Hammond Cabin Update
Hammond Cabin Rehabilitation
National Park Service staff raising the Hammond Cabin to prepare for the new foundation. Credit: National Park Service Learn More
Hammond Cabin Rehabilitation
The Hammond Cabin's failed foundation walls were removed and perimeter trenches were excavated for new concrete footers and foundation walls. Credit: National Park Service Learn More
Hammond Cabin Rehabilitation
National Park Service staff working on the Hammond Cabin's new foundation. Credit: National Park Service Learn More
Hammond Cabin Rehabilitation
Bekit Volunteers from the YMCA helped with the Hammond Cabin's rehabilitation. Credit: National Park Service Learn More
Hammond Cabin Rehabilitation
Preparing for the Hammond Cabin's new concrete footers. Credit: National Park Service Learn More
Hammond Cabin Rehabilitation
Pouring the Hammond Cabin's new foundation. Credit: National Park Service Learn More
Originally built as living quarters for Harold Hammond, his second wife, Marion Galey Hammond, and her son Frank, the Hammond Cabin has been rehabilitated to provide a residential unit for an onsite caretaker and a dining room and community kitchen for trainees staying in the guest cabins at the White Grass Dude Ranch.
Rehabilitation of the Hammond Cabin began in the summer of 2008 and was completed in 2010. Work included exterior log replacement, foundation replacement, roof repair and ADA upgrades. Exterior windows and doors were re-installed after preservation treatment or fabrication.
The Hammond Cabin was reconfigured to incorporate a two bedroom residential unit at the north end of the structure and commercial kitchen and dining room at the south end of the building. The residential side of the structure is utilized as caretaker quarters. The new configuration required the removal of the damaged and deteriorating bathroom addition on the southwest side. The interior wood doors and frames were retrofitted with ADA compliant hardware in the dining room, community kitchen and bathroom facilities.
Work also focused on the installation of a new foundation and sill logs as phase I of the rehabilitation. This allowed for the removal of trees and shrubs growing adjacent to the cabin. To facilitate the installation of shoring for the log walls, all of the interior floor systems were removed. Steel I-beams were inserted to support the logs and the entire failed foundation walls were removed. Once the cabin was raised, the perimeter foundation trenches were excavated for new concrete footers and foundation walls. Before the cabin was lowered on the new foundation with a crawlspace, all deteriorated sill logs were replaced. The work of this phase was labor intensive requiring substantial restaging of the steel I-beams to support the structure for four different concrete pours with a total of 50 cubic yards of concrete.
Phase II of the project included the installation of new kitchens, bathrooms, bedrooms, closets, and restoration of interior finishes, doors, and wood floors. Stone fireplaces and hearths were cleaned.
An additional phase of the rehabilitation involved the removal of the roof structure all the way to the planking which was then replaced with in-kind materials.
