Roll up, roll up for the Cabin Tour. It’s coming to take you away.

The Steiner cabin tours are a popular annual event on the Mountain, and “this
year’s tour promises to be informative and entertaining,” promised Lloyd
Musser, curator of the Mt. Hood Cultural Center and Museum.

The tour begins at 10 a.m., Aug. 15, at the museum in Government Camp.
The tour of Mount Hood area log cabins celebrates the 1930s craftsmanship of
Oregon builder Henry Steiner. This year’s event features an added attraction –
the work of William Lenz. While Steiner was erecting cabins, Lenz was building
lodges.

The work of these two craftsmen dot the Mountain landscape, from Steiner’s
functional creations in Government Camp and Rhododendron, to Lenz’s lodges
such as Zigzag Inn, Good Times Saloon, Barlow Trail Inn and Brightwood
Tavern.

Steiner’s style had nothing to do with the idyllic cottages from fairy tales.
Rather, his intent was to create functional and economically assembled
homes. However, he failed – in one respect. His cabins are precisely what one
might imagine if asked to think of how that storybook “cozy little cabin in the
woods” might appear.

Steiner was famous for using onsite materials for his cabins, sometimes used
in unique ways. Typical of his style is the wagon wheel or sunburst gable, a
basalt rock fireplace, arc-shaped front door made of a split curved tree,
gnarled tree root used for a front door handle, and unique log beams
supporting the gabled porch roof.

Unlike today’s cabins which are made with big logs and erected with cranes,
Steiner built his cabins all with 12-inch and smaller logs.

When asked why, John Steiner (Henry’s son) had a simple response.
“Two reasons,” he said. “One, trees this size and smaller could be bought for
$1 each from Sandy Lumber lands after they cut the bigger trees for railroad
ties. Two, two men can lift and place a 12-inch log without machinery.”
He is considered a master of the Oregon Rustic style and the tour is designed
to acquaint visitors with both this native northwest design as well as to offer a
chance to tour wooded cabins ostensibly straight out of a storybook.

Space is limited for the tour and Musser urges participants to purchase will-
call tickets prior to the event.

Tickets may be purchased at the Mt. Hood Cultural Center and Museum in
Government Camp, or by credit card by calling the museum office at 503-272-
3301.