Two Centuries Old and Still Standing Strong!

By Gene Ferrari, Ferrari Structures & Woodworks, LLC 

This historic log home in Chesapeake, Ohio, has quite a story to tell.
Local tradition says it was built by Jacob Suiter, a stout Pennsylvania Dutch settler who hand-hewed the white oak logs on site and joined them with wooden pegs. According to the Ohio Historic Inventory (1976), the home dates to 1824, though other sources suggest it may have been built as early as 1805–1825 making it the oldest known house in Chesapeake.

The main structure is a two-story, roughly 28' x 35', built over a 5-foot crawl space/cellar. It originally featured half-dovetail log corners (a hallmark of German-influenced craftsmanship) and horsehair chinking, which was later patched with cement. After 1925, a family room addition and enclosed front porch were added, using sandstone quarried right on the property. The original upper gables were covered in hand-split cedar shakes, which the client asked us to update with cedar shake-style vinyl siding for easier upkeep.

During restoration, we removed layers of cement applied over the logs and carefully assessed the structure. In total, twenty-one logs had to be replaced - each one white oak salvaged from an 1815 structure in Wheeling, WV. These reclaimed timbers were in excellent condition, and it was rewarding to bring 200-year-old oak back into service.

We stripped the paint, repaired and replaced chinking, installed new fascia and window trim made from rough-sawn hemlock, and closed a long-standing gap between the chimney and the house. The roof framing revealed sawn rafters instead of rounded poles, an interesting construction detail from its time.

For finishing, we used Perma-Chink Systems products:

• Log Wash

• Lifeline Ultra-7 in Gentry Gray

• Lifeline Advance Gloss Clear Coat

• Stone-colored chinking and chink paint

• Energy Seal in Dark Natural, which blended beautifully with the logs

It was truly an honor to help preserve this remarkable piece of history for the current owners, the Nelsons. Many thanks to Wilderness Woods for supplying the reclaimed oak and hemlock materials, and to Perma-Chink Systems for their exceptional products that helped bring this restoration to life.

BEFORE

AFTER