Hand hewn logs exposed where the brick veneer has been taken off the wall.

There is a log house inside that brick house.

Charles Latimer's people cut the timber on this ground and raised the house in the 1790's. Everything you can see from the road was added later. We are taking it off a layer at a time, by hand, and what is underneath is in better shape than anyone dared hope.

The 1790's: When it was raised
Three skins: Put over the logs
1830s: The older addition

01 · What is under the brick

Four layers, and each one newer than the last.

In the summer of 2025 we opened the wall up to see what we were dealing with. The logs were under three separate skins, each newer than the one beneath it. Taking them off is like reading the house backwards.

Outside

01 Brick veneer 20th c. The face the road sees, and the newest thing here. A concrete foundation was poured to carry its weight.
02 Cementitious siding 1940's A thin siding in a 1940's style, nailed over the wood below it.
03 Wood lap siding Before 1940 The first thing that ever hid the logs.
04 Hand hewn logs 1790's Cut on this ground and raised by Charles Latimer in the 1790's. Still sound at both floors. This is the house.

Inside · The 1790's

Findings from the deconstruction of summer 2025. A second deconstruction followed in June 2026 so the architect could produce an as built.

02 · The structure

What survived.

Two hundred years under brick, and the timber is in better condition than the outside of the building would lead you to expect.

The stone fireplace in a log wall, its mantel and chimney breast intact.

The logs: Sound at both floors, inside and out. There is rot on the north side, more than elsewhere, and it can be saved.
The beams upstairs: The log beams over the second floor are in excellent shape, and visible from below.
The fireplace: In excellent condition. It was repointed at some stage, and the original mortar is still there underneath the newer work.
The floors: Solid oak under the carpet downstairs. The bead board upstairs came later, probably from the end of the nineteenth century.

03 · The alterations

What was altered.

The house was covered over, and it was also cut into. None of it is beyond repair, and all of it is why this is structural work rather than decoration.

12 by 8 ft: An opening cut straight through the original log wall.
4 in: How far the house settled once that wall was gone. Visible on both floors.
2 to 4: Original windows upstairs, covered over at some point.
1960's: Paneling over nearly every wall inside, and carpet on the floors.