From Bruce Baillie, who rode his 1969 Moto Guzzi motorcycle 28,000 miles to Central America in 2012-13. His story is on pp. 130-31 of Tiny Homes on the Move. Now he’s back in British Columbia, and just sent us this.
…my latest building which I framed up last summer. It’s a log structure that’s built on an old logging bridge at the zip line I helped build 10 years ago. I felled the trees on site, limbed them, bucked them to length and yarded them out of the bush with a big truck using blocks hung in trees for lift. I then framed it all up and put a bright red tin roof on it. It was all very exciting as the drop to the river below was about 45 ft. from the rooftop.
The guy ran out of money at that point but we’ll finish it this summer. There are 6 separate zip lines on this site; the last one runs under the bridge where this building is. Goofy (Godfrey Stephens) has a picture of me standing inside the building with my Harley chopper parked nearby.
Last fall I worked for a guy in the city; while I was there I bought a steel sailboat 34 ft. long that was supposed to be scrapped. Long story short: I traded straight across for this custom Harley chopper that I rode for a bit and then sold to pay for a trip to Cuba last month. It’s great to have grown up around guys like Bruno (Atkey) and Goofy while young: being around interesting people in turn helped cultivate my lifestyle into what it’s been. Life is good. I still ride my old Moto Guzzi.
This mortise and tenon cabin out of yellow cedar was built by my dad and stepmom about 30 years ago. Its design was taken from my stepmom’s grandfather, who was a carver and builder named Dudley Carter.
A few other versions of this building stand along the West Coast. The first one was built in the ’30s in Big Sur, although the design is North Coast–inspired. This is one of my favorite little buildings, with its timeless look, glass walls, and timber joinery.
We have made a few small sleeping cabins inspired by this building, but not truly mortise and tenon like the originals. Hopefully one day we can.
–Marlin Hanson
Note: See book Small Homes for “Timber Home Along Canada’s Sunshine Coast,” by Marlin Hanson
Above: Caleb and Louise’s hand-built home near West Cornwall, Connecticut, in the early ’70s
Sean Hellfritsch gave us the idea of using Tumblr for good quality photos; he started it and now Brittany Cole Bush is continuing to put up photos, some old, some recent.
Rick and I are in the final stages of preparing Small Homes for the printers. We changed the cover from an earlier version, which showed a small turn-of-the-century home in Santa Cruz (in this revised cover, it’s the middle image in the left hand column), because a single image didn’t seem to represent the diversity of images (120 or so small homes) in the book. Hence the collage.
Below are two alternatives, the same except for the background color. In the one with the red, it’s similar-looking to Home Work,Builders of the Pacific Coast, and Tiny Homes on the Move. Some of our savvy book friends think it’s too similar, and that another color would distinguish it from the other books. Hence the other with the dark green background.
Comments, please. Which do you like? Do you see any problem in this cover being similar to our other books?
Yesterday on our way south to Glasgow we (unexpectedly) found ourselves driving along the west side of Loch Lomond and I can understand why it’s so well known. A pristine body of water, with trees all around it, some kinda magic going on fer shure. We stopped at a lochside hotel and had one of the best renditions of fish and chips ever plus a bottle of Loch Lomond Silkie Stout. Fortified by the stout, I jumped in the water — about 8 strokes and out. Cold! maybe 48 degrees F. But I follow an MO of getting immersed in its waters wherever I am to connect with the land. It always works! Then on into Glasgow, following the Garmin GPR to a Travelodge hotel in Glasgow central.
Last night we had a fabulous Italian dinner with Lesley’s cousin and husband at Fratelli Sarti on Bath Street, preceded by a couple of shots of Laphroid single malt whisky (Colin and me, that is) at the Butterfly and Pig bar, fine establishment.
I started out with leftside driving pretty shakily, it took several days for my brain to make the switch. And the roundabouts! Jesus, stress-city. Finally, I’m getting into it. Give way to cars on the right. My navigator informs me that leftside driving originated with duels on horseback, where lances were held with the right hand.
I don’t know how I missed Scotland over all these years of European exploration (starting with a 3-month Lambretta motorscooter/youth hostel trip in 1957-58). I’m overwhelmed by both the beauty of this land and the good-naturedness of the Scots. I think it’s possible that people who live in beautiful surroundings are happy and friendly. Hundreds of encounters, totally good vibes. If people see you looking around in the cities, they ask if they can help. And I’m gonna miss the brogue a wee bit when I get home.
Animal shelter and pen in recreated 1700s township at the Highland Folk Museum in Newtonmore, Scotland
Building at Highland Folk Museum in Newtonmore, Scotland
