A 15-Year Passion Project

A 15-Year Passion Project A Michigan man builds his own timber-frame dream cabin

- Christy Heitger-Ewing

For years, it was staring John Engel right in the face. Bois Blanc, an island located in the Straits of Mackinac, could be seen from Cheboygan, the northern Michigan town where John worked as a high school English teacher and football coach.

For as long as he could remember, John had fantasized about someday building a lakefront cabin with his very own hands. It was only after he and his wife, Pam, had moved to Bay City, Mich., and then returned to Cheboygan later for a vacation did he take note of Bois Blanc.

“We were camping in Cheboygan State Park, which is situated on Lake Huron,” says John. “One day, I was looking at the water, and I spotted this piece of land in the middle of Lake Huron. I told my wife, ‘We should see if there’s property for sale over there.’”

Lile-known treasure

 A six-mile ferry ride from Cheboygan, Bois Blanc covers 34 square miles, is about 12 miles long, six miles wide and has four large inland lakes. The island’s pristine nature is what immediately captured John’s attention.

“I saw nothing but untouched shoreline and cedar trees from every angle,” recalls John, who quickly snatched up property on the east side of the island. Though he had plans to eventually erect a cabin, the project took a back seat to career responsibilities. Still, he took the time to secure turn-of-the-19th-century timbers – ash, pine, poplar, maple, oak and chestnut – from two old barns and stored them in his pole barn in Bay City.

“They were hand hewn, chiseled square, all gray, aged and full of potential,” says John, who was eager to incorporate such history into his cabin.

After buying how-to books on post-and-beam construction, it was time to go to work.

Building a cabin in a barn