For Just $100, This Man Turned An Old Wooden Shack Into Something Extraordinary

Richard Aiken is sort of a jack of all trades and a master of all of them. He’s a husband, a father, he earned two Ph.D.s, he has a medical degree, he’s an opera singer, and he’s the author of The New Ancestral Diet. Also, as you’ll soon see, he’s a pretty fantastic builder.

How can one person be this good at so many things? I have no idea. But keep reading if you want to watch the then-sixty-five-year-old turn this shack of a log cabin into something extraordinary.

Richard had been interested in purchasing a home in the woods for a while. I mean, who doesn’t want to go all Walden and escape into nature for a bit?

Can you imagine just waking up, walking out your front door, and being in the middle of nowhere surrounded by trees? That honestly sounds like a dream. At the same time, this probably wouldn’t be the first home we would consider buying.

Richard thought that buying a second house would cost him a lot of money, but when a man in Missouri told him about an old, run-down cabin, Richard saw it as an opportunity to live the lifestyle he has always wanted.

Richart paid $100 cash for the property, which included the totally decrepit wood cabin. The man offered it to him for free, but Richard insisted on paying him at least a hundred bucks.

Much To Be Desired

The cabin obviously wasn’t in good shape. It quickly became clear to Richard that he had a lot of work to do if he wanted to live in an unsafe structure.

Richard’s future home was full of debris, and its roof had collapsed completely. It looks dangerous just peering in through the doorway, never mind actually hanging out inside! Still, Richard decided he would spend his spare time fixing up the old shack.

Time To Get Busy

Richard marked all of the wooden boards on the outside of the cabin so he would know exactly how to arrange them after cleanup up the rot that had likely persisted for many years.

The actual cabin may have been badly run down, but just look at the beautiful scenery! Who wouldn’t want to live in this oasis? That was a large motivating factor and as you’ll soon see, he made the right choice.

Richard enlisted his family to help him with this huge building job. It wasn’t long before Richard’s family discovered a natural spring nearby. That meant that they could create their own waterfront property!

Their discovery also meant they would spend a lot of time digging to unearth the spring which would provide an additional view for the newly renovated home. Now that the cabin was dismantled, Richard could move it anywhere he chose..

A Magical Moment

They reached the bedrock by digging into the spring by hand. Then they brought in bulldozers to dig out the rest of the pond. That’s right. They built a pond.

The dock on the pond is a nice touch and showcases Richard’s craftsmanship before we even see the final home project he completed. No small details were spared by this master builder, although after he laid the first logs it didn’t seem like much of a project…