(For specific details, on plumbing, solar and wind power, furnishings, and storage, see other articles on this site)
Building a home in a remote location without road access is a long, slow process with very careful planning. You can't run to Home Depot when you lack a bolt or tool. Fortunately, our only full time neighbors had constructed a few kit cabins and were willing to tackle a "real cabin" from spruce trees they could harvest on our property, as well as a small 8x10 dock and two sheds. They did a great job, but the simple box structures took 2.5 years to finish!
The first was an 8x12 plywood shed on the high point of the property. Its most important function was to hold the battery bank for the solar panels and wind turbine, that were installed the first winter by my husband and two nimble, brave people who climbed the 120 foot power tower they assembled in -10 degree weather. This little shed also provided much needed storage for the ever increasing number of hand and gas powered tools we needed to accumulate for future projects. During most winters, the snow on the roof eaves touched the “ground” level and we have to dig down another five feet to open the door.
Building a home in a remote location without road access is a long, slow process with very careful planning. You can't run to Home Depot when you lack a bolt or tool. Fortunately, our only full time neighbors had constructed a few kit cabins and were willing to tackle a "real cabin" from spruce trees they could harvest on our property, as well as a small 8x10 dock and two sheds. They did a great job, but the simple box structures took 2.5 years to finish!
The first was an 8x12 plywood shed on the high point of the property. Its most important function was to hold the battery bank for the solar panels and wind turbine, that were installed the first winter by my husband and two nimble, brave people who climbed the 120 foot power tower they assembled in -10 degree weather. This little shed also provided much needed storage for the ever increasing number of hand and gas powered tools we needed to accumulate for future projects. During most winters, the snow on the roof eaves touched the “ground” level and we have to dig down another five feet to open the door.
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Embarking on this construction was a complicated logistical puzzle, since there is no road here. By that I don't imply even a gravel path. We fly 20 minutes over three rivers or snowmachine 3.5 hours to get to the nearest road. So every tool that our neighbors did not have and every part we needed to buy, had to be scheduled for delivery by plane (small and light parts) or by snowmachine during an 8 week hauling season when the rivers were frozen hard enough to serve as an ice highway.
Glass windows, plywood, polystyrene insulation, trusses, 2x4s, log screws, roofing metal - all was triaged and delivered over two winters in the order the builders thought they would get to that stage of construction. And during the summers, we hacked at alders, devil's club and downed spruce and birch to clear small spaces for these structures, disrupting millions of mosquitoes and thousands of wasps and bees in the process. One summer, we encountered a nice big, steaming pile of bear scat almost every morning near where we were working, just to let us know that he/she was watching us through the high grass. It was hot, dirty, buggy work. I, for one, was not a happy camper, although my husband was thoroughly enchanted by each day's exertions.
Once my husband finished the power tower and determined that he would be able to work by Internet and phone from that location, construction on the cabin commenced.
We positioned the cabin exactly
where the old homesteader had built his shed, on a little elevation about 50 ft
from the lake’s edge. Our 750 square foot home has two stories, with one room up and another down,
subdivided into functional areas, but not rooms. It is 16
x 24 feet, plus covered
decks (10 x16) for all those days when the temperature is pleasant enough to be
outside except for the multi-day light drizzles we get here. The front of the cabin faces west, with views
of the lake, two close mountains beyond and a more remote, higher mountain
range to the north. The front door is a sturdy
3 foot wide, 4 inch thick door outfitted with a cast iron bear bar that looks
really impervious to intruders until you glance left to the 5 foot picture
window next to it! (which we cover with bear shutters when we leave). (Note: for human intruders, most hingers are on the inside of doors. To deter bears, the hinges are on the outside, so they can't push a door in as easily).
Glass windows, plywood, polystyrene insulation, trusses, 2x4s, log screws, roofing metal - all was triaged and delivered over two winters in the order the builders thought they would get to that stage of construction. And during the summers, we hacked at alders, devil's club and downed spruce and birch to clear small spaces for these structures, disrupting millions of mosquitoes and thousands of wasps and bees in the process. One summer, we encountered a nice big, steaming pile of bear scat almost every morning near where we were working, just to let us know that he/she was watching us through the high grass. It was hot, dirty, buggy work. I, for one, was not a happy camper, although my husband was thoroughly enchanted by each day's exertions.
Once my husband finished the power tower and determined that he would be able to work by Internet and phone from that location, construction on the cabin commenced.
We positioned the cabin exactly
where the old homesteader had built his shed, on a little elevation about 50 ft
from the lake’s edge. Our 750 square foot home has two stories, with one room up and another down,
subdivided into functional areas, but not rooms. It is 16
x 24 feet, plus covered
decks (10 x16) for all those days when the temperature is pleasant enough to be
outside except for the multi-day light drizzles we get here. The front of the cabin faces west, with views
of the lake, two close mountains beyond and a more remote, higher mountain
range to the north. The front door is a sturdy
3 foot wide, 4 inch thick door outfitted with a cast iron bear bar that looks
really impervious to intruders until you glance left to the 5 foot picture
window next to it! (which we cover with bear shutters when we leave). (Note: for human intruders, most hingers are on the inside of doors. To deter bears, the hinges are on the outside, so they can't push a door in as easily). 
