AC Professor Derek Brereton’s wife lights the stove in the cabin Brereton’s constructed. The cabin, constructed of dead ash trees that were cut into boards is located in Washtenaw County, Michigan. (Photo courtesy of Derek Brereton)
One complex man, one simple goal: To build a genuine log cabin entirely from scratch.
Assistant professor of sociology, social work, and criminal justice, Derek P. Brereton (known simply and affectionately as “Dr. B” by any student who has ever taken one of his classes) first got the idea to build a cabin of his own last February. It is nestled on his and his wife Pam’s 12 acre plot in Sharon Hollow, a part of Washtenaw County.
“We wanted someplace in the country,” Brereton said. So with that simple intention they purchased the land.
Brereton explained that they always wanted a place of their own on the property and explained that they “didn’t want to pay someone to do it, so we did it ourselves.”
So, when May rolled around, Mr. and Mrs. Brereton, along with a few friends, started construction on the camp.
“I was looking at all these dead ash trees,” Brereton said. “The problem was that A. They’re too heavy and B. They’re irregular. So they needed to be cut into boards.”
And cut into boards they were, and a lot of them. 35 trees were used to make boards for the support posts alone. The fallen ash logs were also used for the porch, roof and porch of the cabin.
Brereton admits that there were a lot of mistakes made during construction and lots of things he would have done differently, but, nevertheless, they got the job done and couldn’t be prouder of the finished product.
The cabin represents not only a landmark of personal accomplishment, but has also already served as a home for many memories.
Brereton recalls an anecdote from last winter. A friend explained how to keep a fire going all night by filling the stove full of logs and shutting the damper and the flue (components of the stove) completely.
“I didn’t believe him,” Brereton said.
Nevertheless, he followed his friend’s suggestion, but decided to leave the damper open about an eighth of an inch. After he and his wife had fallen asleep, Brereton recalls waking up in the middle of the night extraordinarily hot. After Mrs. Brereton checked a digital clock/thermometer, it was 1 a.m. and 94 degrees.
Brereton couldn’t believe it.
“I had absolutely no idea it would get that hot,” Brereton said. “Next winter I’ll have to see what will happen if I close the damper all the way.”
The cabin was originally supposed to be a three season construct, designed to be useable in summer, fall and spring, but it has proven it’s useable in the winter.
Overall, Mr. and Mrs. Brereton have fallen in love with their Lincoln-esque camp.
“The absolutely amazing thing is that it doesn’t leak and that it’s holding together,” Brereton said. “It has a primitive quality that I enjoy.”
It hasn’t even been a year and Brereton is already thinking about his newest project, constructing a timber bark canoe.
“Sometime between now and the fall I’m going to start on it,” Brereton said of the canoe.
Brereton has been building canoes and canoe paddles for some time.
“I love pioneery kinds of things,” Brereton said.
And it is that love of nature and the American frontier that is so prevalent in his work.