Log cabin workshop kicks off in Palmer

This is the cabin built last year; the new one will have a different look due to the cottonwood logs.

Students are learning to build a log cabin at the Matanuska Experiment Farm this week and next. For a change, Assistant Professor Valerie Barber will use cottonwood for the 16x20 cabin. The building will stay at the farm and be used as a visitors' center near the soccer fields and golf area.

The class is taught by Robert Chambers, world-recognized authority for handcrafted log home construction. Chambers has been building log homes since 1983 and teaching log construction since 1988. He is the author of the textbook, The Log Construction Manual. Also instructing is Mike Pielorz of Husky Logwork, Wasilla.

Following the cabin course a four-day log roof truss class will be held.