Born Again

Derelict cabins occasionally enjoy the saving grace of a saintly patron. Consider, for instance, the listing, eighteen-by-twenty-four-foot log shack that Betty Nan Neff happened upon while looking for getaway space on the St. Louis River near her home in Virginia, Minnesota. The shack’s original owner hadn’t accounted for the lateral instability of its stockade-style construction, and Neff discovered that in order to save the structure, she would have to both straighten the walls and replace the rotted wood beneath it.

A devout, church-going septuagenarian, Neff knew that a fellow worshipper, Gary Andrews, had renovated log cabins in Alaska and possessed the artistic sensibility to breathe new life into her sagging shack. As it turned out, Andrews and Neff’s neighbor Joe Froehlingsdorf and her ninety-five-year-old husband, Scott, joined forces to stabilize the building, replace the bad wood and roof, and add new windows, porch, and a loft with a small balcony. Inside, Betty Nan gave Andrews artistic license, and the result was near miraculous.

Stout, gnarled cedar roots from Froehlingsdorf’s property were transformed into a central supporting post, stairway handrail, and loft balustrade. Betty Nan and Froehlingsdorf’s wife, Sue, power-washed the roots at a car wash, then helped sand them to a smooth finish. (Some of the roots had to be soaked and set in jigs to coax them into the proper shape.) Lumber from abandoned local “pony bridges” was converted into stair treads, and local poplar and cedar was used for interior paneling. Kitchen cabinets, a refrigerator, wood stove, and chem- cal toilet completed the reconstruction.

Andrews provided the grace note, transforming a moose horn donated by the Froehlingsdorfs into an intricate carving for the wall. The carving features a raven, which, in Alaskan Inuit tradition, is the creator who brings light to humankind—a fitting image for Betty Nan’s bright, born-again cottage.   

The Basics • Location: On the St. Louis River, near Virginia, Minnesota • Built: Early 1970s • Restored: 2003 • Construction style: French stockade • Dimensions: 18 by 24 feet (without porch)

Dale Mulfinger teaches architecture at the University of Minnesota and is a partner at Sala Architects in the Twin Cities. His third cabin book will be published by The Taunton Press in 2008.