Wednesday, March 12, 2008

alaska countdown





















THIS is my chosen cabin............................. >
Well, around April or May 2009 I am planning to move to Alaska; I already have a buyer for my house (my roomie) and my 2 Alaskan brothers are giving up a small slice of their land so I can build. I will be moving just outside of Fairbanks where my brothers own about 20 acres on a small mountainside. Its not exactly suburbia but heavily wooded with a home perhaps every 1/4 or 1/2 mile. The raods are gravel. My house will be about 500 yards from my brothers (Rick) home, and about one mile from my other brother, John.
I will be buying a small log cabin from a good outlet in Palmer, Alaska... It is 20X24' with a loft.... My brothers have already picked out a spot where my cabin would face the mountains and be amonsgt a thick standing of birch and poplar trees. (of course we have to clear some trees and dig a septic tank before the cabin gets built) The cabin kit is all pre cut and costs about $24000. It includes everything from logs, windows, tin roof, and insulation plus stairs, amd foundation. Basically, by winter 2009 I should be living in my cosy cabin with the "bare minimum" ie sink, commode, hotplate, fridge, electricity and a woodstove. Then I'll get to work on kitchen cabinets, shelving and small appliances, and shower.
The structure itself will be fairly easly to put up, maybe it will take a week or two for the three of us. These cabins are "pre built" and then taken apart and ALL the components are numbered. There are no nails or screws involved... Its all "tongue and grrove" just like how the Amish build their wonderful durable dwellings.
For now I am saving and enjoying my final year in Texas. I am sure Diamond dog will be right at home around my brother's sled dogs. When the time comes, I am planning to transfer to the Fairbanks Home Depot or work as a substitute teacher or teachers aide. Fairbanks (pop:30,000) is 7 miles from my brothers land.
I searched far and wide for cabins. Ebay actually has a wonderful store with a good variety of pre built cabins but it would be about $4000 to ship the package to Alaska...so I decided to buy in Alaska.
Above are some of my favorite and most practical designs. My favorite is the barn (gambriel roof) design. Smaller is best and 500 sq feet is practical to heat in a very cold climate.... my cabin will be about 480 sq feet with a 240 sq. loft. and has STAIRS not a ladder :)




4 comments:

floots said...

wow wow and more wow
this looks like heaven to me
i so hope it all works out for you
cheers

Monsoon said...

Hi gorgeous!

Wow, these look fantastic Nina. So you are really doing this now. I am so excited for you. I love the barn-looking one. And it is of good size too. I used a converter to find out how much it is in the metric system. My friend's apartment is exactly the same size... :-)

So it ins't far to the nearest quite big city. 7 miles isn't alot. I hope it all goes swimminlgy for you, all this moving business.

I must say I like your two last drawings. Beautiful!! As always! I SO enjoy my calendar on my kitchen wall. People have admired it too!!

Happy Easter dear.

Love and hugs from EV :-)

Ps, If you visit my blog these days you can hear my voice and how my English is like... I recorded a "hello" for those who had expressed wishes to hear my name prnounced in Norwegian you see. Though I must stress that I speak much better English than that, like in real life. I just got stressed recording...

Katie McKenna said...

I love the cabin! It is exactly what I want for myself here - I need to buy some land first!

Pat Paulk said...

Answered my question about Alaska.