The Founder of Cabin Porn Shares His Favorite Submissions from the Past 10 Years

Zach Klein is the co-founder of video platform Vimeo, but if you’re reading this here website, he might be more famous for his other project: Cabin Porn. What started in 2009 as a Tumblr quickly morphed into a pre-Instagram vision board for those who dreamt of getting away from it all and experiencing nature firsthand, preferably from a charming little cabin.

“The collection initially served only as inspiration for my own family’s camp in upstate New York,” Klein writes in the foreward to his second Cabin Porn book, “Inside,” which was published on October 1. “[Cabin Porn’s] appeal demonstrates the seemingly universal desire to bring a simple building to life in harmony with the land around it.” And while the first volume, published in 2015, focused on the outside, the new book gives readers a peek—you guessed it—inside.

With a decade of submissions on Cabin Porn’s site, we were curious whether Klein had any favorites. Here’s what he sent back, many of which you can find more about on Cabin Porn or in either of the the books.

Located in Beaver Brook, NY, the interior of Scott’s 300 square foot cabin happens to be the cover of “Cabin Porn Inside.”

Located in Washington, this 8’×18’ timber-framed tiny house features two lofts, and was built completely with salvaged materials. Builders Brooke and Emmett are also “farmers, food preservers, artists, musicians so this home was designed to house many pursuits and tools.”

This extraordinary shelter in Swedish Lapland.

Check out this cabin in Kauai, Hawaii built by Jay Nelson, whose work you can see more of in this video.

“The Sunset House in southern West Virginia was built by Lilah and Nick using lumber reclaimed from a barn on their property which was cut and milled from the land by the previous owner many years ago. All the windows are reclaimed from junkyards over their history of thrifting together.”

Of his hobbit house in west Wales, Florian Häusler says: “Since 2003 we have been living and building on the land, working in environmental projects and community. We have found it is possible to create simple shelters that are in harmony with the natural landscape, ecologically sound and are a pleasure to live in. There is something powerfully alluring in such natural buildings. Their simplicity and cost makes them accessible; their beauty and use of natural materials remind us of our ancestral right and ability to live well as part of the landscape/nature/earth. We believe this dream is possible for anyone with genuine intention, will and hard work.”

This 200-year-old stacked stone home in Linescio, Switzerland was renovated by Buchner Bründler Architekten in 2011. The exterior was left untouched while the interior was reconstructed layer by layer with poured concrete.

This magical cabin was converted from a watermill by a Serbian painter whose father owned and operated many mills along this Bosnian river.

This cabin is located on a gorge in Hrensko, Czech Republic “which is part of Bohemian Switzerland.”

This yurt in Maine belongs to Bill Coperthwaite, author of “A Handmade Life.” “No one alive has done more to promote yurts than Bill Coperthwaite. Coming across the style in a 1962 National Geographic article, he recognized in the yurt a construction method so simple and durable, that almost anyone, regardless of skill or budget, could build their own home. He’s spent the last 4 decades living off-grid, lecturing, selling plans, and leading hundreds of yurt building workshops around the globe.”

“Our friend and frequent contributor, Foster Huntington, lives in a very special place in Skamania County, Washington called The Cinder Cone. Built with friends, the property features several treehouses, a wood-fired tub, a skate bowl, and lot full of the greatest trucks. They made their own book about the property and the process, see more photos there.”

Alex Holland’s cabin in Machynlleth, Wales, has a unique feature. The roof is made of an upturned boat, and inside there’s a gas cooker, sink and sound system used for parties.
“I buried  four telegraph poles in the ground,  put some cross beams across and got the boat lowered on top and it survived, which was a surprise,” Holland says.