Here is the final Wilsonia winter cabin drawing. This two-story cabin looks to be only one story high in the deep snow of whichever winter this was. As with the other two snow drawings, the photo was provided by the cabin owner because there weren’t any real winters while I was working on the book.
I found it to be quite interesting that all three cabins in snow are next to each other.
This cabin is on Mason, and is next to the cabin on Lilac.
This is the second of three Wilsonia cabins in winter drawings. This cabin is across the road from the previous drawing of a cabin in snow. I admit to a strong bias in favor of shingle siding, and this cabin captures the morning light so beautifully that I may have gotten carried away in my photos and drawings that represent this delightful mountain cottage-look cabin.
Yes, I am gushing.
Thank you, Dick and Mel, for having such a beautiful little place, providing the photo and commissioning me to draw it for you.
When I started the book The Cabins of Wilsonia, the winters turned dry. I had planned to take a few trips in during winter to photograph some cabins in snow, but there wasn’t any, not in any of the three winters while I was designing and drawing.
Three different cabin folks offered me photos of their cabins in the winter. The strange thing about those cabins is that all three are in a row in Wilsonia, although each one is on a different road.
Here is the first one.
Hillcrest cabin in winter
Cabins and doors are 2 of my favorite subjects to draw. The cabin doors in Wilsonia perfectly combine that interest. Here are a few more for you to enjoy:
Do you recognize any of these?
Why are doors such an interesting subject for art?
Because they are inviting, and they suggest something mysterious or welcoming beyond. . . any other theories?
Wilsonia is a collection a great doors, in addition to being a collection of great cabins.
Do you recognize any of these doors? More coming in 2 weeks. . .
Several times a year I participate in small art and craft boutiques, fairs, and festivals. I faithfully take original drawings of Wilsonia cabins and The Cabins of Wilsonia. Sometimes they actually sell. I spend a fair amount of time telling people about Wilsonia, that it is an architectural treasure here in Tulare County.
See? Okay, a teensy bit blurry, but I wanted you to know that I am faithfully letting people know that cabin communities matter.
While working on the book The Cabins of Wilsonia, sometimes people would ask why I was doing a book on Wilsonia iwhenI have a cabin in Mineral King. These are the top three reasons: 1. cabin communities matter; 2. I call my business Cabinart; 3. I like to document and portray the good things of Tulare County. *
But did you know that Wilsonia and Mineral King are tied together by the cabin that I married into?
In the spring of 1983, (2 years before I met my husband Michael), his family cabin in Mineral King blew up and burned down. It was next door to the Mixter cabin, whose permit had expired and was ordered by the Park to be torn down.
Over the course of the next 2 years, my husband pursued rebuilding his cabin and also the possibility of buying the Mixter’s cabin and turning his empty lot over to the Park to satisfy the law. Lots of red tape, lots of bureaucrats saying no, and then someone knew Someone who knew SOMEONE, and permission was granted to exchange his bare lot for the Mixter’s cabin with its expired permit.
While I was working on the book, Neal Mixter and I became friends. I gave him all the paperwork from Michael’s cabin exchange so he could study it and learn if there was a way to apply this experience to Wilsonia. He and other hard-working cabin folks went to endless meetings, and eventually they made a plan.
Maybe this is the reason that the Park has made its offer to exchange their unused cabins for private vacant lots. Maybe it isn’t, but I like to think that Michael’s experience with the Mineral King Mixter cabin and the Park got the ball rolling.
The Botkin cabin, formerly the Mixter cabin, Mineral King
*4. I already did a book on the cabins of Mineral King, called The Cabins of Mineral King; 5. I love to draw; 6. Several cabin folks in Wilsonia asked me to do a book on Wilsonia
Today I received an email that was forwarded from a press release by the Park. (Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, to be official, or SEKI for short)
There is a deadline to act on this offer from the Park. If you know someone with an empty lot who might be interested, CONTACT THEM TODAY. (Deadline is January 15, 2019)
Here it is in 3 screen shots for you to read. I’ll comment on it later and tell you the back story as I know it, up close and personal.
What?? Isn’t this a blog about Wilsonia cabins?
Yes, but my experience in the community of Wilsonia is somewhat limited. I was a visitor, a welcomed guest in 2 different cabins. This gave me a feel for Wilsonia, but it is different than my own cabin community of Mineral King.
Grab a cup of coffee, find a comfortable chair, and settle in. This is a long post, because I have lots to say on the subject of Mineral King cabins.
This is what I know about my own cabin community of Mineral King, learned after “marrying in” 32 years ago.
Mineral King cabin folks come from cities, suburbs, small towns and out in the country; we live in mansions, estates, apartments, and even a few normal houses. We are artists, bankers, equipment operators, janitors, teachers, farmers, administrative assistants, engineers, retirees, dental hygienists, sheriffs, lawyers, doctors, day care workers, musicians, optometrists, veterinary assistants, physical therapists, moms, Park employees, physician’s assistants, and those are just the first ones that come to mind. We come from California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Virginia, New York, Hawaii, Florida, South Dakota, and Egypt. (Probably more places that I can’t remember. . .)
Our Mineral King cabins, AKA “small, poorly constructed huts in the woods”, are great equalizers.
Every one of us, regardless of our backgrounds, livelihoods, economic, educational or political status, is thrilled to have a small, poorly constructed hut in the woods without electricity. Every cabin has a barely adequate kitchen, a laughably tiny (or no) bathroom, maybe one or two or even no bedrooms. Every single cabin user has to figure out how to deal with unreliable water, peculiar propane appliances, old stuff that may or may not work, and the definite lack of a maintenance department, hardware or grocery store. There is a terrible road to get there, rodents, spiders and other wildlife that may or may not be appreciated, and all sorts of unexpected situations. (Who left this chair and what happened to my flashlight?? Does anyone have any birthday candles? What do you mean Skin-So-Soft isn’t mosquito repellent? Are you kidding that I can’t blow-dry my hair?)
Every single cabin that is owned by multiple families has its conflicts, whether decorating, cleaning, maintaining, or scheduling. The cabins without partnerships have to bear the expenses, decisions, maintenance and cleaning without benefit of sharing the load.
Those who have complicated lives in fancy places might view a cabin as a mixed blessing: a family tradition, a repository of memories, and a bit of an inconvenience, but a treasured shabby shack in the mountains.
Those who have simpler lives in simpler places might also view a cabin as a mixed blessing: a family tradition, a repository of memories, and a huge treat, a treasured place of one’s own in the mountains.
Mineral King cabin folks have fought together to save our community, helped one another, hiked together, learned one another’s family trees, and through it all we have built friendships weekend upon weekend, year after year after decade after decade. And I am just a newcomer. . .
My own small, poorly constructed, hut in the woods
Is this different from Wilsonia? I’d love to hear your thoughts – feel free to use the commenting thing (it says “Leave a Reply”) on this post so others can also join in the discussion.
Not one-story.
I looked up “cabin” on my Mac. The dictionary on my computer has fairly useless definitions as far as our discussion is concerned.
Cabin may refer to:
- Beach cabin, a small wooden hut on a beach
- Log cabin, a house built from logs
- Chalet, a wooden mountain house with a sloping roof
- Small remote mansion (Western Canada)
- Small, free-standing structures that serve as individual lodging spaces of a motel
- Cottage, a small house
Forget that. Where’s my real Webster’s dictionary?? Mine was published in 2004 rather than 1935. Oh good grief, look at this: “A small, simple, one-story house.”
That’s it? Au contraire! (Is that how you say “You are wrong” in French?)
Too stylish to be considered “simple”.
A few folks checked in on my other blog with their thoughts on what a cabin is. One suggested “primitive”; another said a place to get away from every day life; someone else put forth the idea that a cabin is a state of mind. “Non-fancy” is a good description, and another added gave a description of an ideal cabin. She used the word “spare”, which could mean an extra home or it could mean without clutter. (I’ve seen some pretty cluttered cabins, and I have lived in a cabin when it was my only place of residence.)
To be continued next week (and feel free to share your thoughts on what makes a cabin in the comments, under “Leave a Reply”!)