WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.440 --> 00:00:03.240 When it comes to a great deal, Virgin Mobile doesn't 2 00:00:03.279 --> 00:00:07.559 play around introducing our new symplan price locked at fifteen 3 00:00:07.639 --> 00:00:11.679 euro month for life with unlimited data, calls and texts 4 00:00:11.880 --> 00:00:16.239 and ninety nine percent coverage. Switch today at Virginmedia dot 5 00:00:16.280 --> 00:00:19.519 Ie Virgin Media It's playtime. 6 00:00:19.719 --> 00:00:22.160 TCNZ supply fifteen europer month locked in while a Virgin 7 00:00:22.160 --> 00:00:25.199 Mobile customer twelve month contract include the limited data, standard 8 00:00:25.199 --> 00:00:27.760 calls and texts. All Irish networks off for ends. February eighteenth, 9 00:00:27.800 --> 00:00:29.879 twenty twenty six. See Virgin Media dot e. 10 00:00:30.359 --> 00:00:33.119 Hi There twenty twenty four. Ali here to say this 11 00:00:33.280 --> 00:00:36.399 is a cozy encore of an episode that is a 12 00:00:36.439 --> 00:00:39.880 pure delight, such a treat. I love it, one of 13 00:00:39.880 --> 00:00:44.079 my faves, and it's woodsy, it's chill, it's cozy. We 14 00:00:44.240 --> 00:00:46.719 recorded it a few years back, but I've added in 15 00:00:46.840 --> 00:00:48.359 some updates. Okay, enjoy. 16 00:00:48.840 --> 00:00:52.079 Oh hey, it's that friend who can't sit at a 17 00:00:52.119 --> 00:00:55.759 diner table without making modular sculptures with the half and 18 00:00:55.840 --> 00:00:58.679 half creamers. Can't not do it. Ali warret back with 19 00:00:58.719 --> 00:01:01.439 another episode of nomologies. Okay, but before we hit the road, 20 00:01:01.560 --> 00:01:04.200 let's make a pit stop at thank Youville to say 21 00:01:04.239 --> 00:01:07.480 thanks to all the folks supporting this podcast on Patreon. 22 00:01:07.640 --> 00:01:10.000 I literally could not make the show without you. Thank 23 00:01:10.040 --> 00:01:12.719 you to all the folks wearing ologies merch on your 24 00:01:12.760 --> 00:01:16.519 actual physical bodies and talking up the show to your 25 00:01:16.560 --> 00:01:20.239 fam while you make pies. Thank you to everyone who, 26 00:01:20.280 --> 00:01:24.280 for zero dollars rates and subscribes and leaves the reviews 27 00:01:24.280 --> 00:01:26.200 for me to read, because you know I do like 28 00:01:26.239 --> 00:01:28.400 a lady creep, and then I read you one aloud, 29 00:01:28.599 --> 00:01:31.319 such as this fresh one from Crazy Dog Mom twelve 30 00:01:31.400 --> 00:01:35.879 twenty seven, who compared me to a gently excited Richard Simmons, 31 00:01:35.959 --> 00:01:39.000 but for science instead of high kicks, and said that 32 00:01:39.079 --> 00:01:41.200 I'll teach you about all sorts of things, especially things 33 00:01:41.200 --> 00:01:44.280 that you didn't think you'd find interesting. Here's looking at you, ticks, 34 00:01:44.719 --> 00:01:48.040 they say. Also, thank you fabulous with four a's for 35 00:01:48.079 --> 00:01:50.319 the review. You have my permission to cry in the 36 00:01:50.319 --> 00:01:53.040 car now on the way to work. Okay, cabinology, who 37 00:01:53.120 --> 00:01:56.680 howboy howdy? Let me say right now, I love cabins. 38 00:01:57.040 --> 00:01:59.400 I think I'm obsessed with them, like I look for 39 00:01:59.519 --> 00:02:02.879 cheap deal to rent them. I have dreams about them. 40 00:02:03.159 --> 00:02:06.760 I pinterest them. I don't pinterest anything. I covet them. 41 00:02:06.959 --> 00:02:09.599 I admire them, and in fact, this past week I 42 00:02:09.680 --> 00:02:12.360 found a photo in my phone from five years ago. 43 00:02:12.439 --> 00:02:15.599 I took of one of this guest's books without even 44 00:02:15.639 --> 00:02:17.520 knowing who he was or that I would meet him. 45 00:02:17.800 --> 00:02:22.639 I follow many hashtag cabin porn instagrams, which has everything 46 00:02:22.719 --> 00:02:25.719 to do with cabins, literally nothing to do with naked people. 47 00:02:26.199 --> 00:02:29.000 I see pictures of cabins that I want to hug 48 00:02:29.120 --> 00:02:32.719 too hard, like something cute that you'd squeeze to the 49 00:02:32.759 --> 00:02:35.520 point of peril. So let's dive into a subject I 50 00:02:35.680 --> 00:02:39.159 could not be more excited about. Okay, So the word 51 00:02:39.199 --> 00:02:42.919 cabin comes from the Latin for hut and ps cabana 52 00:02:43.240 --> 00:02:45.240 is related. How did I never realize that? 53 00:02:45.360 --> 00:02:45.599 Duh? 54 00:02:45.599 --> 00:02:45.800 Wow? 55 00:02:45.840 --> 00:02:50.639 Okay. So cabinology is a relatively new but established term. 56 00:02:50.800 --> 00:02:54.919 It was coined in relation to this ologist's work and career. 57 00:02:55.199 --> 00:02:58.719 I first became aware of this ology blissfully enough actually, 58 00:02:58.800 --> 00:03:01.919 while in a lodge in the wilds of Montana. It 59 00:03:02.000 --> 00:03:04.639 was the summer of twenty seventeen. I was surrounded by 60 00:03:04.680 --> 00:03:07.560 my huge, weird family that I love. In side note, 61 00:03:07.639 --> 00:03:09.599 my dad is one of eleven kids and so the 62 00:03:09.599 --> 00:03:12.879 Ward family reunions the roughly half the size of like 63 00:03:12.919 --> 00:03:16.479 a summer music festival theraugh party, and I was drinking 64 00:03:16.560 --> 00:03:19.680 and evening margarita out of a chipped coffee mug and 65 00:03:19.800 --> 00:03:22.280 the sounds of my elders crushing each other in a 66 00:03:22.319 --> 00:03:25.759 pinacle game. Two tables over. I thumbed through this outdoorsy magazine. 67 00:03:25.800 --> 00:03:28.719 I saw the byline of this very guest touning himself 68 00:03:28.719 --> 00:03:31.560 as a cabinologist. It was like hot damn. I vowed 69 00:03:31.560 --> 00:03:34.599 to myself, I will find this cabinologist when I finally 70 00:03:34.680 --> 00:03:37.159 launched that ologies podcast in my future, and I will 71 00:03:37.159 --> 00:03:39.439 interview him. And so indeed I did, and you were 72 00:03:39.479 --> 00:03:41.919 about to listen to it. The stuff dreams are made of. 73 00:03:42.280 --> 00:03:45.719 So I made my way to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where his 74 00:03:45.759 --> 00:03:49.000 headquarters of his architecture from art. It's Sala, which he 75 00:03:49.039 --> 00:03:52.439 said means special room in Italian, and it also stands 76 00:03:52.479 --> 00:03:55.800 for the School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. So I 77 00:03:55.840 --> 00:03:59.680 went up some breezy stairs to his crisp downtown office 78 00:04:00.080 --> 00:04:04.080 filled with light wood and clean lines, high ceilings, a 79 00:04:04.120 --> 00:04:06.759 lot of airy white, and we cabin chatted. So we 80 00:04:06.840 --> 00:04:09.719 cover what is a cabin? When does a cabin just 81 00:04:09.759 --> 00:04:13.319 become a house? And why are they so cozy? And 82 00:04:13.360 --> 00:04:17.199 what makes cabins horror flick fodder? How does a summer 83 00:04:17.240 --> 00:04:19.920 cabin visit different than a winter one? How do you 84 00:04:20.000 --> 00:04:23.480 build one? What about those weird franking cabins built out 85 00:04:23.519 --> 00:04:26.079 of old stuff from a bunch of different buildings. How 86 00:04:26.079 --> 00:04:28.680 big should the windows be and which way should they face? 87 00:04:28.839 --> 00:04:31.360 How do you even design a cabin? And in all 88 00:04:31.439 --> 00:04:37.040 caps bold italics, why are cabins the best? So come 89 00:04:37.120 --> 00:04:40.360 watch the sunset, drag chair to the fire pit, pour 90 00:04:40.439 --> 00:04:44.360 a mug of whatever's handy, and breathe In an episode 91 00:04:44.399 --> 00:04:50.000 with architect, author expert and a warm, bright lantern of 92 00:04:50.040 --> 00:05:13.399 a person, cabinologist Dale Mulfinger, and I might make you 93 00:05:13.839 --> 00:05:16.319 scooch into these just a little bit more. Yeah, these 94 00:05:16.319 --> 00:05:19.000 are like stage mics, so they're like, get on up 95 00:05:19.000 --> 00:05:23.480 in it. I know you are a cabinologist. 96 00:05:24.439 --> 00:05:25.680 I am a cabinologist. 97 00:05:25.720 --> 00:05:29.920 It was anointed upon me by an external person, actually 98 00:05:29.920 --> 00:05:34.240 a radio personality, who, upon hearing that I was researching 99 00:05:34.319 --> 00:05:39.879 cabins with students at the university, he announced on the 100 00:05:40.000 --> 00:05:43.160 radio that I must be a cabinologist. So I consider 101 00:05:43.279 --> 00:05:45.720 myself having an instantaneous PhD. 102 00:05:46.839 --> 00:05:48.480 How long ago is that? Oh? 103 00:05:48.560 --> 00:05:50.800 That was probably about fifteen years ago. 104 00:05:51.319 --> 00:05:53.560 Were you like, well, I'm changing my business cards. 105 00:05:53.480 --> 00:05:54.920 That's it. Yeah. 106 00:05:55.639 --> 00:05:58.319 I adopted it immediately. I've been using it since, and 107 00:05:58.800 --> 00:06:01.439 I wrote a book called cabin after it. And I 108 00:06:01.439 --> 00:06:05.800 always credit this person who you know, who gave me 109 00:06:05.839 --> 00:06:08.399 that name. I didn't invent it for myself. 110 00:06:08.879 --> 00:06:12.920 Quick aside, credit goes to Minnesota garage logic radio host 111 00:06:13.319 --> 00:06:18.560 Joe Sachery for dropping that sword so so many years ago. Now, 112 00:06:18.680 --> 00:06:23.240 as for Dale's bibliography, it's extensive. So between designing cabins, 113 00:06:23.279 --> 00:06:26.079 he's also managed to churn out a bunch of books, 114 00:06:26.120 --> 00:06:30.240 including The Cabin Inspiration for a Classic American Getaway, The 115 00:06:30.279 --> 00:06:35.639 Getaway Home, Family Cabin Inspiration for Camps, Cottages, and Cabins Cabinology, 116 00:06:35.920 --> 00:06:39.319 a Handbook to your Private Hideaway. So in his author 117 00:06:39.360 --> 00:06:43.319 bio he is credited as a cabinologist. The dude has 118 00:06:43.360 --> 00:06:46.600 earned it. You've been a cabinologist for you know, at 119 00:06:46.680 --> 00:06:49.519 least fifteen years. But how long have you been a 120 00:06:49.519 --> 00:06:52.879 cabinologist in practice, not just entitle. 121 00:06:53.279 --> 00:06:57.680 Well, probably about thirty years ago. As a part of 122 00:06:57.720 --> 00:07:03.120 my architectural practice, which we designed residential homes, I was 123 00:07:03.160 --> 00:07:08.079 asked to do my first cabin design. And I realized 124 00:07:08.279 --> 00:07:11.680 then that I didn't grow up. Although I grew up 125 00:07:11.759 --> 00:07:15.120 in cabin world, I'm Minnesota and Wisconsin, I didn't grow 126 00:07:15.160 --> 00:07:17.319 up with a cabin of my family background, so I 127 00:07:17.319 --> 00:07:21.319 had not spent much time there. And as I might 128 00:07:21.399 --> 00:07:25.360 often do, when I get asked to design something I'm 129 00:07:25.439 --> 00:07:28.040 not used to, I try and do some research. And 130 00:07:28.120 --> 00:07:30.120 in this instance, I thought, well, it'd be fun to 131 00:07:30.160 --> 00:07:33.639 do some research with my students at the university. So 132 00:07:33.680 --> 00:07:38.120 I hustled a few students over to do a summer class, 133 00:07:38.199 --> 00:07:40.879 and the essence of the summer class was, well, let's 134 00:07:40.879 --> 00:07:44.839 go out into cabin land and every student and in 135 00:07:44.839 --> 00:07:49.439 myself included, would have to document ten cabins, and out 136 00:07:49.439 --> 00:07:53.160 of that ten cabins, we would say which cabin feels 137 00:07:53.199 --> 00:07:56.800 more cabin like than any of the rest and why, 138 00:07:57.639 --> 00:08:01.279 and so as I was telling them, search for the 139 00:08:01.360 --> 00:08:05.839 quintessential cabin. So we did that, and we I think 140 00:08:05.959 --> 00:08:08.319 learned a little bit along that process. And a good 141 00:08:08.319 --> 00:08:14.040 friend of mine, who had was editor of a local magazine, said, well, 142 00:08:14.079 --> 00:08:16.959 if you find anything interesting in this process, why don't 143 00:08:16.959 --> 00:08:19.959 you write an article in my magazine? So I wrote 144 00:08:19.959 --> 00:08:23.519 my first article and then I wrote my second article, 145 00:08:23.600 --> 00:08:26.439 in third and fourth and ultimately seventy two articles. 146 00:08:26.519 --> 00:08:28.079 Oh my god, over twelve years. 147 00:08:28.600 --> 00:08:34.159 Yeah, always researching, and so these were little brief vignettes 148 00:08:34.759 --> 00:08:37.679 about some cabin that interested me for some reason. So 149 00:08:38.840 --> 00:08:42.200 vertical log We're all familiar with horizontal log cabins, but 150 00:08:42.279 --> 00:08:44.840 all of a sudden there I noticed some that I 151 00:08:44.879 --> 00:08:47.639 have vertical logs, which turns out that it's an old 152 00:08:47.759 --> 00:08:52.519 French trappers method. So coming into Minnesota, in the northern 153 00:08:52.600 --> 00:08:55.759 part of the country, in northern Wisconsin, you have French 154 00:08:55.799 --> 00:09:00.320 trappers who made quick cabins, and the vertical log technique 155 00:09:00.360 --> 00:09:04.200 allowed them essentially single handedly to make a simple shelter. 156 00:09:04.879 --> 00:09:07.159 Okay, so side note. I looked these up and apparently 157 00:09:07.480 --> 00:09:11.360 vertical log cabins are also easier to build because you 158 00:09:11.360 --> 00:09:14.000 can use a bunch of ten foot tall logs up 159 00:09:14.039 --> 00:09:18.440 and down instead of having to find and drag perfectly 160 00:09:18.559 --> 00:09:23.120 straight twenty to forty foot logs to lay horizontally. Now, 161 00:09:23.200 --> 00:09:27.279 in addition to vertical logs just being more slimming than 162 00:09:27.320 --> 00:09:31.080 horizontal logs, they were also tested by time. So before 163 00:09:31.360 --> 00:09:35.600 the French fur trappers traped about harvesting beavers and such, 164 00:09:35.919 --> 00:09:39.279 indigenous folks like the Eric tribes and the Chinook peoples 165 00:09:39.480 --> 00:09:43.159 had been building vertical plank houses out of Cedar and 166 00:09:43.240 --> 00:09:46.200 the Pacific Northwest for thousands of years. 167 00:09:46.639 --> 00:09:50.320 They knew what was up and that tradition sustained itself 168 00:09:50.360 --> 00:09:54.519 for a while. So, you know, finding out why for 169 00:09:54.720 --> 00:09:56.919 vertical log who did it that? You know, all those 170 00:09:56.960 --> 00:10:01.840 things are fun. It's fun to see somebody turn a 171 00:10:02.000 --> 00:10:04.080 building that you wouldn't expect to be a cabin into 172 00:10:04.120 --> 00:10:07.120 a cabin, a church or a small church or a 173 00:10:07.159 --> 00:10:11.759 school or whatever, a box car, train car, a caboose, 174 00:10:12.360 --> 00:10:15.159 you know. So that so a lot of cabins are 175 00:10:15.360 --> 00:10:20.039 inventive as to somebody's got a crazy idea and they say, oh, 176 00:10:20.039 --> 00:10:21.919 that'd be fun as a cabin, and so they just 177 00:10:22.000 --> 00:10:25.000 try it. Metal containers, buildings. 178 00:10:26.080 --> 00:10:30.519 So Dale explained two things that separate cabins from houses 179 00:10:30.600 --> 00:10:35.360 or one. Cabins typically don't have garages, and the master 180 00:10:35.440 --> 00:10:40.960 bedrooms don't usually have own suite bathrooms. So rather than 181 00:10:41.279 --> 00:10:44.679 hide away in your big bedroom using your toilet away 182 00:10:44.720 --> 00:10:47.279 from the rest of the family, all the bedrooms tend 183 00:10:47.320 --> 00:10:50.759 to branch off a main living space, so people can 184 00:10:50.799 --> 00:10:54.360 spend this time in nature bonding together and being lovingly 185 00:10:54.720 --> 00:10:56.080 in each other's business. 186 00:10:57.200 --> 00:10:59.799 So privacy is not a particularly big issue when it. 187 00:10:59.840 --> 00:11:02.159 Can tell me a little bit about square footage. Can 188 00:11:02.200 --> 00:11:05.320 you have a two thousand square foot cabin? Yes, okay, 189 00:11:05.360 --> 00:11:07.720 you can't. Sure, So what makes it a cabin? 190 00:11:08.519 --> 00:11:10.200 I think what makes it a cabin are some of 191 00:11:10.200 --> 00:11:15.000 its attributes, how it flows, whether it captures views or 192 00:11:15.080 --> 00:11:17.679 things that are important to the land that you're connected to. 193 00:11:18.080 --> 00:11:20.279 But yes, you can have a larger structure that is 194 00:11:20.320 --> 00:11:24.039 a cabin, maybe because you're gathering a lot of people there. 195 00:11:24.080 --> 00:11:26.840 So my last book that I wrote was called The 196 00:11:26.879 --> 00:11:29.840 Family Cabin, and it probably has projects in it that 197 00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:34.360 range from four hundred square feet to twenty five hundred 198 00:11:34.399 --> 00:11:38.960 square feet practically. And some cabins are created for extended family. 199 00:11:39.080 --> 00:11:43.000 So I have one for two sisters. They're each married, 200 00:11:43.039 --> 00:11:45.919 so they have husbands. They each have four kids. So 201 00:11:46.000 --> 00:11:49.399 now we're talking about whatever that is twelve people, Graham 202 00:11:49.399 --> 00:11:52.759 and Grandpa show up, there's fourteen. You can't do that 203 00:11:52.840 --> 00:11:55.360 in a four hundred square foot structure. So you need 204 00:11:55.519 --> 00:11:59.519 more space, more place for the activities of those youth 205 00:11:59.600 --> 00:12:03.480 as they're growing and changing and they're eventually bringing the 206 00:12:03.519 --> 00:12:06.840 boy scout trip with them or whatever. So yes, cabins 207 00:12:06.840 --> 00:12:09.720 can be of quite a variety of sizes. At some point, 208 00:12:09.799 --> 00:12:12.440 when they get too large, we might call them a lodge. 209 00:12:12.799 --> 00:12:14.399 Oh, I thought about that. 210 00:12:14.360 --> 00:12:15.720 The family lodge. 211 00:12:15.960 --> 00:12:18.639 I wonder if there's a logology out there there? 212 00:12:18.639 --> 00:12:21.200 You got it, somebody's going to have to step into 213 00:12:21.240 --> 00:12:22.120 the void. 214 00:12:23.200 --> 00:12:23.480 Okay. 215 00:12:23.480 --> 00:12:26.960 Side note, I found one record for logology from nineteen 216 00:12:27.039 --> 00:12:28.879 sixty one, and I wanted to tell you about it. 217 00:12:28.879 --> 00:12:31.840 It's from the University of Montana, when the student union 218 00:12:31.879 --> 00:12:36.080 gathering center was called the Lodge and logology was deemed 219 00:12:36.279 --> 00:12:40.039 by students the most popular course in sport on campus. 220 00:12:40.159 --> 00:12:44.000 One student said the most popular phases of the logology 221 00:12:44.039 --> 00:12:48.399 course are smoking one a one and advanced time killing 222 00:12:48.720 --> 00:12:51.600 two to one, which I suppose nowadays, I guess would 223 00:12:51.600 --> 00:12:56.480 be upgraded to introduction to vaping, perhaps extra credit fixing 224 00:12:56.559 --> 00:13:00.320 the cultural and climatological mess we have inherited to get 225 00:13:00.320 --> 00:13:04.960 you dark. Anyway, enough of lodges, Where are cabins now? 226 00:13:05.000 --> 00:13:07.639 In terms of the culture of cabins in this part 227 00:13:07.679 --> 00:13:10.399 of the country. Because there are more lakes, are there 228 00:13:10.440 --> 00:13:13.200 more cabins? Is this the best place to be a cabinologist. 229 00:13:13.840 --> 00:13:15.879 I think this is one of the premier places to 230 00:13:15.879 --> 00:13:19.279 be a cabinologist, because we really really do have an 231 00:13:19.320 --> 00:13:24.159 incredible cabin culture here, particularly in the Twin Cities, and 232 00:13:24.399 --> 00:13:27.000 we go out to the Lakes of Minnesota and or 233 00:13:27.039 --> 00:13:30.320 the Lakes of Wisconsin, because although we may be better 234 00:13:30.360 --> 00:13:33.039 known for our lakes, Wisconsin actually has quite a numberment 235 00:13:33.080 --> 00:13:38.399 as well, so we probably have more cabin users per 236 00:13:38.440 --> 00:13:42.200 capita than any other part of the country. And part 237 00:13:42.200 --> 00:13:46.559 of that is that when you're on the coast, for instance, 238 00:13:46.600 --> 00:13:50.759 where there certainly are getaway places, often when you have 239 00:13:50.799 --> 00:13:53.080 a place on the coast, it might be referred to 240 00:13:53.159 --> 00:13:56.799 as a cottage, seaside cottage rather than a cabin. 241 00:13:57.960 --> 00:14:01.840 Cabins plus Etymoli, I'm dying right now. If you can't 242 00:14:01.840 --> 00:14:04.480 hear this in my voice. I was like starry eyed, 243 00:14:04.960 --> 00:14:09.120 floating in a cloud. This entire interview. Dale Mulfinger is 244 00:14:09.279 --> 00:14:12.039 like the Beyonce of cabin designers. 245 00:14:12.240 --> 00:14:16.320 There are some names that that cabin competes with, and 246 00:14:16.480 --> 00:14:20.879 if you go into the Adirondacks or in Upper New England, 247 00:14:21.080 --> 00:14:25.480 you will come across the name camp which is commonly 248 00:14:25.639 --> 00:14:28.559 used for what we weave here in the midwest end 249 00:14:28.639 --> 00:14:31.120 or further west might refer to as a cabin. And 250 00:14:31.200 --> 00:14:33.720 the name camp shows up again down in the Bayos 251 00:14:33.759 --> 00:14:36.799 of Louisiana. I'm not quite sure of the origins of that, 252 00:14:36.919 --> 00:14:38.960 other than I think a lot of cabins in there 253 00:14:39.440 --> 00:14:41.759 in the early days in New England were created as 254 00:14:41.799 --> 00:14:45.440 a part of an ensemble of many structures, and we're 255 00:14:45.440 --> 00:14:48.080 part of what we might think of as a camp environment. 256 00:14:48.440 --> 00:14:51.039 Oh look, maybe there's a main lodge and then some outbuildings. 257 00:14:51.039 --> 00:14:53.919 There are the camps, right, And also the name cottage 258 00:14:54.480 --> 00:14:58.080 shows up. So you can take the same structure and 259 00:14:58.360 --> 00:15:00.840 slide it. First out of min Minesota, it might be 260 00:15:00.840 --> 00:15:03.360 called a cabin in Minnesota, but head for the east 261 00:15:03.399 --> 00:15:05.960 and get to Michigan, it might be called a cottage particular, 262 00:15:06.360 --> 00:15:09.840 particularly if it's along like Michigan. And then if you 263 00:15:09.919 --> 00:15:11.759 hit the adiron decks, it'll be a camp. And then 264 00:15:11.840 --> 00:15:13.879 if you slide it all the way to the coast 265 00:15:13.960 --> 00:15:16.159 of Maine, it'll be back to being a cottage again. 266 00:15:16.679 --> 00:15:18.960 And what are some of your favorite styles of cabin 267 00:15:19.519 --> 00:15:22.279 A frame, log, cabin, modern. 268 00:15:22.519 --> 00:15:26.240 All of the above, all of the above. I really am. 269 00:15:26.120 --> 00:15:30.399 Fascinated by the variety so no one singular thing stands out. 270 00:15:30.440 --> 00:15:34.200 I'm as fascinated with an a frame or a log cabin, 271 00:15:34.480 --> 00:15:40.039 or a very contemporary structure or one made out of containers. Yeah, 272 00:15:40.080 --> 00:15:43.840 they all interest me, and I love designing all of them. 273 00:15:43.960 --> 00:15:46.879 So it's not just a matter of recording what others 274 00:15:46.919 --> 00:15:50.559 have done, but also being faced with a challenge of 275 00:15:50.600 --> 00:15:54.559 design and trying to trying to determine with my clients 276 00:15:54.639 --> 00:15:57.600 what seems most applicable for them in their situation. 277 00:15:58.240 --> 00:16:01.399 So he likes to freestyle as well as harkback to 278 00:16:01.679 --> 00:16:05.759 traditional designs of your now speaking of history, Dale grew 279 00:16:05.879 --> 00:16:08.559 up on a dairy farm, and according to a twenty 280 00:16:08.600 --> 00:16:11.840 thirteen article in the Star Tribune, he had said about 281 00:16:11.879 --> 00:16:14.240 dairy farming that when he was a kid, in his 282 00:16:14.360 --> 00:16:17.519 blue ribbon yearling died, he knew that he didn't want 283 00:16:17.559 --> 00:16:19.799 to be a farmer, but he was great at drafting, 284 00:16:20.000 --> 00:16:22.519 So he enrolled in the Institute of Technology at the 285 00:16:22.600 --> 00:16:24.879 University of Minnesota. In a time when you had to 286 00:16:24.919 --> 00:16:29.159 be really good at rulers and pencils and precision. There 287 00:16:29.240 --> 00:16:32.759 was no command z there's no one new buttons and 288 00:16:32.879 --> 00:16:35.639 getting to your design career, when did you start an architecture. 289 00:16:35.639 --> 00:16:39.120 When did you know that you were an architect? 290 00:16:38.159 --> 00:16:43.080 I went into the university wondering what I might be doing. 291 00:16:43.120 --> 00:16:46.120 But I was had excelled in drafting in high school 292 00:16:46.519 --> 00:16:50.639 and so started into architecture at the university and gradually 293 00:16:50.679 --> 00:16:52.279 got to enjoy it more and more and more and 294 00:16:52.320 --> 00:16:55.399 did quite well by the time I was exiting school, 295 00:16:55.519 --> 00:16:59.320 not so well when I started. And then I worked 296 00:16:59.320 --> 00:17:02.799 for the first day Gate actually in urban design, so 297 00:17:03.279 --> 00:17:06.359 nothing to do with small little buildings, but rather city 298 00:17:06.359 --> 00:17:13.200 planning and large scale structures. And then probably in about 299 00:17:13.359 --> 00:17:18.480 ten years out into my working career, I started gradually 300 00:17:18.519 --> 00:17:20.799 to work on smaller things. When I got to houses, 301 00:17:20.839 --> 00:17:24.039 I really enjoyed being invited to dinner after you were 302 00:17:24.039 --> 00:17:28.160 all done. So out of that came a firm which 303 00:17:28.400 --> 00:17:33.000 is now Sala and an initial partner Sarah Susenka, who 304 00:17:33.519 --> 00:17:35.440 wrote a book called The Not So Big House, which 305 00:17:35.799 --> 00:17:39.359 made her kind of famous, and so we had a 306 00:17:39.400 --> 00:17:42.759 pretty swift start as a career in her and I 307 00:17:42.839 --> 00:17:46.440 and creating a firm that does houses. And out of 308 00:17:46.839 --> 00:17:50.960 houses came neither the possibility of doing a second home 309 00:17:51.000 --> 00:17:52.480 for someone, which then led. 310 00:17:52.319 --> 00:17:53.240 Me to Kevin World. 311 00:17:53.680 --> 00:17:55.720 Okay, so quick side note. I was wondering how many 312 00:17:55.759 --> 00:17:59.720 people have a second home though it's so hard to 313 00:17:59.720 --> 00:18:02.319 get just one, So I looked it up and according 314 00:18:02.319 --> 00:18:07.119 to twenty seventeen stats, nine point three million Americans live 315 00:18:07.160 --> 00:18:09.720 in a house that has a second home, so a 316 00:18:09.880 --> 00:18:12.319 very slimp percentage. But I did some digging and one 317 00:18:12.319 --> 00:18:15.960 figure estimated that folks in the state of Minnesota are 318 00:18:16.160 --> 00:18:19.400 three times more likely to own a cabin or a 319 00:18:19.519 --> 00:18:22.440 lake house than the rest of Americans. But the average 320 00:18:22.480 --> 00:18:25.279 age of cabin ownership is sixty eight, and no one's 321 00:18:25.400 --> 00:18:27.720 quite sure what's going to happen. Are millennials going to 322 00:18:27.759 --> 00:18:29.680 take over the cabins? Are they going to sell them? 323 00:18:29.799 --> 00:18:33.680 Who knows? But Minnesota is the land of ten thousand lakes. 324 00:18:33.759 --> 00:18:36.119 That's a lot of shoreline to cozy up to. So 325 00:18:36.200 --> 00:18:38.359 Dale's in the right place. But what about the rest 326 00:18:38.440 --> 00:18:41.000 of the country or world. Are there places in the 327 00:18:41.000 --> 00:18:43.039 country where it's more common to have at a house 328 00:18:43.079 --> 00:18:46.480 that you would go enjoy this seasons in? Is there 329 00:18:46.519 --> 00:18:49.799 something maybe about the cold weather that you really appreciate 330 00:18:49.839 --> 00:18:52.160 the snow, I really appreciate this spring or summer. 331 00:18:52.960 --> 00:18:56.680 Well, I think people who appreciate being outdoors in the snow, 332 00:18:57.240 --> 00:19:01.240 whether you're cross country skiing, downhold skiing or ice skating 333 00:19:01.319 --> 00:19:05.799 or whatever. Those people enjoy their cabin year round, or 334 00:19:05.839 --> 00:19:07.880 if they just enjoy sitting by the fire reading a 335 00:19:07.880 --> 00:19:11.400 book when the snow is falling outside. Obviously, if you 336 00:19:11.400 --> 00:19:13.960 have a cabin in the Rocky Mountains, it might be 337 00:19:13.960 --> 00:19:17.200 because you really enjoy skiing and therefore you've chosen a 338 00:19:17.240 --> 00:19:20.400 location next to big sky, you know, or something like that. 339 00:19:21.400 --> 00:19:24.400 Here in the Midwest, people seem to vary. Either they 340 00:19:24.440 --> 00:19:30.119 are truly just one season cabin goers, or they actually 341 00:19:30.279 --> 00:19:32.079 enjoy going year round as I do. 342 00:19:32.160 --> 00:19:33.480 I love the solitude of. 343 00:19:33.440 --> 00:19:37.880 Winter and some cross country skiing, even though it might 344 00:19:37.920 --> 00:19:39.680 be minus twenty degrees out to it. 345 00:19:39.799 --> 00:19:41.759 I know, I don't know how you guys. I literally 346 00:19:41.839 --> 00:19:44.000 don't know how you survive as a California And I'm 347 00:19:44.000 --> 00:19:47.559 like the amount of layers if I could grow a beard, though, 348 00:19:47.599 --> 00:19:49.079 I think I would get that's helpful. 349 00:19:49.160 --> 00:19:51.799 Yeah, a lot. I'm gonna tell you, do. 350 00:19:51.759 --> 00:19:54.160 You have a favorite cabin that you've designed. I know 351 00:19:54.200 --> 00:19:56.240 it's got to be so hard, but something that's really 352 00:19:56.240 --> 00:19:59.920 memorable or was a challenge the next one, the next one. 353 00:20:01.119 --> 00:20:02.480 I think, one that I did up. 354 00:20:02.400 --> 00:20:07.079 On Madeline Island where people wanted a unique retreat and 355 00:20:08.200 --> 00:20:10.839 one of the couples that I want something quite unique 356 00:20:10.880 --> 00:20:13.640 for me, and I designed one hundred foot long wall 357 00:20:13.720 --> 00:20:16.720 with a portal in the middle, and after you pass 358 00:20:16.759 --> 00:20:20.559 through the wall, you step into a glass pavilion and 359 00:20:20.640 --> 00:20:24.440 look out over Lake Superior, and then if you want 360 00:20:24.480 --> 00:20:26.920 to go into a private space, you walk down inside 361 00:20:26.920 --> 00:20:29.640 the wall to a blue box where you have a 362 00:20:29.680 --> 00:20:33.839 private sleeping area. It's a very unconventional structure and it 363 00:20:33.880 --> 00:20:38.400 probably still stands out in my repertoire of work as 364 00:20:38.480 --> 00:20:41.039 a very unique structure. And it's all about the notion 365 00:20:41.160 --> 00:20:44.240 of a retreat, having a phenomenal place of a retreat 366 00:20:44.319 --> 00:20:47.400 that leaves the other world behind. And I think that's 367 00:20:48.440 --> 00:20:51.200 one of the things that when you say cabin be 368 00:20:51.279 --> 00:20:53.519 a your round house. One of the challenges of that 369 00:20:53.680 --> 00:20:57.559 is cabins often work best when they are the other world. 370 00:20:58.319 --> 00:21:01.880 That when they're not the every day they're. 371 00:21:01.759 --> 00:21:04.240 Kind of like the mistress of the house world. 372 00:21:04.759 --> 00:21:07.839 I guess so, yes, sweetie, it's a sweet piece. 373 00:21:08.119 --> 00:21:10.119 And does a cavin have to have a fireplace? 374 00:21:10.599 --> 00:21:15.039 No, it doesn't, And in fact, woodstoves can be an 375 00:21:15.079 --> 00:21:19.200 economical way of having fire without say having the cost 376 00:21:19.279 --> 00:21:23.599 of a fireplace, and woodstoves are very effective in terms 377 00:21:23.640 --> 00:21:28.039 of really heating space. Do they have to have fire? No, 378 00:21:28.119 --> 00:21:32.000 I mean a cain can We did a We've done 379 00:21:32.079 --> 00:21:35.039 cabins without any fire in them, and it helps with 380 00:21:35.079 --> 00:21:36.160 the insurance. 381 00:21:35.759 --> 00:21:36.480 Rates if you don't. 382 00:21:37.759 --> 00:21:40.200 And what do you think about you know, in the 383 00:21:40.240 --> 00:21:43.279 last few years the tiny house movements and tinier spaces. 384 00:21:43.960 --> 00:21:45.799 Where do you feel like cabins fit in with that 385 00:21:46.000 --> 00:21:47.559 or is it a completely different thing? 386 00:21:48.200 --> 00:21:52.440 Well, there's an overlap between tiny houses and cabins. I 387 00:21:52.440 --> 00:21:55.839 think the tiny house movement is a fleeting movement and 388 00:21:55.880 --> 00:21:59.000 it'll disappear as fast as it arrived because I think 389 00:21:59.079 --> 00:22:05.039 resale on it is challenging so much like dome homes 390 00:22:05.079 --> 00:22:07.839 and other fads that we jump into every once in 391 00:22:07.839 --> 00:22:10.880 a while. I think this one will leave, but I 392 00:22:10.880 --> 00:22:14.279 think cabins will remain in having a tiny structure via 393 00:22:14.359 --> 00:22:18.559 cabin will still be out there. So I and I 394 00:22:18.599 --> 00:22:21.720 think tiny homes as far as as actually being one's 395 00:22:21.799 --> 00:22:24.640 home and a living in at thirty six, three hundred 396 00:22:24.640 --> 00:22:28.200 and sixty five days a year, you know, it'll be 397 00:22:28.319 --> 00:22:30.559 questionable whether people do that in the long haul, or 398 00:22:30.599 --> 00:22:33.480 whether it'll just be for two years of their life 399 00:22:33.559 --> 00:22:35.680 or a segment of their life and then they'll move on. 400 00:22:35.599 --> 00:22:39.000 To whatever I will say. In researching tiny home living, 401 00:22:39.200 --> 00:22:42.640