Date: 14th century

1 a (1) : a private room on a ship or boat (2) : a compartment below deck on a boat used for living accommodations b : the passenger or cargo compartment of a vehicle (as an airplane or automobile) c : the crew compartment of an exploratory vehicle (as a spacecraft)
2 : a small one-story dwelling usually of simple construction.

[ScottA]

I think I'll start calling mine a villa.

[kalstar]

To the city folk it's not cabin in the woods it a cottage in the country  .

I guess my thought of a cabin is "rustic", pine floors and or walls, simple construction, little to no wall to wall carpets, decorated to match the environment, innovative use of materials and "found storage". I just want a cabin but am tying not to make it to much like home (if that makes any sense).

[Native_NM]

Maybe it's a state of mind?

Any definition I've seen simply states a "small" dwelling. So what's small?

When a leaf settles silently in the dry of a fierce rain.  For that moment it is no longer a cabin. 

[miman]

the day you pull your permits.  the permits/building codes end results will be a second home.

[Jens]

    
"When does a cabin stop being a cabin?"

June 22, 2011...you still have time.

[MikeOnBike]

It doesn't stop.  It's where I live when I don't have to be in city working at my job.  As MountainDon said, 'It's a state of mind'.

[rdzone]

"When does a cabin stop being a cabin?"

As soon as you have to ask this question!

[Whitlock]

NEVER

[Dave Sparks]

When there is cable TV!

[Geraldsh]

 Webster said it:  "a small one story structure"  add anything more and it becomes a house or cottage

[Redoverfarm]

Sounds sort of like to me it is sort of like one mans boat is another mans ship.

Webster
Main Entry: 1cab·in
Pronunciation: \ˈka-bən\
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English cabane, from Middle French, from Old Occitan cabana hut, from Medieval Latin capanna
Date: 14th century

1 a (1) : a private room on a ship or boat (2) : a compartment below deck on a boat used for living accommodations b : the passenger or cargo compartment of a vehicle (as an airplane or automobile) c : the crew compartment of an exploratory vehicle (as a spacecraft)
2 : a small one-story dwelling usually of simple construction.

Thank goodness mine is still a cabin "one story" if the loft isn't the second floor.

[poppy]

I don't know there, John.  That fancy new stair case surely looks like it's going to a second floor.