The genius in the simplicity of these cabin builders. Minimal maintenance, minimal material usage. Made from renewable resources, little to no exposure to chemicals. And will last multiple generations.
The bur oaks are there by themselves is because the area must have been an oak savanna like our land. Around them would have been prairie grasses which would occasionally burn. Bur oak is very fire resistant which is why they would remain. We still have many of the big old oaks on our land, and we are restoring the oak savanna habitat by replanting the prairie grasses and other plants as well as new bur oak trees. We built our own house like you as well -- and are still building after nine years. We are more modern homesteaders, but I love the older ways as well. Love your place John, it's beautiful.
Genius! Kirsten, tell this gentleman he is a genius! He is doing something that is fundamental: understanding who he is, "what is underneath him", how things are put together and why, etc... If one does not have a grasp on these things, what is the point of thinking about the future? Thanks a million, for a great episode, Kirsten! Again. Ricardo
I am a Minnesotan,and I love his wisdom and ways,I don't work a 9 to 5 since I was about 21,I enjoy my family,my woman my life,I'm not saying it's perfect but I'm so happy I haven't wasted my life at a job and enjoyed all 55 years so far,, I hope more people get back to nature and family,we would all be much much more in tune with ourselves and others.and we all could enjoy a once in a lifetime chance to be KING of ourselves. Remember you only get one shot enjoy it all and live long! PAPA GUNN MINNESOTA SON ✌🏼
Wow, what an impressive man. Back in the old days, there were many men like him. Now, he is a rare person to find. I am glad you did this video and asked him all those questions because he is too modest to brag like people do these days. Thank you!😊
@@beatthedevil1396 - I'll explain since English isn't your first language. Saying - I have nothing BUT respect for this guy - actually means that they do HAVE respect for this man, just like I respect him. Hopefully that helps to clarify the phrase for you.
Yes, they do. People are building off the grid everywhere, and in Alaska especially, Montana too. But you can live off the grid anywhere, if you have what it takes to do it. It's not easy. Watch "Maine Cabin Masters" on DIY Network (I stream from an online service). These Maine "camps" are very rustic, many of them totally off the grid with no power except gasoline generators. Some of the repairs and reno work the Cabin Masters do includes having solar panels installed to power a few lights, etc. There are the "Barnwood Buildings" out of West Virginia, another hit show on DIY Network. They've saved old cabins from all across the country and have reconstructed them elsewhere to willing buyers (not inexpensive, though) and use logs and left-overs from tear-downs to build new structures that they also sell. Watching shows like "Building Alaska" and "Building Off the Grid" on DIY Network has given me a whole new perspective on how we could live, and how we should live!
I LOVE this little cabin in the woods. As I get older it becomes more and more apparent to me that I "need" less and less "stuff" and a simpler, less complicated life is so much better. Enjoying peace and quiet, getting back to nature and managing just fine with the basics in life sounds wonderful to me. Thank you for sharing this video.
I grew up on a farm in SW Wisconsin in the 50's, without indoor plumbing until 1955. We had a small hand pump at the kitchen sink, and it drained outside into the driveway. The outhouse was about 50 feet from the house, down a concrete walkway. Baths were taken in a big washtub in front of the kerosene heater in the living room. The kitchen had a small wood burner for heat, the cookstove was propane. It was a simpler way of life, and I feel I spent the best years of my life in that location. Now at 76, I fondly look back on those halcyon days. - Thanks to John and Ruth for keeping the past alive!
you look back on them fondly, but i guarantee you'd have taken modern plumbing in a heart beat back then. You'll probably lie and say you would never, but if life were truly better humans would have never invented replacements.
He could teach, this generation are not being taught anything that is made by hand , his knowledge is priceless, such an interesting man !Love this video !
log cabins are cool. can we just leave it at that? I get really tired of the petty "ageism" on youtube comments. This generation, that generation. There's overpopulation and addiction to fossil fuels. It's everyone's problem. How many cabins have you built?
@@josesenna965 complains about this generation and says they wont learn...this generation is the first to see how much we are destroying the planet and actively want to change it, but cant cause the old people wont learn and grow.
His message about the disintegration of community is really important. Humans need community and connection. Also: “perhaps we’ve convenienced our lives away” 👀👀👀👀
I so agree. People live in such big houses with things that last only a few years and the sad part is most don't even know the neighbors. People used to come together to build barns, grew food etc. Now we go to a store which ships the food across country and you see all the wasted time, money, gas etc this creates and you wonder WHY.
small footprint both worlds contradict each other. That’s like saying let’s put lava and cold water together, eventually one will be destroyed and consumed by the other. Your opinion is a fantasy eutopia.
the sounds of nature and daily life is what makes this channel different from other channels that feature houses.... this make me so relaxed and feel good about life....despite being a busy college student
I only have an issue with the videos that are not in English. And that’s only because these usually have subtitles so I can’t take in every pixel of the video while trying to read the subtitles at the same time. I wish they would use voice overs instead
busy and college student are oxymorons. You'll never have as much time to fuck around as you do in college. Yes, that includes engineering and science majors too.
Thank you for making this video, and Thanks to your Mother-in- law for $20 pile of ruble you saved and turned into a beautiful Cabin, you have so much ingenuity, I love all the research you have done, to perfect your skills, which allowed you to restore this pioneer cabin
THIS IS A MAN THAT STANDS FOR A BEAUTIFUL WORLD, LIVING IN HARMONY WITH NATURE AND HIS FELLOW MAN KIND.... I LOVE HIS THOUGHTS. AND I WOULD LOVE TO LIVE LIKE THIS. 😍
I have a modern frame Cabin in east central MN. Electricity and indoor plumbing but no TV , radio or internet. It's a nice getaway from the constant intrusions of contemporary life. Garden, orchard and berries are good for the soul. My late wife and I bought for a getaway from the day to day. And now it's my retirement activity. It's important to have connections to nature and the land.
So beautiful to see the Dutch Elm in your house! My Grand Father , Robert McCarthy was an Arborist , from Mass.. he worked for DOA and traveled the east coast trying to save them! You have done such beautiful renovations and it's been a pleasure viewing your makings!
@@sharonkeith601🇬🇧 There is a colony of 17,000 Elm trees which have mostly, so far, survived the beetle around Brighton in UK. I don't think they have sussed out why they survived and have to take great care pruning them every year. It has been discovered that they can also grow to bush hight, maybe 5', in other places without being killed off so there is hope one day they will find a cure for the fungus.
What a beautiful display of heritage living....I could live like this. Simple, respect, integrity. Live and love off the land. If this is rentable I would love to speak to the owner to share this experience with my family.
I grew up in Minnesota and love it, all i can say is Minnesota is the best place to live and also if you wanna raise a family...a lot of history to go around as well here in Minnesota :)
This was my favorite video. I love the cabins, the wood, all of the details and the way he built his own. I also loved how kindly he spoke of the Amish people. He admires and respects them. His chairs are so beautiful. It's like they are living in another time, a time that seems more precious. I loved seeing his wife hanging the clothing on the line. What a beautiful place. I would love to stay in that old restored cabin.
This man is sooo valuable. We need him & his knowledge. He knows of things we've never known or pondered about. Priceless. Much love to you, sir. Great video.
I could have watched and watched and listened for hours. Such a beautiful soul of a man respecting our earth and the bounty we humans have been given to work with. Happily, my iPad brought this man into my living room through TH-cam on wifi. Otherwise, I might have never seen or heard everything I just did. Thank you for sharing this most beautiful man and his homes with us.
When I was a little girl my family would visit my Aunt and Uncle's small farm in Southern Ohio. It was like a piece of Heaven for me. I'm going on 72 now and I miss it so much. I love the country life.
Kirsten, thanks so much for this, greatly enjoyed this gentleman. Today was a poor day full of seizures and illness, but to just walk through the woods and visit this gentleman's home was a luxury indeed.
FANTASTIC video! The fact that I'm from Minnesota might be part of why I feel that way, but this man has an important message about life. If only our children could have classes from a man like him. Not only is the cabin beautiful but his own home is as well. This is probably one of my all time favorite videos to watch.
Depression is not in this man's vocab..making and doing at what he knows best..such a good life style... sharing with the ones he loves..thankyou for this one..so inspiring. ⭐
T Hyslop: People of every generation keep saying that. Cabin was built in 1800's. Want to go back to that time? Women had no voting rights. People lived much shorter lives; infant mortality rate was high; no A/C, central heat, running water, hot water; no washers and dryers;; no flushing toilets. Hard, physical labor needed every day, and if you're injured, that's it. And, if you were black...... Or, an immigrant. No, these were NOT good times for the vast majority of people. Poverty was rampant. What you're doing is common for human beings to do. That is, you're comparing what looks like the "good times" from the past with the "bad times/things" of the present. When you do that, OF COURSE the past is going to look better.
BeeFriendlyApiary Yes there will. He was instructed in some basics, but mostly self taught by reading. There are young men and women today doing the same thing. I live 40 miles from the Joseph Campbell School. My daughter spent her teens on a subsistence farm. I do carpentry starting from green logs. I have friends with pit saws and that hew their own beams. As long as there are trees available and allowed to cut, then there will be timbermen and woodwrights.
It makes me so happy to see this in my state... I'm a young man,but saving our history and respecting the ways our forefathers lived holds a deep place in my heart
Thank you so much for this Kirsten and Family for your dedication to bring us these amazing videos. This one is my favourite for so many reasons, and brings tears to my eyes. I lived in the BC wilderness homesteading like this for 17 years raising a family. This story reminds me of the value of how we lived our lives this way . ATB
What a treasure! And he’s literally 20-25 minutes south of me. So from one born and raised Minnesotan to another, I say he did an amazing job ! Great video 😊
This house is absolutely STUNNING!!!! The work they’ve put into that house, inside and out, log by log, is astonishing and so inspiring. I’m in love with this home you’ve built!!
I think the thing to take way from this isn't so much that everyone should live in a log cabin in the woods and abandon the modern conveniences of life, as much as that human beings need two things to be happy that used to come for free but most aren't getting anymore; community and a true sense of achievement. Too many people are isolated, your friends from college are scattered to the winds, you no longer live in the same state as your parents, and it's too hard to get that back. People also work day after day at unfulfilling jobs where they do nothing but pay the bills, no achievements they can look back on when they're older, no project that truly stretches their ability and creativity and puts them into a flow state, just a series of paychecks. You don't need an amish community, but you do need a community. You don't need to build houses by hand, but you do need to do something fulfilling and creative and challenging, and if that can't happen at your job it needs to be a hobby. Write a book, program and video game, sculpt, paint, do wood carving. You can't just sit in a cubicle for eight hours a day doing work you don't truly care about and then come home and do nothing but watch netflix/youtube and browse the internet and expect to be happy. It just doesn't work that way.
This was beautifully said. And I completely agree. Without purpose or achievement, there can feel like there is nothing worth living for. Find something that makes your life worth living, that gives you reason to wake up each day, something that you can look back on and be proud of. It's not easy, and we're not taught to do this very much, but each of us have the ability to find our own way home, to ourselves.
But thats what I do, and I'm happy. Work, and then chill at home. Watch some TV, browse the internet. I'm just not creative. I can look back at my life and smile as I was happy, but there isn't anything i'm going to be proud of really. That's selfish of me. That's just thinking about me.
I do enjoyed this Video. I am not a 21 Centry person eater. Love the old Log Cabin. My Grand parents was such a Blessing to me. Teaching me the old ways. I so miss the easy way of life. God bless you for restoring the Cabin.
This cabin is beautiful!! What a big challenge to put this back together after taking it apart to move it to a new location of land! Iam so amazed at this precious restoration! I love it! 😊❤️👍⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Cabin in the woods - my dream. I get tired so much by flashy city and people. Stayng for a few nights alone, reading Dostoevsky in candle light and listening to the sounds of woods during fall months is something I crave for.
Omgoodness this house looks exactly like the one I grew up in. I would love to visit this house. I'm so glad this man know its value. Thanks for sharing this you made my day.
Thank you so much for this video. There is something in this house that lets me feel real love again. Like reinstating something that was lost and i didnt know what i had missed it until i was caught up in the house. 💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛
Because of Technology we have lost our communities, I'm glad I was raised at my grandparents log cabin with an outhouse, carrying water and cooking on a wood fire stove .Millennials now wouldn't be able to live this way they are helpless without their technology. I miss sleeping in a cabin Loft in the summer time with the windows open and listening to the Whippoorwill Birds, not hearing any cars or planes ,peaceful so dark you can't see your hand in front of your face.
I am filled with admiration for anyone who can devote themselves to such projects, it's almost like a life long love affair communing with Nature. This is somewhere I would happily spend extended periods of time. Emptying the mind of all the clutter of modern living must only be beneficial to mental and physical wellbeing.
This gentleman ‘s knowledge and abilities on minimalistic living far exceeds any modern day living situations. He seems to be very willing and open to sharing his knowledge.....please..... someone.... go there and record as he shares his many gifts with the world....we will need this information again before all is said and done.
Came across your channel a while back and from all the videos I've seen, this is my favorite. Plus, I like how y'all take the kids with you when touring the homes and properties.
I love this gentleman’s passion for nature and preserving history. Great video!! We have similar log cabins here in Madison, Indiana. Many have been restored to be as close to original as possible. Love these beautiful old homes... oh the stories they could tell..
That outhouse brought back memories of our own made of bamboo and palm leaves fore roofing. We have a real toilet in the house but we built one, with a wooden seat, so that we don't have to get inside for nature"s call while working outside of the house. It was kept clean all the time
Wow.....this cabin and way of life has always been my dream since I was a little kid. What craftsmanship and this man has a passionate soul for a different way of living such as myself. I am more than amazed at this mans determination and way of thinking. Thanks for sharing, totally brought many smiles to my face tonight.
Love this house. I'm so glad they keep it original inside. What a wonderful house. Looks so peaceful. Thanks for sharing this awesome house, Chris from Missouri
Kirsten, your filming is so touching, humane and in a very special way poetic. This gent connects us all to life , nature , traditions and meaning of heritage, no boundaries ...Beautiful presentation, splendid discourse to remember for life 🌹❤👈💎 it chimes in my mind....
My mom raised on the farm. Grandpa plowed with a horse. Midwest, the outhouse outside , had to pump the water, no electricity until she was 12 years old. She talked about the hardships. She loved the modern conveniences. Could not wait to leave the farm .Born in 1930.
Outstanding job on the video! From camera angles, editing and sound to getting across the point this man is making and allowing him to talk this is a thoughtful and on-point video. Thank you for posting it. 👍
Thank you for doing this video and for the owner allowing us to see it and hear the history. I'm so jealous, wanted to do this most of my life. A few years back I traveled around North Carolina looking at old tobacco barns with idea of moving and making a cabin from them on in-laws lake property.
The genius in the simplicity of these cabin builders. Minimal maintenance, minimal material usage. Made from renewable resources, little to no exposure to chemicals. And will last multiple generations.
This man is a deep thinker and a soft-spoken man, matter of fact about his incredible, self-taught skill set. Admirable.
My respect for that guy. Lucky to be able to live in a beautiful land and to be free to live as he chose to. Great video.
The bur oaks are there by themselves is because the area must have been an oak savanna like our land. Around them would have been prairie grasses which would occasionally burn. Bur oak is very fire resistant which is why they would remain. We still have many of the big old oaks on our land, and we are restoring the oak savanna habitat by replanting the prairie grasses and other plants as well as new bur oak trees. We built our own house like you as well -- and are still building after nine years. We are more modern homesteaders, but I love the older ways as well. Love your place John, it's beautiful.
Genius! Kirsten, tell this gentleman he is a genius! He is doing something that is fundamental: understanding who he is, "what is underneath him", how things are put together and why, etc... If one does not have a grasp on these things, what is the point of thinking about the future?
Thanks a million, for a great episode, Kirsten! Again.
Ricardo
I am a Minnesotan,and I love his wisdom and ways,I don't work a 9 to 5 since I was about 21,I enjoy my family,my woman my life,I'm not saying it's perfect but I'm so happy I haven't wasted my life at a job and enjoyed all 55 years so far,, I hope more people get back to nature and family,we would all be much much more in tune with ourselves and others.and we all could enjoy a once in a lifetime chance to be KING of ourselves. Remember you only get one shot enjoy it all and live long! PAPA GUNN MINNESOTA SON ✌🏼
Wow, what an impressive man. Back in the old days, there were many men like him. Now, he is a rare person to find. I am glad you did this video and asked him all those questions because he is too modest to brag like people do these days. Thank you!😊
This is beautiful. I have nothing but respect for this guy
Same, he is an amazing man.
You havea nothing respec?t ..shaam on yous peepl.. Thata no nicey
@@beatthedevil1396 - I'll explain since English isn't your first language.
Saying - I have nothing BUT respect for this guy - actually means that they do HAVE respect for this man, just like I respect him.
Hopefully that helps to clarify the phrase for you.
He makes me feel very inspired and his voice is very soothing.
This guy is a national treasure! They don't make them like him no more!
They are still, being born, just few and far between.
@Steve Slade I don't think she is talking only about the carpentry skills, he has a very self sustaining attitude, towards life.
Shelli Cooper so true. This guy is a genuine gem!
Yes, they do. People are building off the grid everywhere, and in Alaska especially, Montana too. But you can live off the grid anywhere, if you have what it takes to do it. It's not easy. Watch "Maine Cabin Masters" on DIY Network (I stream from an online service). These Maine "camps" are very rustic, many of them totally off the grid with no power except gasoline generators. Some of the repairs and reno work the Cabin Masters do includes having solar panels installed to power a few lights, etc. There are the "Barnwood Buildings" out of West Virginia, another hit show on DIY Network. They've saved old cabins from all across the country and have reconstructed them elsewhere to willing buyers (not inexpensive, though) and use logs and left-overs from tear-downs to build new structures that they also sell. Watching shows like "Building Alaska" and "Building Off the Grid" on DIY Network has given me a whole new perspective on how we could live, and how we should live!
This says more about you than anything.
I LOVE this little cabin in the woods. As I get older it becomes more and more apparent to me that I "need" less and less "stuff" and a simpler, less complicated life is so much better. Enjoying peace and quiet, getting back to nature and managing just fine with the basics in life sounds wonderful to me. Thank you for sharing this video.
Amen !
I grew up on a farm in SW Wisconsin in the 50's, without indoor plumbing until 1955. We had a small hand pump at the kitchen sink, and it drained outside into the driveway. The outhouse was about 50 feet from the house, down a concrete walkway. Baths were taken in a big washtub in front of the kerosene heater in the living room. The kitchen had a small wood burner for heat, the cookstove was propane. It was a simpler way of life, and I feel I spent the best years of my life in that location. Now at 76, I fondly look back on those halcyon days. - Thanks to John and Ruth for keeping the past alive!
we lived like that when I was a baby, same area of Wisconsin :)
you look back on them fondly, but i guarantee you'd have taken modern plumbing in a heart beat back then. You'll probably lie and say you would never, but if life were truly better humans would have never invented replacements.
@@CrankyBubushka - in a coulee outside Prairie du Chien.
@@Aestheticnerdlife Oh I agree lol. My Grandma used to say, "the good old days, weren't so good". And she would have known lol.
Thanks for sharing that story with us, Dale! It's beautiful :)
He could teach, this generation are not being taught anything that is made by hand , his knowledge is priceless, such an interesting man !Love this video !
He just did. You have to learn along time to build & build well.
This generation won’t learn.
It’s sad to have believed they would’ve
To be fair, the vast majority of his generation wasn't taught about hand making anything either.
log cabins are cool. can we just leave it at that? I get really tired of the petty "ageism" on youtube comments. This generation, that generation. There's overpopulation and addiction to fossil fuels. It's everyone's problem. How many cabins have you built?
Very true
@@josesenna965 complains about this generation and says they wont learn...this generation is the first to see how much we are destroying the planet and actively want to change it, but cant cause the old people wont learn and grow.
His message about the disintegration of community is really important. Humans need community and connection.
Also: “perhaps we’ve convenienced our lives away” 👀👀👀👀
I love that thought as well. Something in there about life is in those small daily struggles.
I so agree. People live in such big houses with things that last only a few years and the sad part is most don't even know the neighbors. People used to come together to build barns, grew food etc. Now we go to a store which ships the food across country and you see all the wasted time, money, gas etc this creates and you wonder WHY.
Maybe we can take the best of both worlds, and without getting rid of the past, or denigrating the current, appreciate and respect it all. JMO
small footprint both worlds contradict each other. That’s like saying let’s put lava and cold water together, eventually one will be destroyed and consumed by the other. Your opinion is a fantasy eutopia.
Such an awesome quote right? Felt the exact same way when he said that.
Elizabeth L. Johnson said, My! John is right. It's could for my soul; this video touches my soul. Gorgeous!
the sounds of nature and daily life is what makes this channel different from other channels that feature houses.... this make me so relaxed and feel good about life....despite being a busy college student
Thank you. I felt that way when I walked onto his property.
This channel is surprisingly therapeutic.
I only have an issue with the videos that are not in English. And that’s only because these usually have subtitles so I can’t take in every pixel of the video while trying to read the subtitles at the same time. I wish they would use voice overs instead
busy and college student are oxymorons. You'll never have as much time to fuck around as you do in college. Yes, that includes engineering and science majors too.
H Vance leaving+
Thank you for making this video, and Thanks to your Mother-in- law for $20 pile of ruble you saved and turned into a beautiful Cabin, you have so much ingenuity, I love all the research you have done, to perfect your skills, which allowed you to restore this pioneer cabin
THIS IS A MAN THAT STANDS FOR A BEAUTIFUL WORLD, LIVING IN HARMONY WITH NATURE AND HIS FELLOW MAN KIND.... I LOVE HIS THOUGHTS. AND I WOULD LOVE TO LIVE LIKE THIS. 😍
This man is a treasure. Hope he has been teaching younger people and passing his skills on. Or making TH-cam videos !
. What a breath of wisdom and simple bliss.
I love people who can just say the most profound things in a casual way.
There’s something so peaceful about cabins
Cabins are made from natural woods and are solid, not like today's modern homes.
“Perhaps we’ve ‘convenienced’ our real lives away.”
So true.
the way he just stood when he said that 😂😂😂
This man reminds me so much of my papa. He also lives in rural Minnesota. He owns a sawmill and cut his own logs to build his own house.
lovely
Simply beautiful. So many of us feel stuck in the wrong time.
I have a modern frame Cabin in east central MN. Electricity and indoor plumbing but no TV , radio or internet. It's a nice getaway from the constant intrusions of contemporary life. Garden, orchard and berries are good for the soul. My late wife and I bought for a getaway from the day to day. And now it's my retirement activity. It's important to have connections to nature and the land.
This channel brings me so much relaxation
Me too.
This world needs more people like this couple... Thank you for this glimpse into the past.
100%
So beautiful to see the Dutch Elm in your house! My Grand Father , Robert McCarthy was an Arborist , from Mass.. he worked for DOA and traveled the east coast trying to save them! You have done such beautiful renovations and it's been a pleasure viewing your makings!
wow
Raven Carrier / Did anyone save any Dutch Elm seeds?
@@sharonkeith601 Honestly, I do not know if that was permitted. I see many American/Chinese Elm but not a single hit for Dutch variety.
Even the American Elm is getting extinct with the bor ash bettle invasion. I don't believe there is much Dutch Elm tress left in USA
@@sharonkeith601🇬🇧 There is a colony of 17,000 Elm trees which have mostly, so far, survived the beetle around Brighton in UK. I don't think they have sussed out why they survived and have to take great care pruning them every year. It has been discovered that they can also grow to bush hight, maybe 5', in other places without being killed off so there is hope one day they will find a cure for the fungus.
What a beautiful display of heritage living....I could live like this. Simple, respect, integrity. Live and love off the land. If this is rentable I would love to speak to the owner to share this experience with my family.
I grew up in Minnesota and love it, all i can say is Minnesota is the best place to live and also if you wanna raise a family...a lot of history to go around as well here in Minnesota :)
This was my favorite video. I love the cabins, the wood, all of the details and the way he built his own. I also loved how kindly he spoke of the Amish people. He admires and respects them. His chairs are so beautiful. It's like they are living in another time, a time that seems more precious. I loved seeing his wife hanging the clothing on the line. What a beautiful place. I would love to stay in that old restored cabin.
This man is sooo valuable. We need him & his knowledge. He knows of things we've never known or pondered about. Priceless. Much love to you, sir. Great video.
true
I could have watched and watched and listened for hours. Such a beautiful soul of a man respecting our earth and the bounty we humans have been given to work with. Happily, my iPad brought this man into my living room through TH-cam on wifi. Otherwise, I might have never seen or heard everything I just did. Thank you for sharing this most beautiful man and his homes with us.
When I was a little girl my family would visit my Aunt and Uncle's small farm in Southern Ohio. It was like a piece of Heaven for me. I'm going on 72 now and I miss it so much. I love the country life.
Great video. Living in Minnesota makes his story that much more special.
I would to see this cabin and the surrounding countryside in the winter with snow.
Kirsten, thanks so much for this, greatly enjoyed this gentleman. Today was a poor day full of seizures and illness, but to just walk through the woods and visit this gentleman's home was a luxury indeed.
Love it!!!!! Simplicity is so Beautiful...... The good ole days!!!!! So healing..... Peaceful.....
What a remarkable individual with amazing talent and great respect for tradition and history. Fascinating video!
I love these stories. Sunday mornings are a joy learning about the unique ways others live around the world.
Your home is absolutely lovely...
The grey wood is so beautiful and the flowers are so pretty. I love your chairs too.
FANTASTIC video! The fact that I'm from Minnesota might be part of why I feel that way, but this man has an important message about life. If only our children could have classes from a man like him. Not only is the cabin beautiful but his own home is as well. This is probably one of my all time favorite videos to watch.
"perhaps we've convenienced our real lives away" True words. Too much convenience goes hand in hand with a lack of awareness
These are both beautiful buildings. Y’all are adorable, smart and knowledgeable. Many happy years to come, GOD bless!
Depression is not in this man's vocab..making and doing at what he knows best..such a good life style... sharing with the ones he loves..thankyou for this one..so inspiring. ⭐
As a society we have lost our way, the fabric torn. He is one of those guys, a root, a tenous one that makes us still see back.
T Hyslop: People of every generation keep saying that. Cabin was built in 1800's. Want to go back to that time? Women had no voting rights. People lived much shorter lives; infant mortality rate was high; no A/C, central heat, running water, hot water; no washers and dryers;; no flushing toilets. Hard, physical labor needed every day, and if you're injured, that's it. And, if you were black...... Or, an immigrant. No, these were NOT good times for the vast majority of people. Poverty was rampant. What you're doing is common for human beings to do. That is, you're comparing what looks like the "good times" from the past with the "bad times/things" of the present. When you do that, OF COURSE the past is going to look better.
I am humbled by the work of this man, and have the utmost respect for him and what he created.
How wonderful that they saved this historic cabin. Great job, thanks.
When that dude goes there will not be another like him...A true craftsman!!!
BeeFriendlyApiary Yes there will. He was instructed in some basics, but mostly self taught by reading. There are young men and women today doing the same thing. I live 40 miles from the Joseph Campbell School. My daughter spent her teens on a subsistence farm. I do carpentry starting from green logs. I have friends with pit saws and that hew their own beams.
As long as there are trees available and allowed to cut, then there will be timbermen and woodwrights.
You do seem to find the most interesting buildings/dwellings and meet the most interesting people. Thank you!
It makes me so happy to see this in my state... I'm a young man,but saving our history and respecting the ways our forefathers lived holds a deep place in my heart
I wish there were more men like John. WONDERFUL video, Kirsten!
Kirsten, your talent to always find the most interesting people and giving them a platform never fails to amaze me!! Thank you!🙏🏻
Beautiful person this man, the knowledge is awesome, thanks for showing!
Thank you so much for this Kirsten and Family for your dedication to bring us these amazing videos. This one is my favourite for so many reasons, and brings tears to my eyes. I lived in the BC wilderness homesteading like this for 17 years raising a family. This story reminds me of the value of how we lived our lives this way . ATB
So glad she spent the $20 bucks. History being saved. And through it the knowledge of how to repeat it.
Fascinating! You don't meet many people these days that have the skill his man does Great video. Thank you for sharing!
This was so enchanting! old dawg just is so confident with everything he is about!! great place and is so WOKE!!
What a treasure! And he’s literally 20-25 minutes south of me. So from one born and raised Minnesotan to another, I say he did an amazing job ! Great video 😊
This house is absolutely STUNNING!!!! The work they’ve put into that house, inside and out, log by log, is astonishing and so inspiring. I’m in love with this home you’ve built!!
I think the thing to take way from this isn't so much that everyone should live in a log cabin in the woods and abandon the modern conveniences of life, as much as that human beings need two things to be happy that used to come for free but most aren't getting anymore; community and a true sense of achievement.
Too many people are isolated, your friends from college are scattered to the winds, you no longer live in the same state as your parents, and it's too hard to get that back. People also work day after day at unfulfilling jobs where they do nothing but pay the bills, no achievements they can look back on when they're older, no project that truly stretches their ability and creativity and puts them into a flow state, just a series of paychecks.
You don't need an amish community, but you do need a community. You don't need to build houses by hand, but you do need to do something fulfilling and creative and challenging, and if that can't happen at your job it needs to be a hobby. Write a book, program and video game, sculpt, paint, do wood carving. You can't just sit in a cubicle for eight hours a day doing work you don't truly care about and then come home and do nothing but watch netflix/youtube and browse the internet and expect to be happy. It just doesn't work that way.
This was beautifully said. And I completely agree. Without purpose or achievement, there can feel like there is nothing worth living for. Find something that makes your life worth living, that gives you reason to wake up each day, something that you can look back on and be proud of. It's not easy, and we're not taught to do this very much, but each of us have the ability to find our own way home, to ourselves.
But thats what I do, and I'm happy. Work, and then chill at home. Watch some TV, browse the internet. I'm just not creative. I can look back at my life and smile as I was happy, but there isn't anything i'm going to be proud of really. That's selfish of me. That's just thinking about me.
@@alloneword7427 As long as you are happy you are fine, be happy and God Bless you!
I do enjoyed this Video. I am not a 21 Centry person eater. Love the old Log Cabin. My Grand parents was such a Blessing to me. Teaching me the old ways. I so miss the easy way of life. God bless you for restoring the Cabin.
This cabin is beautiful!! What a big challenge to put this back together after taking it apart to move it to a new location of land! Iam so amazed at this precious restoration! I love it! 😊❤️👍⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I could listen to that man talk about his work and life all day.
I have not seen finer logs on a traditional cabin. The man who hewed those logs was a master.
Cabin in the woods - my dream. I get tired so much by flashy city and people. Stayng for a few nights alone, reading Dostoevsky in candle light and listening to the sounds of woods during fall months is something I crave for.
What a paradise! Imagine John teaching future generations...
Omgoodness this house looks exactly like the one I grew up in. I would love to visit this house. I'm so glad this man know its value. Thanks for sharing this you made my day.
Thank you so much for this video. There is something in this house that lets me feel real love again. Like reinstating something that was lost and i didnt know what i had missed it until i was caught up in the house. 💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛
Such a cool story. We are in MN too. It's so beautiful to hear stories like this. Plus this gentleman sounds like Red/green. Comforting
This is a superb video, thank you so much for sharing it. My husband was a joiner, and a lot of our furniture is hand made.
Because of Technology we have lost our communities, I'm glad I was raised at my grandparents log cabin with an outhouse, carrying water and cooking on a wood fire stove .Millennials now wouldn't be able to live this way they are helpless without their technology. I miss sleeping in a cabin Loft in the summer time with the windows open and listening to the Whippoorwill Birds, not hearing any cars or planes ,peaceful so dark you can't see your hand in front of your face.
Beautiful! God, this man has Talent and a fine outlook. I'm 72 and very impressed.
What a fascinating and inspirational man. You feel better just listening to him.
I am filled with admiration for anyone who can devote themselves to such projects, it's almost like a life long love affair communing with Nature. This is somewhere I would happily spend extended periods of time. Emptying the mind of all the clutter of modern living must only be beneficial to mental and physical wellbeing.
The clutter all over the inside of their house is so cozy and welcoming. It feels like Bag End. I love it.
This gentleman ‘s knowledge and abilities on minimalistic living far exceeds any modern day living situations. He seems to be very willing and open to sharing his knowledge.....please..... someone.... go there and record as he shares his many gifts with the world....we will need this information again before all is said and done.
Came across your channel a while back and from all the videos I've seen, this is my favorite.
Plus, I like how y'all take the kids with you when touring the homes and properties.
I love this gentleman’s passion for nature and preserving history. Great video!! We have similar log cabins here in Madison, Indiana. Many have been restored to be as close to original as possible. Love these beautiful old homes... oh the stories they could tell..
What a beautiful place. Cant believe its 150 years old and still solid. The old way of building is a lost art. :)
What a wise man...and what beautiful work he has done!
@Brian W Wow, that was sexist & misogynistic. Try making a baby!
A lot of wisdom in his words and actions. Thank you for sharing.
I literally live 10 miles away from him. This is awesome. I always wanted to live this lifestyle. Simple.
Yes the cabin was really interesting. But the house he built, the interior, everything about it is just beautiful. Thank you for sharing.
That outhouse brought back memories of our own made of bamboo and palm leaves fore roofing. We have a real toilet in the house but we built one, with a wooden seat, so that we don't have to get inside for nature"s call while working outside of the house. It was kept clean all the time
Wow.....this cabin and way of life has always been my dream since I was a little kid. What craftsmanship and this man has a passionate soul for a different way of living such as myself. I am more than amazed at this mans determination and way of thinking. Thanks for sharing, totally brought many smiles to my face tonight.
Love this guy. Love this lifestyle. I think modern society really needs to start looking back to the lessons we can (re)learn from this kind of life.
He was going to burn it!! OM goodness! It's beautiful! God bless you!' I love history and old buildings!
Love this house. I'm so glad they keep it original inside. What a wonderful house. Looks so peaceful.
Thanks for sharing this awesome house,
Chris from Missouri
We need more people like this, awesome "little" cabin and amazing restoration. Well done
Kirsten, your filming is so touching, humane and in a very special way poetic. This gent connects us all to life , nature , traditions and meaning of heritage, no boundaries ...Beautiful presentation, splendid discourse to remember for life 🌹❤👈💎 it chimes in my mind....
My mom raised on the farm. Grandpa plowed with a horse. Midwest, the outhouse outside , had to pump the water, no electricity until she was 12 years old. She talked about the hardships. She loved the modern conveniences. Could not wait to leave the farm .Born in 1930.
I could here the enthusiasm in Kirsten's voice while filming and asking questions. Well done
Wow! What a great cabin! I'm so glad he's taken the time to keep it authentic
I'm glad I watched this video, Mr. John is in Better Shape that a lot of younger people today. Building your own house will keep in Healthy.
Outstanding job on the video! From camera angles, editing and sound to getting across the point this man is making and allowing him to talk this is a thoughtful and on-point video. Thank you for posting it. 👍
I love this. So honest and true to himself.
Thanks for giving us the opportunity to see this more natural way of living. Always a pleasure on your channel.
oooh yea
Thank you for doing this video and for the owner allowing us to see it and hear the history. I'm so jealous, wanted to do this most of my life. A few years back I traveled around North Carolina looking at old tobacco barns with idea of moving and making a cabin from them on in-laws lake property.
How interesting to learn the origin of familiar expressions. "Hewing to the line", yes, but also "Knock your block off".
Ha Ha !
Absolutely loved this man and all of his creations,his land,what heaven!