Seven Log Cabins To Pine For

The arrival of autumn also marks the beginning of cabin season. Didn’t know cabins had a season? Well, put it this way: now the nights are drawing in, who wouldn’t want to escape from the stresses of city life and be holed up in a hut made of logs, with no 3G for 20 miles? But, as the leaves turn and the winds begin to howl, there’s nowhere we’d rather be witnessing the coming of winter than from inside a cosy cabin.

Believe it or not, “cabin porn” is definitely a thing. It’s not pay-per-view yet, but it was rubber-stamped by the arrival of a coffee-table book of the same name by Mr Zach Klein in 2015. What is it about single-room shacks, a Spartan design scheme, rudimentary furnishings and single heating sources that gets us so excited? Are we so over-worked and overwhelmed in this digital age that we are all just pining for a simple life? Who knows – and who cares when there’s another coffee-table book out to satisfy our cravings? The Hinterland: Cabins, Love Shacks And Other Hide-Outs (Gestalten) takes the definition of a cabin at its loosest and brings together modernist summerhouses in Sweden, studios in Scotland, chalets in Serbia and follies in New Zealand for us to fantasise about. Here are seven of the best from the farthest-flung corners of the world.

Designed as a holiday home by husband and wife Mr Andreja and Ms Tijana Mitrovic of Belgrade-based .exe studio, this 76sq m home takes a traditional Serbian chalet and spins it on its head. A black roof becomes a vertical turret with wooden shingle tiles that cascade down to the floor. Water is supplied from a local spring and heated by solar panels. Inside, it’s all eyes on the square picture window with its views of Mount Maljenv.

This wooden outpost perches precariously on a rocky verge overlooking the Atlantic coast of Canada’s eastern provinces. It has double-height ceilings, a south-facing deck and has a pleasing sense of floating in mid-air, the result of its two stilts.

A box for bookworms in Upstate New York

Photographs by Mr Jason Koxvold/courtesy of Gestalten

Architect: Studio Padron and Mr Jason Koxvold

From the outside, this charcoal-black library-cum-log cabin isn’t the most inviting of garden sheds. But inside, shelves jut seamlessly from the walls and the glow of the wood-burning stove matches the warm tones of the blond wood beams.

A room with a view of the (other) Alps in Slovenia

Photograph courtesy of Gestalten

Architect: Ofis Arhitekti

Climbers could easily miss this mountain refuge in Jezersko, on the third highest summit of the Kamnik Alps. With its jagged roof, it blends into the inhospitable surroundings, offering shelter against the bitter winds and frequent snowfall. It sleeps eight with space for cooking and entertaining. Inside, a spectacular view looking deep into the valley awaits the intrepid adventurers.

A writer’s paradise in Valparaíso

Photographs by Mr Hugo Bertolotto/courtesy of Gestalten

Architect: Whale! Architecture

This is the region where Chilean poet Mr Pablo Neruda chose to compose many of his Nobel Prize-winning works, and you can see why. Look out of the window and you find yourself transfixed by the endless coastal scrubland that dominates the coastline of central Chile. With stained wood on the outside and plain pine within, the cabin exudes a sense of calm that any writer would relish.

A party house by a glacier in Norway

Photograph by Mr Einar Aslaksen/courtesy of Gestalten

Architect: Jarmund/Vigsnaes As Arkitekter Mnal

Reachable only by foot, this supersized cabin – found 1,200m above sea level – is one of many lodges belonging to the DNT (the Norwegian Trekking Association). Constructed from local materials to withstand the most treacherous of storms, it was completed in 2014. But just in case it does fall down, there is an emergency shelter 50m away. Its two chimneys rise to mimic the surrounding mountains, while the gaping series of seven glass windows offers a front-row seat to gaze at the peaks and the sunsets beyond. Plus, the lodge sleeps 30.

A retreat by the sea, Corsica

Photograph by Mr Matthieu Salvaing/courtesy of Gestalten

Architect: Atelier d’Architecture Aurélie Barbey

The outdoors enters into this holiday home via sliding doors that double as windows. The series of one-storey huts has polished concrete floors and wooden decks with an abundance of outdoor spaces to contemplate the Mediterranean under the shade of windswept pines.