Small Cabin Floor Plans Archives

Posted on March 8, 2017March 23, 2017 by Jeffery Caudill

Minimalizing: A How-To in Two Parts

Our ready-to-buy timber frame cabin plans are designed for the outdoors. Their aesthetic reflects their surroundings. From exposed log beams to stone hearths and granite countertops, most components are natural. And though we feature some more modern timber frame cabin designs (those outfitted with modern appliances, outdoor fireplaces, and plumbing), all of our designs hearken to the past – especially our Historic Cabin Collection. Now, these older, more classic designs are notably smaller and more simplistic. Take the Davy Crockett Cabin plan, for instance. This 600 square foot home is little more than a loft, a hearth, and a handful of rooms (elegantly arranged of course). With the floorplan at 300 square feet per floor, this cabin design is simple, and delightfully minimalistic; yet it has all the amenities you need to thrive. It’s simple without sacrifice. I suppose that’s the point behind a minimalistic lifestyle. Simplifying doesn’t equate to loss. In fact, less may just be more. That’s why, for today’s article, we’re taking some time to talk about the minimalist lifestyle, and some tips to attain strip away some of the excess that has become so common in American living. We have quite a few tips, and quite a bit to talk about, so this how-to article will be chopped into two parts – be sure to stick around for part II!

Take The Year Test

There’s a test you can perform to help pare down items that you don’t really need. Now, this test works best with clothes, but it can be applicable to most of our other possessions as well. When you take a fresh look at your wardrobe, ask yourself, “When was the last time I wore this?” If the answer tips past a year, consider donating that item of clothing – you probably don’t need it. Note, there are certainly exceptions to this rule. Take those ski pants of yours, for instance – you just didn’t get time last winter to hit the slopes; you’ll surely ski next winter though… It’s alright; there’s no need to donate your ski pants.

OK, it’s time to apply the same test to items around your home. Scrutinize each possession. When was the last time you used the stair stepper (boy it has accumulated a lot of dust)? What about that waffle iron? And that fishbowl in the garage that has been empty ever since Darby escaped? It’s a simple, yet effective litmus test that’s sure to aid you in decluttering.

It’s OK to Quit… Sometimes

Next, it’s time to take a real look at the projects that you’ve started. Do you think you’ll ever finish restoring that typewriter? What about the motorcycle that you’ve torn apart and can’t get back together? Oh, and that collage of Lenin isn’t going to finish itself. If you’re going to abandon projects, you might as well commit to fully quitting. It’s time to scrap the motorbike and typewriter, you may get a few dollars for their metal. The collage of Lenin, that might just have to go altogether.

Next time you’re thinking about starting a project, consider this adage: It’s far easier to read one book, finish it, and move on to the next than to read six at the same time. Pick a few passion projects and see them through to the end! And if you find that a project falls by the wayside, don’t hesitate to quit with reckless abandon; it’s liberating.

Break the Tech Loop

Nowadays, we’re all tied to our TVs, phones, computers, and other smart devices. While that’s OK, it can be a time trap. Take away the temptation, and cut down on the devices around your home. In an era where your phone can do pretty much everything, that tiny device may be all the technology you need. Donate your tablet to a school, and cut the cable on your TV. Get outside instead. Or make more time for those passion projects in your life. Don’t just Facebook chat that friend that lives two states over – pile in the car and go for a road trip. You can use a vacation anyways. After all, you can always catch the news on the radio, including the weather for the week. Does the rest of it matter?

Value Experience, Not Property

Speaking of road trips, consider your valuation of experience versus property. Do you value time in the garden more than you value your marble collection? Wouldn’t you rather spend time cooking for friends and family than cleaning and polishing your antique furniture?

Strive to detach from material possessions, and spend more time experiencing the real world. Place value in experience and making memories, not the possessions that surround you…

Well, that’s all for today. Catch our next article for more information and tips to capture the minimalist lifestyle! And take some time to check out our cabin designs. Winterwoods Homes cabin plans are luxurious and contemporary, yet perfectly suited to the minimalist lifestyle.

Posted on January 26, 2017January 26, 2017 by Jeffery Caudill

The Dream Deck

Here at Winterwoods Homes, we have a passion for design. You can see that passion in our large timber frame cabin plans, our small history-inspired cabin designs, and our more modern productions.

So what makes the dream deck? Well, it’s never just one thing. In our experience, it could be any and all of the following:

The View

The view may be the first thing you want to consider when designing a deck. After all, if you’re going to spend hours on end basking in the glory of the world around you, you may as well take advantage of the natural sites and splendors that surround your abode. It’s always best to work in situ (or within the site) and adapt your home design to meet your surroundings. More about that next…

Working In Situ

Consider the landscape upon which you are placing your home. If you have a sloping landscape, your deck can be built to cantilever over the landscape, providing you with a full view of the expanse of foliage that pours out beyond the confines of your deck. Or, if you prefer, you can build multiple levels of decking that cascade down the slope of your landscape.

Keep in mind that trees and other natural features can frame your view or block it, and plan accordingly. Take advantage of your landscape as best you can! If you have a big boulder that’d provide great seating for guests, don’t hesitate to incorporate it into your landscape design. If you have a magnificent tree that shoots up right where you’d like your deck to sit, build your deck around that tree, don’t lop it down. You can make an existing tree and integral part of beauty of your deck. Just be sure to give the tree plenty of room to grow over the years.

Gardening

If you’re a fan of foliage, you can bring the landscape into your deck with planters and pots. Incorporate a planter into your decks fencing structure or seating area to give yourself further integration with nature.

Seating

A deck just isn’t complete without plenty of space to lounge around. You can incorporate built-in seating into your deck if you’re looking for a permanent seating solution, or you can simply leave yourself plenty of room to post up a few patio chairs. Regardless of your choice, it’s important to sort out seating and dining space as you dig into your deck design.

Cooking

If you’re the ultimate outdoor chef, you’ll need the ultimate outdoor kitchen. Build in a grill, marble countertops, cabinets, a cooler… you name it. If you’re a fan of classic cooking techniques, tack a wood-fired oven to your open-air kitchen design, and don’t forget to build in space to store your hand-selected cherry and hickory woods. Don’t forget, if you’re going to be cooking outdoors, you’ll want to include outdoor dining space to cater to guests as well. Oh, and speaking of hosting, don’t forget an outdoor bar. And since you have everything else, you might as well throw in the kitchen sink. The possibilities are endless for us grillmasters, entertainers, and outdoor cooks.

Privacy

You want privacy in your outdoor oasis. After all, it’s yours, not your neighbors. Tack on a trellis and plant vines to give your patio a natural privacy fence. Or go with a slatted cedar fence to make your space bright and warm, yet cozy and intimate. Don’t forget, you can use trees and shrubs too, they’re nature’s privacy fence. You can make your deck a getaway without sacrificing sunlight or aesthetic.

Other Amenities

Are you a green thumb? Build a greenhouse. Looking for elegance and grandeur? Go gazebo. Like to lounge? Hang up a hammock. Seeking the spa experience? Add an in-ground hot tub. Game fanatic? Build in a chess table… or a backgammon board, if you prefer. Again, the boundaries are limitless, so build a deck with an inspired design!

Winterwoods Homes Design

Here at Winterwoods Homes, design is our passion. We bring that passion to each cabin design, each detail, and, of course, every deck. Take a look at our Balsam Mountain collection, or our Cabin Creek collection for some of our best deck designs, or heck, check out our whole cabin design collection. Take note, we provide custom cabin design work, and we can modify our current cabin plans to meet your unique needs, including deck designs.

Posted on October 14, 2016November 29, 2016 by Jeffery Caudill

The Advantages Of A Timber Frame Cabin

Timber frame cabin designing is an art that’s here to stay. While contemporary ideals surrounding architecture mean shifts in modern design, the classic timber frame cabin stands the test of time. Timber frame cabins are warm, inviting, and they appear to grow naturally out of, and in symbiosis with, the landscape. They reflect our undeniable connection to nature, as well as the unique acuity of human design. Timber frame homes are a green solution, with an unbeatable aesthetic and incredible potential for design.

The Green Solution

Wood, like any plant material, thrives on carbon dioxide that permeates our atmosphere. As wood grows, it “traps” carbon that is within the atmosphere; meanwhile, oxygen is released. This process is beneficial for our atmosphere and it reduces the impact of global warming. Building with wood ensures that more carbon is removed from the atmosphere than produced. Producing other materials – namely, manmade materials – produces more airborne carbon than it arrests. Thus, timber frame cabin design is a far more green solution. Plus, unlike utilizing wood for fire (a nearly carbon-neutral process), building structures with wood is a carbon-positive process.

The Aesthetic

Timber frame homes are simply gorgeous. Each wood member is unique, featuring grain patterns, knots, and coloration that is distinct to that wood member in and of itself. Wood timbers give a home life and character. Timbers catch the light and reflect the beauty of natural, exposed wood.

Mixed Media

Thanks to the advent of industrial fasteners, a modern timber frame cabin can be built to meet more demanding designs. While old joining techniques, like dovetails and mortise-and-tenon joints, are perfectly apt building techniques, modern machined joints liberate the traditional timber frame home design. With a few scraps of steel, we can build with new height and greater openness, and we can build more quickly. While a single dovetail joint can take hours of planning and precision engineering (especially with a warped wood member), a steel joint can be bolted into place to reinforce your timber frame without a second thought. That means an increase in the potential for timber frame cabin designs.

The Potential

Technological advances like the steel joint free architects to design bigger timber frame cabins. We can have more expansive spaces, taller structures, and these structures can be built in a fraction of the time. In addition, structures can be build with more windows. Modern timber frame cabins can be constructed with bay windows that let in loads of light. Modern timber frame cabins can embrace the best of both contemporary and classic building techniques, and that leaves us with enlightened, liberated design.

At the end of the day, timber frame cabins work well and they look great. There may be no better design than a timber frame cabin. It is strong yet warm. Cozy and comfortable. Tried and true. If you’re looking to build your own timber frame cabin, we can aid you in creating a design. Here at Winterwoods Homes, we specialize in timber frame cabin design. Have us start from scratch with a custom design, or make our plans your own.

Posted on September 9, 2016November 29, 2016 by Jeffery Caudill

The Tiny Home Movement

There’s a recent trend emergence in the world of architecture: The tiny home. Folks around the world are moving to more sustainable, smaller homes. They’re cheaper, easier to clean, and simpler. Plus they encourage the resident(s) to get outside and connect with nature. Tiny Homes are popping up across the nation, and it appears as though the tiny home trend may not be a trend at all; it may be here to stay.

Winterwoods Homes’ “Tiny-Home” Cabin Designs

Here at Winterwoods Homes, we provide home plans, including a litany of small cabin plans. Let’s take a look at a few of our favorite “tiny-home” cabin designs:

The Appleberry Cabin

The Appleberry provides just over 700 square feet of living space, as well as plenty of deck space. The loft of the Appleberry provides space enough for a bed or two, yet it’s exposed to the first floor of the cabin, thus providing a feeling of openness. Equipped with a range, sink, and bathroom, you’ll have all of the amenities you need. The Appleberry features a fireplace at the center of the home.

The Forest Grove Cabin

Similar in size to the Appleberry, the Forest Grove Cabin offers a bit more versatility. With a dedicated bedroom, the loft is free to be utilized as you’d like. The Forest Grove Cabin can be outfitted with a full kitchen as well as a bathroom. Again, a fireplace draws the focus of the great room, and an exterior fireplace makes the deck a secondary outdoor living space.

The Hay Loft Cabin

Another cabin in our Antique Log Cabin Collection, the Hay Loft weighs in at just over 1,000 square feet of space. Outfitted with a large L-shaped loft on the second floor, the Hay Loft provides a surprising feel of openness for its size. The hearth is a central feature of the Hay Loft cabin, and it’s innovative kitchen “peninsula” provides a comfy, cozy dining nook that’s perfect for coffee in the morning and cocktails in the evening. The Hay Loft is also accented with a Lanai-style deck that’s ideal for the bird-watcher and outdoor enthusiast.

The Little Friar Cabin

At 800 square feet, it’s no wonder that “little” is in the name. The Little Friar features a very open layout with a loft hovering over less than half of the square footage of the first floor. This innovative layout provides space for beds in both the master bedroom and the loft. Yet, there’s still plenty of space for dining in the kitchen, and the great room is warm and cozy with a hearth ready for gatherings. The patio also provides plenty of space to enjoy the natural surroundings, and it features an exterior fireplace that’ll keep guests warm and entertained.

The Little Gobbler Cabin

Truly tiny, the Little Gobbler provides 600 square feet of living space. Equipped with two adjacent lofts, the Little Gobbler can house the family comfortably. To make the most of the space, the lofts are accessible by ladder, and the bathroom features a pocket door. Perfectly arranged, this tiny cabin is big on opportunity.

The Turkey Trot Cabin

Also tiny, the Turkey Trot cabin design makes the most of its 700 square foot layout. Enjoy all the amenities of a great room, bathroom, kitchen, dining room, and loft. Again, to use the space efficiently, the loft is accessed by a ladder. Like most of our tiny-home cabin designs, the great room is centered around the hearth.

The Tinker Creek Cabin

Suitable to house a small family, the Tinker Creek cabin provides a kitchen, dining area, great room, bathrooms, laundry, and living quarters. The Tinker Creek layout embraces the beauty of the fireplace with double hearth. Plus, Tinker Creek is surrounded on three sides by decks, offering unending outdoor views.

The Davy Crockett Cabin

Another of our smallest designs, the historical Davy Crockett cabin features an open first floor with a half bath, and a lofted master bedroom. Simple, yet effective, the Davy Crockett cabin provides the perfect amount of space, and it can serve as a permanent home, as well as a vacation home. Make this bit of history your own, and live in the simplicity of the 19th century.

The Davy Crockett Tavern

Weighing in at 900 square feet, this historical cabin offers the right amount of room for a small family. Outfitted with two adjacent hearths, the Davy Crockett tavern will provide constant entertainment and plenty of ways to utilize the space.

The President Andrew Jackson Homestead

Based, as you may have guessed, on the layout of the historical President Andrew Jackson Homestead, this cabin makes a small space feel spacious. With 1200 square feet of space, this two bedroom home is perfect for a small family. Keep the kids in the bunk room, and enjoy the privacy of the master bedroom. Equipped with three bathrooms, a central hearth, and an open kitchen, the President Andrew Jackson Homestead provides all the comforts you’d like in a home.

With a tiny home comes simple living. Live the simple life with a tiny-home cabin from Winterwood Homes. And don’t forget: We can provide custom log cabin designs if you’d like to modify our current models, or if you’d like a completely original architectural plan for your dream home. We specialize in designing log cabin homes, from tiny homes to multi-unit resort complexes. Check out our full catalog of pre-designed home plans here!

Posted on May 12, 2016November 29, 2016 by Jeffery Caudill

Welcome to the Winterwoods Homes Blog!

Welcome to the Winterwoods Homes blog feed. Here, we’ll be keeping you up to date with the latest information and news surrounding the realms of architecture, log cabin design, nature, and more. At Winterwoods Homes, we’re ecstatic to provide our picturesque cabin and home designs, and we’re happy to share our thoughts on the aforementioned subjects. So if you like the outdoors, architecture, and the seamless integration of rustic-yet-modern log homes into the landscape, you’ve come to the right place. Follow along as we discuss topics surrounding our shared passion for premium, nature-oriented design.

For today’s blog, our inaugural article, let’s take a moment to discuss the importance of landscape as it’s integrated with architecture.

Landscape & Architecture

All too often, architects treat landscape as a tabula rasa – which is to say, a blank slate. Design begins without a second thought about the landscape surrounding the home. When architects take this path of design, they neglect a major player in design, and that oversight can be costly in more ways than one.

The Downfalls of a Tabula Rasa Design

While working with a tabula rasa may be easy (it can be simple to start with flat ground), it can have a negative impact on the design of the building, the design of the landscape, and the impact of construction on site.

Building Design

Designing a building on a tabula rasa can result in monotonous, cookie-cutter layouts. Sure, it’s fast to design a ranch-style home when the landscape doesn’t undulate under and around the foundation, but the design of the building may suffer. Integrating landscape into the design of a home ensures that the layout is one-of-a-kind. Out of necessity, a landscape-integrated home must have a design that adapts to the gradients and features of a landscape. You wouldn’t want to dig tons upon tons of rock out of the side of a mountain to lay foundation for a ranch-style home. And you wouldn’t want to ignore the picturesque views that you can embrace with cascading decks and large bay windows. Landscape should hold weight in laying out a home design.

Landscape Design

Alongside the beauty of the home, the beauty of the landscape will suffer with a tabula rasa design. Planning around the landscape will ensure that all beautiful elements that you’d like to preserve stay preserved. If there’s a particularly beautiful tree near the site of a home, the floorplan can be manipulated to keep that tree alive; you can even accent the beauty of a tree with responses in the architecture of the home. Homes ought to look seamlessly integrated with their surrounding landscapes, and landscapes should compliment the homes that they encapsulate.

Construction

To achieve a tabula rasa, it’s likely that construction will be expensive and damaging to the environment. If there are any undulations and swales within the site, you’ll have to hire out heavy machinery just to level the grade of your lot. It’s also likely that you’ll tear down trees and foliage, and you’ll be left with a lot of dirt, instead of boulders, trees, and even wildlife.

The Benefits of an Integrated Landscape

When you opt to integrate the landscape of your lot into the design of your home, you’re taking a simple step to improve your building design and preserve the beauty of your natural surroundings.

Improved Building Design

Incorporating the landscape into the design of your building improves the character of your home. A home established within the landscape adapts to that landscape. It communicates with that landscape. It’s a complementary relationship. Walls ebb and flow to match the forest. Patios echo surrounding boulders and the topography. A landscape-incorporated building is more welcoming and more homely than a home built atop a tabula rasa.

Preserved Beauty

Nature exudes beauty. It’s the stuff of National Geographic covers. It’s the muse of many a painting. With landscape, it is far easier to embrace the natural surroundings than to craft a manmade mimicry. Positioning and placing a home within the natural landscape preserves its beauty. It encourages residents to interact with their natural surroundings, be it cultivating a garden or enjoying a moonlit night from the outdoor patio. Integrating a building into a landscape, even a sleek, modern building, makes the project a bit more human. It brings the scale of a home back into the human realm. It makes a home a habitat.

Winterwoods’ Landscape Integrated Homes

Here at Winterwoods Homes, we value the natural landscape. In fact, that value is reflected in each of our designs, including log cabins, simple stone cottages, and large multi-unit buildings. We thoroughly incorporate natural building materials. Wood and stone form the fundamental foundations of our designs, making each unique plan a warm, welcoming environment. That’s what we value, and that’s just how we like to live life.

If you’re looking to get started with a home plan, check out our designs here; and know that we can custom design your cabin to suit your personal needs, and of course, your unique landscape.