The Adirondack Cabin [Hardcover]

Robbin Obomsawin (Author), Nancie Battaglia (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 6, 2005

Best-selling author and log home expert Robbin Obomsawin features the rustic and charming architecture of the Adirondack great camps of the Northeast in her newest book. Established during the early twentieth century by wealthy rail and oil barons such as the Vanderbilts and the Rockefellers, the Adirondack camps served as the preeminent playground for those who wanted to escape industrial city life and reconnect with nature. Today, these classic camps represent the best of rustic style.
Beautiful interior and outdoor photography illustrate the landscape and camps, while Obomsawin's insightful text offers a history of Adirondack style and shows how it is interpreted into the great camps of today. Adirondack Cabins is ideal for builders, design professionals, and those who dream of building a mountain retreat of their own that reflects the unique style and feel of the region.
Robbin Obomsawin is the construction manager and general contractor for Beaver Creek Log Homes. She combines more than twenty years of log-joinery experience with her knowledge of conventional construction methods, and has served as vice president of the International Log Builder's Association for Handcrafters. She is the author of Small Log Homes, Log Cabin Classics, and The Arts & Crafts Cabin. She resides in upstate New York. Nancie Battaglia, a freelance photographer, lives in Lake Placid, New York, and has been documenting Adirondack lifestyle, scenes, themes and sporting activities for more than twenty-five years. Her photography has been seen in publications such as Sports Illustrated, Ski, Newsweek, Boys Life, Outside, National Geographic Adventure, Adirondack Life, the New York Times, as well as in books and promotional materials for the Adirondack region.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A distinctly American style of home design—marked by twig art, natural log railings, bunk rooms, rustic furniture and covered porches—gets enthusiastic treatment by Obomsawin and Battaglia in this attractive yet functional book. As inspirational as it is prescriptive, the work celebrates not only the forms and lines of Adirondack architectural style (which, Obomsawin explains, "blends with nature's own structural décor"), but also the environs in which such architecture is typically found, which abound with rock formations, mountains and lakes. Obomsawin (The Arts & Crafts Cabin; etc.) does provide some building plans and technical detail, including diagrams of vertical log siding, floor plans for an upstairs loft complete with multiple bunks and a reading nook, and renderings of multiple variations of trusses (although the book hardly serves as a do-it-yourself guide to building a cabin). But even readers who aren't planning to construct or renovate this kind of home will appreciate the warmth and character of the book's style and might want to add it to the stack on the coffee table—preferably a rustic-looking one made from rough-hewn logs and natural wood. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From the Inside Flap

The famous Adirondacks of upstate New York are world famous for their camps built from the land, surrounded by some of the most untamed and stunning landscape that has inspired so many. This rugged terrain gave birth to its own form of distinctive architecture that has stood the test of time and remains a classic. Although the original great camps of the 1900s were so talked about because of their expansive sizes, today's generations of builders are creating their own forms of great camps that return to the roots of Adirondack architecture. Robbin Obomsawin, in her sixth book, highlights the components that make an Adirondack camp spectacular. She reviews the most traditional exterior siding choices, heavy timber construction methods, the classic elegance of log elements and accents, porches, bunk rooms, fireplaces, trusses, outdoor showers, furnishings and twig art along with some of the more subtle effects and trade secrets of window and door patterns. Peek through a collection of camps comprising a mix of log cabins and log-element structures of 1,500 square feet and less that inspire a host of design ideas for any dwelling. Adirondack Cabins is perfect for those looking to re-create the casual yet romantic décor and rustic charm of the Adirondacks in their own home. About the Author Robbin Obomsawin is the construction manager and general contractor for Beaver Creek Log Homes. She combines over twenty years of log-joinery experience with her knowledge of conventional construction methods, and has served as vice president of the International Log Builder's Association for Handcrafters. She is the author of Small Log Homes, Best Log Home Plans, The Not So Log Cabin, Log Cabin Classics and The Arts & Crafts Cabin. She resides in upstate New York. About the Photographer Photographer Nancie Battaglia lives in Lake Placid, New York, and has been documenting Adirondack lifestyles, scenes, themes and sporting activities for over twenty-five years. Her stock and assignment photography has seen credit in numerous editorial publications such as Sports Illustrated, Ski, Newsweek, Boys Life, Outside, National Geographic Adventure, Adirondack Life and the New York Times, as well as in books, promotional material for I Love NY, the Adirondack region and many classic

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: Gibbs Smith (May 6, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 158685741X
• ISBN-13: 978-1586857417
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 10 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #942,013 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Lots of Adirondack history but- - -, June 6, 2005

By 

C. Anderson "LodgeLover" (Oregon City, Oregon) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Adirondack Cabin (Hardcover)

I feel that Robin Obomsawin did a much better job with her previous books by adding alot more pictures of the insides of the homes she wrote about. I was sadly disappointed that there were not more pictures of Adirondack homes. I have been very happy with her other books because of the beautiful pictures taken on the interiors, but this book was lacking in pictures of just that- interiors. I really looked forward to this book being released and bought it "sight unseen" and was deeply let down that inside the book, it lacked more pictures of cozy cabin retreats, showcasing all the rooms and decorating where I get my inspirations and ideas from. The author was very clear and informative on the adirondack history though and the building materials used on these types of houses.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pretty, Terrific Photos, but a Little Bland Here and There, March 22, 2006

By 

PG "Cabin Fever" (NYC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Adirondack Cabin (Hardcover)

I mostly buy more practical Adk books, but I thought it would be nice to have something more glossy ... a coffee-table type book for fun. I have to give the author major praise for including a great variety of camps/cabins, all the way from big, million-dollar homes down to tiny one-roomers. (There is even a section called "Small Gems," which is what I want to build, so I was very happy.) It is, I should also say, a beautiful book. Fabulous photos. I got lots of ideas about authentic Adk architectural touches, types of siding, interior ideas, etc. And I really appreciated that I didn't feel "outclassed," that it wasn't a book full of mansions. The text is pretty random, but all the same, I'm glad I bought it.

1 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Andirondack Camps & Mansions of Bygone Days., September 3, 2006

By 

Betty Burks "Betty Burks" (Knoxville, TN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Adirondack Cabin (Hardcover)

In the late 19th century, the wealthy men who wanted to impress poured some of their money into large mansions like Biltmore Estate in Asheville, N.C., only in New York they opted for the "Adirondack style" with a rustic flavor. Floor plans for the cabins are included in this picture book complete with the history of this area. Later they were turned into camps for rich kids. Some of these camps such as Santanoni were operating for one hundred years, from 1850 to 1950. Only a few survive today.

Resort hotels sprang up during that era as retreats to nature from the environs of New York City. Hotel Champlain and Sagamore resorts for the luxury and culture of a period in U. S. history of radical change, are still operating. In Giles County in Middle Tennessee, we have such a place called the Milky Way Farm. Not much of the farm is intact, as parcels were sold to people who desired to live there, not to investors. However, the intriguing home built in the center of the property by the Mars family used local labor and is still open and splendid, inside and out. It has passed from mostly spectulators trying for a bed and breakfast or some such money-making operation. Some rooms are decorated in the style of the times using the original furnishings. The outside stone horse barns ahve disappeared, but the stone fences surrounding the fields leading up to the house which were built by the WPA workers, are still visible. The dining room used for special events has a round table built in that room, as it is too large to get through any of the doors. I ate there when Vo-Tech hosted a supper for public officials and the school's teachers and staff. I was part of the staff at that time. In New York, they are seen as relics of a bygone world of the super-rich. Built by and for the Rockefellers, Astors, Roosevelts, Vanderbilts, etc. who needed to escape the industrial city life and reconnect with nature. Now, there are million dollar homes there.

Santanoni is located hihg up in the peaks of the Adirondacks Mountains. The expanse is impressive and includes 12,500 acres in Newcomb. The main lodge build with a Japanese temple effect still shows the grandeur of the past as lived by the rich and famous.