There it is.  My dream home – a small, cozy log cabin in the woods where I can do nothing in particular all day long.  Yesterday I found it.  Unfortunately, it was hand-built by one of my favorite people – Robert Harrell, and he’s not about to part with it.

Robert, at right, gave us a guided tour of his latest pride and joy – his “homemade home.”  There are other projects he constructed – a miniature church, a stone and thatch green house, a party barn – scattered over the acreage surrounding his home in Clay County.

Hand hewn logs provide a yesterworld feel for the interior which is completely primitive – oh, one concession.  A TV has been carefully blended into the mix, you never know when Robert’s wife Caroline might banish him to the cabin for bad behavior. (If you know Robert, you know he has a mischievous streak the length of the Tennessee Tombigbee Waterway.)

He got a stone mason to help build the fireplace.  He could have done it himself but would never have been confident a stray spark wouldn’t  find a way to escape and torch his prize possession.

Robert built the beds in the sleeping loft.  You’ll note the fat four posters – he left them hollow in which to hide his liquor bottles.

That’s Carolyn Burgess in the kitchen.  She used to be “Little Bit” Hinshaw in high school, and I don’t think she’s changed one iota in 40 years!

That’s Caroline with my boys William and Braddock.  She’s as tickled as Robert about finally finishing the project that took three years.