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WEB-EXTRA Contractor Profile: Richard and Sylvia Thomas; Restored Log-Cabin From "Be Your Own Contractor: Vacation Homes" episode DBCV-103

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Following below is some additional information on the restored log cabin and the homeowners featured in this episode of DIY's Be Your Own Contractor: Vacation Homes.

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Homeowners Richard and Sylvia Thomas.

Owner/Builders

Richard and Sylvia Thomas.

Bios

Sylvia is a retired teacher and reading specialist, who educated students for over 30 years. Richard is now retired from his job as a mental health administrator. They were both working at the time the cabin was restored. They spend much of their free time antiquing, traveling, reading about and collecting artifacts from the Civil War, playing bridge and entertaining family and friends.

Home Specifics

It's a fully restored 1820's-built log cabin. They added to the roofline to add a second bedroom and the added on a small kitchen and bathroom to the original log cabin structure.

Location

The home is perched on a mountaintop at the northern end of the Shenandoah Valley. Just outside of Berkeley Springs, WV.

The Log Cabin story

What is now a beautiful, quaint, charming log cabin was once a rundown shell of a building destined for destruction. The cabin was built in 1820 and bought by Sylvia's grandfather in the Depression era. Sylvia's grandfather set up a general store that was run by his brother, and Sylvia would go there as a child. Sylvia's dad inherited the land and cabin. The cabin sat idle for many years on the side of the road. When Richard and Sylvia began considering the possibility of building a new log cabin on the land, her father offered them the log cabin.

The Thomases brought in Doug Reed -- a man famous for his skills in renovating log cabins -- to evaluate if the cabin was worth repairing. Reed's assessment: "It's in solid, fantastic shape." The cabin was taken apart, piece by piece, and each log was numbered with a tin tag. The dismantled cabin was moved up the hill, a third of a mile from its original location.

The cabin was then rebuilt according to its original plan, replacing the original mud-and-straw chinking between the logs with a high lime content mortar.

Why build there?

Sylvia: "I like this area because, first of all, this is where I was born and grew up. It's wonderful to be able to come home after living in the city for a lot of years. Berkeley Springs is a charming little tourist town. They're famous for their water for both drinking and for mineral baths. It's rich in history, starting with the native Indians, American Indians who roamed these hills. They were followed by George Washington and Lord Fairfax. Lord Fairfax surveyed much of the land here. George Washington had a lot here, however he never built a home. During the pre-Civil-War era, this town was a gambling town."

Why be so hands-on?

Richard: "I wanted to be deeply involved with it, and the only way you get a job done the way you want it done --and done right, and done as soon as possible -- is to be there. And direct people, or help people when problems come up, or questions about what to do, or how to do it. If you're there and can answer them, the job can move right along."

Sylvia: "I was a hundred percent in favor of being hands-on. I couldn't have been happier that my husband was also interested in restoring this cabin because it had been in my family so many years."

Interesting facts

• At a total cost of $75,000, Richard and Sylvia determined that restoring this historical family gem was no more expensive than building a new log cabin. And the end result is so much better.

• Sylvia's father was on site almost every day to help.

• Richard and Sylvia retired a few years after the cabin renovation and built a bigger house on the property. However they still use the cabin for family and friends and the rent it out year round as a vacation getaway.

Challenges