Sweet Home Alabama: A Salvaged Home in the South

Enlarge Image Image Gallery At just 1,100 square feet, the Bakers’ weekend cabin became their main residence after the family spent years building it together. Photography by Michael Shopenn

Growing up in rural Roanoke, Alabama, Guy Baker and his brother spent hours roaming their grandpa’s 40 acres, reined in only by the creek that marked the boundary of their play area. Thirty-eight years later, Guy returned to that patch of land to build a retreat for himself, his wife and his own sons on the edge of that same creek.

In 2001, Guy had hit an emotional wall. Kay, his childhood sweetheart and wife of 20 years, was busy earning her bachelor’s degree in psychology. The couple’s three sons were entering their teens. Guy’s mother had died a few months before, and Guy had thrown himself into his work.

"My construction business had slowly spiraled out of control," he says. "I was working 10 to 12 hours a day, six to seven days a week, and it still wasn’t enough. I had no downtime. I feared for my boys’ future in this ever-changing world. I missed my mom. I felt my life passing me by. Heck, I was 41 years old and had forgotten how to fish!" Guy knew he needed peace and serenity, and his childhood stomping grounds seemed to be calling his name.

Guy and Kay had bought eight of his grandfather’s 40 acres inthe late 1980s, and Guy had a fairy-tale vision for the land he once played on: a cozy little millhouse on the creek bank, with a waterwheel. A house that he, Kay and their three boys would build all by themselves using found wood and stone. "I wanted to spend my off-time building a little weekend cabin to escape to," he says. "But more than that, I wanted a project that would bring us together as a family."

Though hesitant at first, Kay suspected the project might be just what her husband and family needed. "When he first told me his plan, I thought, ‘Yeah, OK, whatever,’" Kay says. "To me, being in the middle of the woods didn’t seem peaceful. I felt too enclosed. I like being around people, being in the world. So it was not a real fantasy for me. But he’s the love of my life, so I supported his vision."

Gathering material

As a contractor, Guy knew that most building projects waste a lot of usable materials. "In my line of work, getting rid of old junk and debris is part of the bidding process anyway," he says. "So if I got a job remodeling a house built in the early 1900s and happened to see a dilapidated barn on the property, I’d just ask the owner, ‘What’s the future of that barn?’ Generally, he’d say, 'You can have it.'"

In the five years it took to complete the project, Guy collected old wood, tin and other materials from as many as 75 sources; every town in Randolph County is represented. "I got wood from old barns and sheds; some pieces I just found in a field somewhere," he says. "My company also did a whole lot of work on a church from the 1850s that people claimed was the oldest in the county. I got all the windowpanes, some trim and a few pieces of lumber from that."