Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
A double-pen log house joined at the gable oppo-
site the chimney is called just that, a double-pen
house, although it can have other names. The double-
pen house usually has two front doors, and a second
chimney may be added at the gable end of the new
pen. An example I am quite familiar with is the Beaver
Jim Villines house at Ponca, Arkansas, preserved by
the National Park Service as part of the Buffalo
National River. The original pen logs are of hewn oak;
the added pen is of cedar. Other houses are scattered
throughout the South and East, some with both pens
built at one time, some with the second pen added.
Saddlebag
When the added pen was joined at the chimney end,
the house was called a saddlebag, putting the chim-
ney in the center of the house. Sometimes the second
pen was set up the chimney-depth apart from the
original. In this case, there was usually a boxed-in
passageway between the two pens. The chimney was
often rebuilt or added to, to allow a fireplace to open
into each pen. Double-pen houses of all kinds were
often built all at once. The double fireplace is a good
reason why, because it's harder to add a second chim-
ney later in the center of the house. Sometimes the two
pens shared the fourth interior log partition wall,
which served to brace the full-length logs at midpoint.
Dogtrot
This practice of building all at one time was also, as
often as not, the case with the dogtrot house, which
has the two separate pens joined by a common roof.
This type has become the classic log house, which
allows a maximum of space for the logs used. It has
become my favorite house.
Montell and Morse tend to believe both halves of
the dogtrots they studied in Kentucky were built at
one time. However, I know of as many dogtrot log
houses with pens built at different times as I know of
those built all together. Quite often a second pen
would have different notching, indicating either
another date or even transfer of the pen from another
site. It should be pointed out that the more hard-
nosed scholars insist that a true dogtrot have pens of
The one-and-a-half-story, single-pen log cabin was the basic pioneer
structure in America. The saddlebag is a double-pen log house with
a chimney between the pens. Often, the central chimney is open
to both pens. The saddlebag does not have a usable room space
between the two pens. When built at the same time, the saddlebag
house often shared the fourth, internal log wall built with a compli-
cated notch.It also usually has two front doors.
