Completing the Interior

Windows and Doors

Workers in the bottom right create a door frame.

In the 1790s, cabin windows were spaced few and far between for protection and insulation purposes. We do not know if David Vance originally installed glass windows. There were no glass manufacturers nearby, so if he did, they would have been costly to import.

The current windows and doors serve a new purpose for the reconstructed cabin—to allow light in and provide a space for visitors to peer in. These windows have glass panes with a coat of UV protectant, which gives the windows a blue-ish tint, and helps keep the historic artifacts inside from fading due to sun damage.

Figure 4 "Cutting Openings," from "Building with Logs" (1944), a gold standard in cabin-building, demonstrates how to cut and frame openings.

The doors were constructed by creating a frame, and then adding in log siding around it. The windows were constructed by cutting out an opening, and then inserting a frame.

Flooring, Paneling, and Stairs

Flooring in the kitchen of the reconstructed Vance family home, which show evidence of being hand-hewn.

Paneling in the sitting room of the reconstructed Vance family home, with visible joint created by a planer.

Staircase in the reconstructed Vance family home, which was relocated from the Hemphill house.

When the house was originally constructed, the wood flooring and paneling were hand-sawed and hewn just like the siding. Workers used planers to cut joints into the sides of these logs so that they would fit together tightly.

Original, sourced, and new flooring and paneling complete the interior of the reconstructed Vance house. The flooring in the kitchen and the paneling in the sitting room is said to be saved from the original structure, although we do not know which of the old home's many residents installed it. The flooring of the sitting room came from the historic McLean home in Weaverville, NC. The paneling in the guest room and one of the bedrooms upstairs came from the historic Rhea house in the Beech Community (Weaverville, NC). The paneling in another upstairs bedroom came from the historic Garrison home in nearby Barnardsville, NC.

The staircase came from the Hemphill house, which was across the street from the current site. The staircase is another unique feature that is uncommon in cabin architecture, as most cabins would have had a ladder or pegs in the wall to get to the second story.