About Fernald Cove Cottage:
More History:
The timbers and floors in the expansion came from a distillery in Cincinnati, which was being taken down, and the lumber sold for just pennies / foot. The beams are 2 1/2 inches thick X 8, 10 or 12 inches wide, ~20 ft long, of southern yellow pine, an extremely hard and well seasoned wood. Some of the vertical supports are massive, and the floors and ceiling are 2 X 6 inch tongue and groove, ~ 20 ft long, as can seen as you go up the spiral stairway. We purchased the wood in Cincinnati, hauled it to our home there and spent weeks pulling out nails, until we had ~40,000 pounds of lumber which we hauled up to the cottage on a truck.
We spent two years/summers building the addition, after having the foundation 'improved' (Had it redone again last year!) from original post supports. We used adjacent trees and block-and- tackle to hoist the beams in place; father & son (16). The support beams are bolted tripples, and only intersect the original structure in two places, the closets
And More:
The metal supports were custom made by a blacksmith in Cincinnati, where we spend our winters. As father & son assembled the support structure, roof shingles purchased in Oregon as pre-assembled shingled panels, 2 ft X 8 ft, and let us put up the roof covering in a much shorter time. These were pre-coated with sealant by mother and daughter (12) by putting them through a trough, enabling a thorough coating of sealer and recovery of excess for the next panel. True family effort! The final shingling and vertical shingles were done by Norman Harkins Builders, to whom we owe a great deal of thanks, as we did not have time to finish before 'summer vacation' ended, returning to Cincinnati and work and school.
Now we have a nice living room facing the cove, two bedrooms downstairs, (One we have converted to a TV room, DVD room really, as no real TV reception in the woods!) The second floor has a very large bdrm and bath/shower. Furnishings mostly from home. Hope you enjoy your stay!
