Wanted: Log house repair experts to help with the restoration of this Fla. structure

Dear Preservation 911,

The Keith Cabin Foundation is a not-for-profit organization established to promote and encourage historical preservation and public interest in Florida state history. The foundation is currently involved with the rehabilitation of the Keith Cabin, located in Bonifay, Fla.

The foundation has recently received a recommendation by the Florida Historical Commission for a historic preservation grant from the Florida DOS to rehabilitate the property. Our ultimate objective is to restore the cabin in its "historic period" configuration using characteristic materials and to subsequently open the cabin as a public museum.

Our group is seeking someone (e.g. an organization, graduate student, university historic preservation department, etc.) who is adept in the area of log repair/restoration. The foundation is trying to restore/repair as many of the original logs to the maximum extent possible to retain the character of this unique vernacular architecture. We have learned that log restoration is a craft that is more appropriately performed by architectural conservators vice standard building contractors and are seeking someone who can provide this expertise.

A few highlights below:

The cabin, built in 1886 by William Thomas Keith, is a vestige of a once-thriving family farm in rural Holmes County, Fla. Situated on what was initially a 10-acre homesteaded farm that eventually grew to 188 acres, the cabin combines with the setting of original landscapes (including large open fields and stands of oak, pecan, and fig trees planted by Keith in the late 1800s) to help convey its association as a 19th-century pioneer home.

The cabin rests on its original foundation and is an excellent and rare example of "Louisiana roof" style log construction—found only in the Gulf States from East Texas to the Florida Panhandle. In 2000, the property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and to date, the Keith Cabin is Florida's only residential log home listed on the National Register.

In addition to the architectural significance of the cabin, Tom Keith was a "Renaissance Man" of the day and is historically noteworthy—he was a homesteader, farmer, Civil War child-militiaman, merchant, postal carrier, a certified medical practitioner, and was married to a Native American. Tom Keith was a member of the Florida Home Guard during the Civil War and is documented as the Confederacy's third youngest soldier. He and his brother George Washington Keith were the last surviving brothers who took part in the War effort. These brothers were featured in Life Magazine in 1949 and are featured throughout the books: "The South's Last Boys in Gray," "Callow Brave & True—A Gospel of Civil War Youth," and "Our Youngest Blue and Gray," written by professor Jay S. Hoar, a renowned Civil War historian and author from Maine.

If you are interested and/or can help with this most worthwhile project, please contact Nanette Pupalaikis via e-mail at keithcabinfoundation@md.metrocast.net, or phone (301) 862-1184.

Sincerely,

Nanette Pupalaikis
President, Keith Cabin Foundation

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