Colorado kayaker's cabin

Sunset, Oct, 1995 by Daniel Gregory

Colorado's arkansas river has been a passion of architect Ron Mason's since his first kayaking trip here in the 1960s. In the 1970s he was able to buy 17 acres along a section that had once been part of a gold-mining claim known as Georgia Bar.

He was determined to build a house that would fit the rugged, history-laden site, and so the log cabins of Colorado's early miners became a primary source of inspiration. The result is a contemporary log home that suits its rustic riverside setting. Says Mason: "Sometimes when I'm alone in the cabin I think of it as an ark and the kayaks as lifeboats."

Two structures built of 10-inch-diameter lodgepole pine (harvested from standing dead timber) are connected by a common deck and face south toward a bend in the river and 14,197-foot Mount Belford in the distance. The larger 18- by 48-foot structure contains kitchen, living area, and master bedroom with studio loft in three modular spaces that open to the deck through pairs of French doors. The smaller 18- by 24-foot structure contains the guest room, which also opens directly to the deck. The Sioux tepee that Mason camped in for many years before the house was built still stands near the approach road and handles overflow guests.

To avoid the dark interiors of traditional log cabins, Mason treated the gable ends as window walls, used the French doors to open up die south-facing walls, and included skylights in the galvanized metal roofs. Daylight floods in. Indeed, jurors found the manipulation of daylight especially skillful. David Miller observed that "historically log cabins had a rigor initially because they were always simple, small, functional, very compact -- this has that kind of rigor and yet it adds a new thing: transparency." According to Mason the south-facing glass and the heavy logs help the house absorb and retain heat very well during winter. Woodstoves are the only other source of heat.