Alexander Davis Log House

Washington Township, Franklin County, Ohio

An utterly nondescript building; if forced to illustrate the "standard" Ohio log home, I'd use this structure as an example. Until 2007, 2008, or 2009, it stood behind a late Victorian farmhouse at 5436 Dublin Road, just south of Tuttle Road.

The house, as it appeared in the 1890s (?). Note the exposed logs above the porch roof, and the log springhouse, visible at right. Photo courtesy of Ohio Memory, from the Dublin Historical Society collection.

Alexander Davis, member of a venerable local family, likely erected the home in the 1830s (some sources provide a construction date of 1806; unlikely, given the notching technique). Two remodels, in the 1940s and 1990s (?), destroyed most of the remaining fabric.

The house is notable, in part, because it has survived, and because it remains paired with its outbuilding. Extant settlement-era farm complexes are very rare in Ohio.

The springhouse.

The building is a but a shell, its interior devoid of finish detailing. The open staircase, though likely placed in the correct location, is historically inaccurate and ill-proportioned. No doubt, a mantel framed the fireplace opening.

Half-dovetail notching.

What *is* a Log House?

The following is adapted from a yet-unfinished survey report about log construction in Ohio.

A log house, at its most basic, is simply an inhabitable building which derives its structural support from timbers stacked atop one another and notched at the ends.* All log buildings include one or more pens, or self-­supported structures, often enclosing a single room. The designation of a pen as self­-supported is important, for quite a few log buildings contain “crosswalls,” composed of logs running perpendicular to the exterior walls, forming interior divisions. These crosswalls merely interlock with the exterior logs and, though they contribute structural support, they do not form self­-supported units. A large log house, 30 feet by 18 feet and divided by a crosswall, is a single pen — not a double pen — structure.

The arrangement of log pens within a building was limited only by a builder’s imagination and financial situation; understandably, Ohio being in the midst of settlement at the peak of log construction’s national popularity, the state is dominated by single pen houses. Double pen buildings exist in Ohio, no doubt, but are not nearly as common as in earlier-­settled states, like Kentucky or Virginia. I know of no Ohio buildings larger than two pens, though a few could exist.

* A more inclusive definition, befitting the peculiar “corner post” log house, is: “A building whose walls’ planar surfaces are composed primarily of timbers.”

A "Saddlebag" Log House!

Hazelwood (formerly Sycamore Township), Hamilton County, Ohio

The house.

At the suburban fringe of Cincinnati, in the midst of railroad tracks and 1970s-era infill, stands this proper "saddlebag" log house. I'm aware of merely four extant "saddlebag" log structures in Ohio, this home included; the others stand at Caesar's Creek Pioneer Village, near Waynesville, and in Tiffin Township, Adams County. Of those, only two are complete, for half the Hawkins house was lost in the mid-20th century.

When I began my survey of log architecture, more than three years ago, I hoped to encounter some great, undocumented example of a rare building type, but, alas, I did not. Until March of 2014.

The Miami Purchase Association's survey of Hamilton County overlooked the house, and, to the best of my knowledge, I was the first individual to recognize its significance. Currently, it is both vacant and listed for sale.

The northern pen (nearest the camera) is a bit taller than the southern pen; the two may not be contemporaneous. Note the prominent overhanging plates.

The home's oldest remaining door — historic, but not original.

The shorter (south) pen's plates extend past the walls to support the roof; evidently, the space between the pens and chimney was always sheltered.

Odd. The plate appears to be pinned to its supporting log (unless, of course, the protruding object is related to electrical wiring; a vestige of WPA-era rural electrification, perhaps).

The missing asbestos siding reveals wood clapboards and a side wall log (or joist).

The 1847 and 1856 maps list A. Miller as the 160-acre property's owner. By 1869, ownership had passed to Thomas H. Smith, who sold his farm in 1888; at this time, the property was subdivided and christened "Hazelwood."

The house's precise construction date is unclear. It is, no doubt, a very early building, likely dating to the first decades of the 19th century, or possibly earlier ("ca. 1800" is not an unreasonable conjecture).