| The Blakeslee Log Cabin is situated on 9.5 acres in a rural section of Plymouth Township, Ashtabula County. The house sits on a high spot and is surrounded by natural landscapes which include another acre of back lawn, a small woods with native trees, a free-flowing spring laid with rocks enclosed by a log-built spring house. The buildings on the property consist of the Log House built c. 1810, a non-contributing outdoor kitchen built in 1997; remaining buildings consist of log-built lavatories complying with EPA standards, built in 1993.
The Log Cabin rests on its original corner stones and displays the characteristic of a rectangular double room house with front and back doors facing each other on the east and west sides of the Cabin. It is constructed of 16" split white wood logs with half dove tail corner notches. The dimensions are 21' x 28 ', which is a 3:4 ration in accordance with Greek revival period architecture. One and one half stories tall, it sits on a perfect north/south axis, as a pioneer expecting to stay would have built. The Cabin has a gabled roof on the north/south ends. All the logs and roof rafters are stabilized with wooden pins.
The roof boards are original, probably cut at a sawmill erected in 1808 one-mile from the Cabin site, but no longer there. Handmade white oak shake shingles now cover the roof. Porch shingles are visible from the porch floor. One window on the center of the south wall with a Franklin stove on the opposite wall complements the east/west doors. Two sleeping rooms, separated by a partitioned wall of vertical boards are located behind the main inside vertical wall.
The following changes have been made to the Log Cabin since the date of construction: the porch roof has been changed to accommodate a wooden floor, whereas the original floor was dirt; all sill logs have been replaced with the same dimension logs of the same type of woods being used and all stones under the sill log have been re-laid to eliminate nature's critters from inhabiting the Cabin; one small section of the west wall that had been removed by previous tenants was replaced with a stud wall renewed with logs of original dimensions; the interior vertical wall has been replaced with original boards uncovering original wallpaper, possibly dating to 1860. The sagging ceiling joist was reinforced with a steel plate to form a new supporting beam; the badly sagging joist in the main room has been replaced with hand-hewn logs; the upstairs loft remains the same with the exception of new rough sawn floorboards from donated local native trees; the stairway to the loft remains in the same location, but with new wood for added strength.
The Log Cabin, with 90% of essential design features and original materials intact, combines with the original rural setting of trees, fields, rocks and natural spring to help convey its association as an early nineteenth century pioneer home.
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