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  • The Log Cabin: An American Icon by Alison K. Hoagland
  • Karen Hudson (bio)
The Log Cabin: An American Icon. By Alison K. Hoagland. (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2018. Pp. 320. $29.50 paper; $39.50 ebook)

In her new book, Alison K. Hoagland, 2018 winner of the Vernacular Architecture forum's prestigious Henry Glassie Award, tackles what many consider the archetypal American building form—the log cabin. A long history of scholarly interest in American log architecture has resulted in a plethora of books and articles on the subject. Much of the historiography concentrated on a dispute over the origin and diffusion of log architecture in the United States. While many of these scholars have conducted extensive field documentation and careful historical research, revealing essential aspects of construction, regional patterns, change, and persistence, readers interested in the broader cultural analysis have often been disappointed.

While Hoagland offers readers a summary of the history of log construction across time and space, and an informative overview of major scholarly studies on the topic, the strength of her work is its focus on how and why, for nearly four centuries, beginning in 1840, American's simultaneously viewed the log cabin as both an object of nostalgia and a practical and reasonable solution for constructing a home. But to understand the complexity of this seemingly simple structure, she argues, we must move beyond the dichotomy of myth and reality and explore the way Americans chose to give more, or less, credence to a number of conventional narratives and counter narratives. She explores eight in detail—log cabins were a democratic building form, masculine, built by English colonists, cozy and home-like, and an escape from civilization.

Hoagland describes the log cabin as a uniquely adaptable symbol that for over four centuries was responsive to the country's needs of the moment. Although it largely disappeared as a common and practical living space in most of the country by the twentieth century, it lived on as a symbol of the nation. The meaning Americans placed on the log cabin, depended on who they were, what they were [End Page 597] looking for, and the time and place they lived. Simultaneously it served as the noble birthplace of presidents and the ignoble housing for slaves and the country's poorest. It was a romantic symbol of westward expansion and yet its owners often perceived it as a temporary shelter meant to be discarded in favor of more civilized forms as soon as possible. In the twentieth century, the log cabin served as second homes and motels, restaurants, gas stations, and shops. The story of the log cabin, Hoagland compellingly concludes, "is ultimately one that is more about American values and perceptions than about the building itself (p. 8)."

As we have come to expect from Hoagland, The Log Cabin: An American Icon, combines in-depth research and substantial fieldwork. It is liberally illustrated with photographs, sketches, and measured drawings. The captions have been carefully prepared so that they do not merely illustrate the text; they help to teach the inexperienced how to "read" the built environment.

The Log Cabin: An American Icon will appeal to a diverse audience. Those new to the study of log architecture will find its summary of log house history and the two appendices—"Historiographical Note," and "Essay on Sources,"—particularly helpful. For those more familiar with previous research on the log cabin, Hoagland's broader cultural analysis will be welcome reading.

Karen Hudson

karen hudson is a visiting professor in the department of historic preservation at the University of Kentucky.

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