McCullough has log cabin rebuilt near Pandora

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PANDORA - Motorists on Road 6 often stop and ask questions when they pass a 2 ½ story log cabin north of Pandora.

Pandora resident Tom McCullough is ready to answer the questions. He enjoys telling where the cabin is from, the notching style used to build the cabin and the reason the cabin is now located at this site.

"Dozens stop by every day," he said.  Although he is often at work, his friend Paul Nusbaum is available to help answer questions about the log cabin. Nusbaum is assisting in reconstructing the cabin.

"It's been a dream of mine for 30 years to locate and rebuild a log cabin," McCullough said. "The dream began when I became a member of the American Mountain Men, a Buckskinner group."

McCullough began looking for a two-story log cabin around six years ago. "I had hoped to find one in Putnam County but couldn't." Instead he found a log cabin on the internet at a site called www.antiqueamericanlogcabins.com. 

He found a log home that included a notching style used by the Germans, Swiss and French. McCullough's great-grandparents were from a village in Switzerland and McCullough felt fortunate to find a log cabin built in the typical building method used in his great grandparent's village. The building method used a technique known as blockstanderbau.

The log home had been disassembled by Barney Grueser and his crew from Athens, Ohio in the fall of 2007. The cabin was stored on a hilltop farm near Athens before it was brought to Pandora for reconstruction on July 28.

"I was fortunate in that the cabin still had the original window and door openings," McCullough said.  The crew had been able to save 20 percent of the pegs used for construction of the cabin. McCullough had Jerry Hovest make 200 more pegs for reassembling the log cabin.

"Everything was numbered as it was taken down," McCullough explained.

Grueser said he disassembled the cabin from the top down. "I've been doing this for - years," he said. "Prior to this he was a general home contractor." I was always interested in history and log cabins," Grueser said. When the housing market slowed down in his area, he chose to focus on finding, disassembling, selling and reassembling hand hewn and timber frame structures.

The log cabin McCullough chose came from Mohrsaville, Penn. North of Reading. It was in very good shape with only a few logs needing replaced. The majority of the logs are oak and American Chestnut.

"We believe that it was built circa 1860-1870," McCullough said.

Square cut nails were used throughout the home for flooring, trim, door and window frames. McCullough was able to purchase the nails from a place in Maine that has been building square cut nails since 1817.

The majority of all the original interior and exterior was salvaged, except for the staircase, windows, roofing rafters and porch rafters.

The downstairs features a kitchen, dining room and parlor. Four bedrooms are in the upstairs. McCullough said they have added a modern bathroom and the kitchen will include modern appliances.

He hopes to furnish the log cabin with antique furniture from Putnam County only. "I have purchased a step-back cupboard out of a log cabin near Ottawa and a walnut wardrobe over by Ft. Jennings," McCullough said.

The log cabin originally had two chimneys and heated by internal woodstoves along with grate that allowed warm air to flow upstairs. McCullough is replacing this with a Rumford style fireplace. This style fireplace is smaller and angled so they radiate heat better.

McCullough, who plans to retire this September, said he is looking forward to having more time to work on the log cabin. He had Grueser and his crew does the reconstruction.

Offering local assistance was Paul Nusbaum, Pandora, who also enjoys history.

The next time-consuming work on the log cabin will be the chinking. Chinking refers to the mortar/infill material between the logs in the construction of log cabins and other log-walled structures.

McCullough hopes to have the log cabin completed by June of next year. He also is trying to locater a log barn to place on the property to use a gunsmith shop.  "I also will have a blacksmith shop at this location," McCullough said.

The log cabin will be used as the "McCullough family retreat."

"I will let friends and relatives stay here when they are visiting in the area,' he said. "I might call it a bed and breakfast, but they will have to cook their own breakfast," McCullough said with a laugh.

(To see full description and background of log cabin go to www.putnamvoice.com under Swiss log cabin on the right