Cabin Fever
Thursday, December 1, 2011 at 8:17PM Tweet By Bennett Owen
When I was a kid, the X-N was about as close to a real life fairytale as you could get… a beautiful cabin painted red with bright white trim set back in a picturesque vale at the foot of the Pioneer Mountains. It was surrounded by Aspen groves and willows that shrouded nearby Billings Creek….painstakingly manicured stone paths, wooden walkways spanning the creek and always a wisp of white smoke wafting from the chimney.
Credit: My-West.com ©
It was also the summer home of our great Aunts; the “Aunties,” were four ageless dowagers who had outlived numerous husbands and who seemed to be in competition with one another to be the last one standing. That honor finally went to Aunt Marge, who passed away recently at 103. At least that’s what the birth record stated. The Aunties were never to be trusted on matters of age.
Credit: My-West.com ©
Lately we’ve been thinking it’s about time our kids had their own hideaway, so recently we took a stroll across the old property to see what might still be salvageable after so many years of neglect. And we came away with a variety of possibilities for a fairytale cabin:
1 - The Barn – beautiful woodwork, the hayloft for sleeping…this is my sister’s personal favorite and we have, over the years, come to the conclusion that ‘she is always right.’
Credit: My-West.com ©
2 – Eugene’s Cabin – The only thing our distant cousin left behind. It’s small and in disrepair and the smell of the Velvet Tobacco will never go away…that for me is reason enough to renovate this rough hewn jewel.
Credit: My-West.com ©
Credit: My-West.com ©
That thought led us to Miller Architects in Livingston, Montana specialists in just the kind of home away from home we’ve been dreaming of. Right now we have little else to show but vivid imaginations, some sketches and a lot of number crunching… and of course winning the lottery. In case that happens, here is what we have in mind:
This is what the barn might look like:
Credit: Miller Architects, Bozeman, MT
And Eugene’s cabin:
Credit: Miller Architects, Bozeman, MT