How to Make a Model of a Dogtrot Cabin

Dogtrot houses have central hallways but are open to the exterior, unlike most houses.

Dogtrot cabins are a house type commonly found in the southeastern United States. Dogtrots have open-air hallways between two enclosed rooms. The type is based on a traditional hall and parlor house, but the hallway opens to the outdoors and the house is lifted 1 to 2 feet above the ground to take advantage of breezes and airflow in the warm and humid Southeast. Most dogtrot cabins have a gable roof, although a single-slope flat roof is common as well. To build a model of a dogtrot cabin, mimic the traditional construction of a dogtrot using bass wood dowels and sheets.

Things You'll Need

• 1/16-inch basswood sheets
• Craft knife
• 1/8-inch basswood square dowels
• Glue
• Corrugated wood or cardboard sheets

Instructions

1. Construct the raised house platform from a 5-by-9-inch sheet of basswood cut with a craft knife. Cut basswood square dowels to 1/4- or 1/2-inch lengths with the craft knife. Glue the basswood square dowels at 1 inch on center on the underside of the basswood sheet to make the house stand 1 to 2 feet above the ground at a 1/4-inch-equals-1-foot scale. Use glue sparingly for a fast, secure bond that does not leave messy drips of glue; always use thin lines or small dots of glue instead of pooling glue on wood surfaces and edges.

2. Use your craft knife to cut four 2-by-4 inch sheets of bass wood and four pentagonal sheets of basswood measuring 2 inches on either side with a 4-inch base and two 2 1/2-to-3 inch diagonal sides along the top. The pentagonal sheets should look like home plate in baseball. Lightly score 4-inch horizontal lines with your craft knife at 1/8 inch on center on the face of all eight bass wood sheets, representing clapboard siding. Cut 3/4-by-1 inch windows, 1/2 inch above the 4-inch base, in each sheet, except two of the pentagonal sheets. Cut 3/4-by-1-3/4-inch doors into the two remaining pentagonal sheets.

3. Glue the basswood sheets together into two four-walled boxes, alternating between the 2-by-4-inch sheets and the pentagonal sheets. Each of the two boxes should have a pentagonal sheet with a door.

4. Align the back and side edges of both four-walled boxes with the back and side edges of the raised floor constructed in Step 1. The two doors should face one another and be separated by nearly 1 inch. A strip of the raised floor, approximately 1 inch wide, should run along the front of the house. The 1-inch separation and the 1-inch strip represent the open-air hallway and front porch, respectively.

5. Cut or fold corrugated wood sheets or cardboard to align with the diagonal sides of the pentagonal sheets, creating a gabled roof, and extend 1/4 inch of the corrugated sheets beyond each side of the structure and raised floor to create overhangs. The gabled roof must extend over the open-air hallway and the front porch.

6. Glue four basswood dowels, approximately 1 3/4 inch long, along the front edge of the front porch on the structure, to support the corrugated roof. Cut two 1-by-1/4-inch sheets with your craft knife, and support each with two basswood square dowels to create stairs up to the raised floor. Each pair of dowels should measure 5/32 inch and 5/16 inch, respectively. Glue the stairs and dogtrot cabin with raised floor to a 6-by-10-inch basswood sheet.

References

• "Advanced Architectural Modelmaking"; Eva Miro; 2010
• "Model-Making"; David Neat; 2008
• "Pattern in the Material Fold Culture of the Eastern United States"; Henry Glassie; 1968

Resources

• Great Buildings Online: Dogtrot House