Restoration Road (2021–…): Season 1, Episode 3 - Missouri Log Cabin - full transcript
Clint pitches in as a log cabin built in 1849 by German Saxon immigrants is taken down and restored as a charming bed and breakfast in the historic town of Ste. Genevieve, Missouri.
Mark Twain once wrote
of the Mississippi River,
"Man cannot tame
that lawless stream,
cannot curb it or confine it,
cannot say to it,
Go here, or Go there,
and make it obey."
Driving along
its mighty banks,
it's easy to understand
what he meant.
I'm here
in southeastern Missouri
to visit the tiny farming
community of Uniontown,
originally named Paitzdorf
by the German Saxon immigrants
who settled here.
I've come to Uniontown
to meet Luke Larson,
a Vermont builder
who's a long way from home,
drawn here by a structure
that has remained
virtually untouched
since this town's beginnings.
- Here it is.
- Here what is?
I'm Clint Harp,
and I'm traveling America
to shed a light on some
incredible restorations
and transformations,
get hands on
with some of the builders
bringing these amazing places
back to life,
and make sure
these new stories
live on for years to come.
Whoo!
Well, isn't she a beauty?
This is Restoration Road.
This cabin we believe
was built 1840s, maybe 1850.
So it's been in there a while.
I'm afraid
it's a little overgrown.
- Is it back there, for real?
- It's back in there.
How in the world
did you find this?
'Cause I don't even
see anything.
So, Andy,
one of my team members...
- Yes.
- ...grew up here in Missouri.
As the crow flies,
maybe half mile
through the trees here...
Okay.
So he's known
about this cabin
and the family
that owns this property,
they want to see it restored
before these trees
completely reclaim it.
All right,
I want to see it.
- Well, let's go find it.
- This is nuts.
Is that a pecan tree
right there?
- Man, look at that.
- Here it is.
This thing
is something to behold.
This land was settled
in about 1839
by some immigrants
from Saxony, Germany...
- Mmm-hmm.
- ...who were coming here
for religious freedom.
So this is
the Frenzel granary,
probably built in the 1840s,
and they would store
their barley, wheat,
their corn in this
for the winter.
They arrived in January,
and immediately they
found themselves
needing help.
So they ended up getting
through that first winter
largely because they were
helped by the Scottish
and the Irish immigrants,
who were about
20, 30 miles away.
- Yeah.
- So there's a lesson for us.
We need our freedom,
but we also need
to help each other.
- We are all in this together.
- Absolutely.
If not, we're going
to fall down
like this log cabin will
if we don't jump on it.
That's right.
This thing is begging
to be brought down.
Yeah, this is
its last stand
on this piece of land.
So where are
you guys taking this?
I am so excited.
We're going to move it
about 30 miles
just up the river
to Ste. Genevieve.
And we're going to put it up
behind Andy's mom's shop.
She makes
reproduction artwork
of the colonial period.
And it's going to be used
as a guest house
for people to come and stay
while they explore historic
Ste. Genevieve.
- How fun, man.
- Yeah.
Well, come take a look
at these dovetail corners.
- Look at that. Phew!
- Yeah.
Yeah, isn't that something?
The Germans are famous
for these beautiful
dovetailed corners.
- Mmm-hmm.
- So here it's angled this way,
and here, it's flat.
- So they call that
a half dovetail.
- Right.
The builders are using gravity
to their advantage.
- Yes.
- To keep these corners
just locked in.
And we can see
how well it worked.
- Look at that, how it's just
still locked right together.
- Wow.
This... You're not
sticking a card in there.
- No, that is tight.
- Look how tight that is.
- It's incredible.
- That is nuts.
Take a look up here.
You see
this cantilevered beam?
- Yes.
- So they had that
come right out
to support this porch.
- Yes, that's cool.
- So what we're going to do,
because the door is on
the other eave,
we're going
to take these beams
and flip them around,
have them go out.
- Okay. Got it. Okay.
- Over the entrance.
Yeah, we're going to keep it
as close to original
as we can,
with the exception,
we're going to add
some windows.
- Very cool.
- Yeah.
Well, Clint,
take a look at this door.
I love this door.
The original door?
I believe so.
It looks original for sure.
Yeah, it's been here a while.
- It's old.
- Look right here.
- You can see an eternity sign.
- Oh, right here.
Also sometimes referred to
as a hex mark.
That's a little creepy.
In Europe,
there were symbols
- that would ward off
evil spells and witches.
- Sure.
Uh, which were later adopted
as a blessing sign
or an eternity mark--
- So it could go either way.
- It could go either way.
I mean,
asking for blessing,
- or grain witches, not here.
- Yeah.
- That's right, that's right.
- Yeah, back off.
This is really
some kind of door right here.
I hope you're able to do
something with this.
- Yes. It wouldn't survive
as an entry door again.
- No.
So what we're gonna do
is we're gonna use it
as the bathroom door inside.
- Great.
- Most likely, gonna put it
on an old track.
- So it just slides
across the bathroom.
- Yes. Yeah.
- Let's do it. Come on.
- Let's look at it.
Come on into the granary.
Okay, this is bare-bones,
Luke.
Here it is. It is.
Look at the size
of these oak logs.
- Oh, huge!
- Beautiful.
All right, let me show you
something over here, Clint.
Okay.
Look at the lengths
they went to
right here, to try to
seal up this corner.
- Yes.
- And then they took
this piece of log,
live edge, and somebody
took the time
to whittle and shape that
to be a perfect mirror image
of the clapboards.
That is really and truly
remarkable.
I love it.
We hardly know
what work is today.
This is good wood right here,
really and truly...
- Yeah.
- I'm just seeing
furniture everywhere.
- Oh, you can't have it.
- That's me.
We're keeping it
for the cabin.
Come on, Luke,
you're killing me.
- Can we go up?
- Yeah.
Oh, this is so open
up here, Luke.
This is beautiful.
- Totally want a bed up here.
- Right?
Just a little loft.
I mean,
it's screaming for it.
- Oh, so comfy.
- Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, it's a great space.
Now, Clint, in a log cabin,
this top course
is called the crown.
There's four crown beams,
one on each gable,
one on each eave.
- Okay.
- That gable's in great shape.
- Mmm-hmm.
- This eave, not so much.
And then, if we turn around,
this gable here,
- it's taken a lot of moisture.
- Oh, yeah.
- It is completely shot.
- Right.
So we have to replace this one
and also this big one.
Oh.
So we're gonna have to
hew a replacement log.
So, we'll have some
serious work.
Come on! We are hand-hewing--
Tell you what,
you can do this one.
- Yeah.
- You can do the--
There is no way you're
letting me do that one.
No, I know, you're saving
the big one for yourself.
No way.
Hey, we'll probably both be
hacking away at these things.
- Yeah. For a while.
- My goodness. Yeah.
Amazing.
Well, let's get to work.
Where are we starting?
I mean--
- We got to start by just landscaping.
- Landscaping, right?
Yeah, that's right,
that's right.
We need to
cut something down.
This old cabin
with its joints and beams
and ancient carpentry
is fascinating to me.
But even more fascinating
is the story
of the immigrants who traveled
halfway around the globe
to build it
and make their lives here.
So before we start
taking it down
tomorrow morning,
Luke wants to show me
a local landmark
that played a pivotal role
in their journey.
There it is, Clint.
Tower Rock.
Just rising up
out of the Mississippi River.
It's gorgeous.
The Shawnee
Native American people
believed that
a demon lived here
on this rock, a manitou.
But if you look down
below the rock,
you can see
the current swirling.
It is absolutely swirling.
It sure is.
So this was known as
a very treacherous spot.
And it's said that
the early sailors
coming up the Mississippi
would always raise a glass
once they passed it
to celebrate
their safe passage.
They made it.
So I wanted to tell you
about this migration.
And this group of Saxons
wanted to migrate here
largely for religious freedom.
So in 1838,
707 folks left Germany
in 5 sailing vessels.
Four vessels made it,
and the smallest ship
was lost at sea.
So in 1839, that group
of Lutheran Saxon immigrants
landed just upriver here,
in the mouth
of Apple Creek,
and they've called this
their Plymouth Rock.
About 500 came up through here
and just went right to work...
- Of course.
- ...farming
and building log cabins.
That's neat
to be able to trace
the history of this log cabin
back to Germany...
- That's... That is very neat.
- That's pretty neat.
I love digging in
and trying to figure out
the story
behind the buildings.
- Who lived there?
Who built it?
- Yes.
Whose hands carved
those timbers?
Wow! Beautiful, Luke.
This is fantastic.
To be honest with you,
my first thought was
I kind of want to
swim out there.
But now, you know what,
I'm good.
Look out
for the manitou.
Yeah.
of the Mississippi River,
"Man cannot tame
that lawless stream,
cannot curb it or confine it,
cannot say to it,
Go here, or Go there,
and make it obey."
Driving along
its mighty banks,
it's easy to understand
what he meant.
I'm here
in southeastern Missouri
to visit the tiny farming
community of Uniontown,
originally named Paitzdorf
by the German Saxon immigrants
who settled here.
I've come to Uniontown
to meet Luke Larson,
a Vermont builder
who's a long way from home,
drawn here by a structure
that has remained
virtually untouched
since this town's beginnings.
- Here it is.
- Here what is?
I'm Clint Harp,
and I'm traveling America
to shed a light on some
incredible restorations
and transformations,
get hands on
with some of the builders
bringing these amazing places
back to life,
and make sure
these new stories
live on for years to come.
Whoo!
Well, isn't she a beauty?
This is Restoration Road.
This cabin we believe
was built 1840s, maybe 1850.
So it's been in there a while.
I'm afraid
it's a little overgrown.
- Is it back there, for real?
- It's back in there.
How in the world
did you find this?
'Cause I don't even
see anything.
So, Andy,
one of my team members...
- Yes.
- ...grew up here in Missouri.
As the crow flies,
maybe half mile
through the trees here...
Okay.
So he's known
about this cabin
and the family
that owns this property,
they want to see it restored
before these trees
completely reclaim it.
All right,
I want to see it.
- Well, let's go find it.
- This is nuts.
Is that a pecan tree
right there?
- Man, look at that.
- Here it is.
This thing
is something to behold.
This land was settled
in about 1839
by some immigrants
from Saxony, Germany...
- Mmm-hmm.
- ...who were coming here
for religious freedom.
So this is
the Frenzel granary,
probably built in the 1840s,
and they would store
their barley, wheat,
their corn in this
for the winter.
They arrived in January,
and immediately they
found themselves
needing help.
So they ended up getting
through that first winter
largely because they were
helped by the Scottish
and the Irish immigrants,
who were about
20, 30 miles away.
- Yeah.
- So there's a lesson for us.
We need our freedom,
but we also need
to help each other.
- We are all in this together.
- Absolutely.
If not, we're going
to fall down
like this log cabin will
if we don't jump on it.
That's right.
This thing is begging
to be brought down.
Yeah, this is
its last stand
on this piece of land.
So where are
you guys taking this?
I am so excited.
We're going to move it
about 30 miles
just up the river
to Ste. Genevieve.
And we're going to put it up
behind Andy's mom's shop.
She makes
reproduction artwork
of the colonial period.
And it's going to be used
as a guest house
for people to come and stay
while they explore historic
Ste. Genevieve.
- How fun, man.
- Yeah.
Well, come take a look
at these dovetail corners.
- Look at that. Phew!
- Yeah.
Yeah, isn't that something?
The Germans are famous
for these beautiful
dovetailed corners.
- Mmm-hmm.
- So here it's angled this way,
and here, it's flat.
- So they call that
a half dovetail.
- Right.
The builders are using gravity
to their advantage.
- Yes.
- To keep these corners
just locked in.
And we can see
how well it worked.
- Look at that, how it's just
still locked right together.
- Wow.
This... You're not
sticking a card in there.
- No, that is tight.
- Look how tight that is.
- It's incredible.
- That is nuts.
Take a look up here.
You see
this cantilevered beam?
- Yes.
- So they had that
come right out
to support this porch.
- Yes, that's cool.
- So what we're going to do,
because the door is on
the other eave,
we're going
to take these beams
and flip them around,
have them go out.
- Okay. Got it. Okay.
- Over the entrance.
Yeah, we're going to keep it
as close to original
as we can,
with the exception,
we're going to add
some windows.
- Very cool.
- Yeah.
Well, Clint,
take a look at this door.
I love this door.
The original door?
I believe so.
It looks original for sure.
Yeah, it's been here a while.
- It's old.
- Look right here.
- You can see an eternity sign.
- Oh, right here.
Also sometimes referred to
as a hex mark.
That's a little creepy.
In Europe,
there were symbols
- that would ward off
evil spells and witches.
- Sure.
Uh, which were later adopted
as a blessing sign
or an eternity mark--
- So it could go either way.
- It could go either way.
I mean,
asking for blessing,
- or grain witches, not here.
- Yeah.
- That's right, that's right.
- Yeah, back off.
This is really
some kind of door right here.
I hope you're able to do
something with this.
- Yes. It wouldn't survive
as an entry door again.
- No.
So what we're gonna do
is we're gonna use it
as the bathroom door inside.
- Great.
- Most likely, gonna put it
on an old track.
- So it just slides
across the bathroom.
- Yes. Yeah.
- Let's do it. Come on.
- Let's look at it.
Come on into the granary.
Okay, this is bare-bones,
Luke.
Here it is. It is.
Look at the size
of these oak logs.
- Oh, huge!
- Beautiful.
All right, let me show you
something over here, Clint.
Okay.
Look at the lengths
they went to
right here, to try to
seal up this corner.
- Yes.
- And then they took
this piece of log,
live edge, and somebody
took the time
to whittle and shape that
to be a perfect mirror image
of the clapboards.
That is really and truly
remarkable.
I love it.
We hardly know
what work is today.
This is good wood right here,
really and truly...
- Yeah.
- I'm just seeing
furniture everywhere.
- Oh, you can't have it.
- That's me.
We're keeping it
for the cabin.
Come on, Luke,
you're killing me.
- Can we go up?
- Yeah.
Oh, this is so open
up here, Luke.
This is beautiful.
- Totally want a bed up here.
- Right?
Just a little loft.
I mean,
it's screaming for it.
- Oh, so comfy.
- Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, it's a great space.
Now, Clint, in a log cabin,
this top course
is called the crown.
There's four crown beams,
one on each gable,
one on each eave.
- Okay.
- That gable's in great shape.
- Mmm-hmm.
- This eave, not so much.
And then, if we turn around,
this gable here,
- it's taken a lot of moisture.
- Oh, yeah.
- It is completely shot.
- Right.
So we have to replace this one
and also this big one.
Oh.
So we're gonna have to
hew a replacement log.
So, we'll have some
serious work.
Come on! We are hand-hewing--
Tell you what,
you can do this one.
- Yeah.
- You can do the--
There is no way you're
letting me do that one.
No, I know, you're saving
the big one for yourself.
No way.
Hey, we'll probably both be
hacking away at these things.
- Yeah. For a while.
- My goodness. Yeah.
Amazing.
Well, let's get to work.
Where are we starting?
I mean--
- We got to start by just landscaping.
- Landscaping, right?
Yeah, that's right,
that's right.
We need to
cut something down.
This old cabin
with its joints and beams
and ancient carpentry
is fascinating to me.
But even more fascinating
is the story
of the immigrants who traveled
halfway around the globe
to build it
and make their lives here.
So before we start
taking it down
tomorrow morning,
Luke wants to show me
a local landmark
that played a pivotal role
in their journey.
There it is, Clint.
Tower Rock.
Just rising up
out of the Mississippi River.
It's gorgeous.
The Shawnee
Native American people
believed that
a demon lived here
on this rock, a manitou.
But if you look down
below the rock,
you can see
the current swirling.
It is absolutely swirling.
It sure is.
So this was known as
a very treacherous spot.
And it's said that
the early sailors
coming up the Mississippi
would always raise a glass
once they passed it
to celebrate
their safe passage.
They made it.
So I wanted to tell you
about this migration.
And this group of Saxons
wanted to migrate here
largely for religious freedom.
So in 1838,
707 folks left Germany
in 5 sailing vessels.
Four vessels made it,
and the smallest ship
was lost at sea.
So in 1839, that group
of Lutheran Saxon immigrants
landed just upriver here,
in the mouth
of Apple Creek,
and they've called this
their Plymouth Rock.
About 500 came up through here
and just went right to work...
- Of course.
- ...farming
and building log cabins.
That's neat
to be able to trace
the history of this log cabin
back to Germany...
- That's... That is very neat.
- That's pretty neat.
I love digging in
and trying to figure out
the story
behind the buildings.
- Who lived there?
Who built it?
- Yes.
Whose hands carved
those timbers?
Wow! Beautiful, Luke.
This is fantastic.
To be honest with you,
my first thought was
I kind of want to
swim out there.
But now, you know what,
I'm good.
Look out
for the manitou.
Yeah.