Log Cabin in Cade's Cove, Great Smoky Mountains

Since the coronavirus Covid-19 hit a lot of modelers have confined themselves to the basement. Here is a project I've been meaning to do, but haven't gotten around to.  Maybe you can do it board-by-board in O scale! No cheating on the chimney...you have to stack the rocks one by one!


This is the John Oliver Place located in Cade's Cove, in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, between Gatlinburg and Townsend. This valley is full of preserved old building including the fantastic water mill.

John and Lucretia Oliver arreved here in 1818. The cabin is expected to have been built in the early 1820'. It is considered one of the oldest structures in the Smokies and the Oliver family lived here for more than a century. The cabin is constructed using half-dovetail notches. The outward sloping angles drain water away from the notch, thus discouraging rot. There are 3,000 hand cut shake (wood) shingles on the roof!  The doors and windows were small to help conserve heat and to minimize cutting structural logs. The chinking (clay inserted between the logs to seal it) needs constant maintenance.