Friday, August 10, 2012

Garden View Cabin and Greenhouse





 This little cabin sits on our property next to my huge vegetable garden. It did not start out to be this big or for this purpose. Here is how an idea evolved. My husband and I love to scrounge things and we have a lot of old wood and windows stored in our barns that he has collected from jobs or the roadside. We were talking about building a small potting shed for me to start my seeds in for gardening.  This changed into the idea of using some of our many collected old windows for one wall to make it more of a greenhouse. The idea kept evolving. He had done two recent demolition jobs where he kept the materials. One was tearing down an old deck and the other was tearing down a barn that had caved in due to snow.  Now this was going to be a huge greenhouse using the deck as the floor, reclaimed barn wood for the sides, and reclaimed barn tin roof for the top. He built the basic greenhouse and it was 8 x 16 feet. Last summer it was done and I used it to extend my growing season with several potted herbs and vegetables.  The inside was not finished off and it was for the purpose of gardening.  We had two friends visit from Rhode Island last summer. They rode here on their motorcycles and decided they would camp-out in our greenhouse. This was the start of phase two of the greenhouse project.
  Our friend jokingly put in his request for some upgrades to the "hotel" and said he would come back to stay again during the next summer. So, we went above and beyond is requests by adding insulation, walls, paint, carpet, beds, tables, mirror and even air conditioning. We added a deck area to sit and look out over the garden too. 
     My husband and I camped out in it one night and it was a very cozy rustic atmosphere making it feel like we were really camping.  Luckily we had the house nearby for facilities. Our friend was a little disappointed when he was coming to visit and we had to tell him that the cabin was not available for him. My husband's parents were also here during that same time (for my son's graduation) and they had "reserved" the cabin.  He came back several weeks later with his son-in-law and grandson and all three of them were able to stay in the cabin.
     Our plan is to have this as a multi-use building now.  In the fall I will move some plants in to extend the season. In the spring I will start my seeds and put them in the "greenhouse" I will not be making a mess in there now as I would have if it were just a potting shed. My husband plans to put vertical shelves up the entire window wall for the growing plants. The project evolved into a great Garden View Cabin and Greenhouse.
   

2 comments:

  1. Sleeping in the cabin was like sleeping at a rustic motel. I slept great, it was so peaceful and quiet. Great cabin. Of course my son made it so I am proud of him as usual.

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  2. Beautiful.. and what a fun idea.. I can't wait to come visit so we can stay in there :)

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