Suzanne Zoller first tried to go on the annual Steiner Cabin Tour, offered by the Mount Hood Cultural Center & Museum, in 2017, but the tickets were sold out. Garrett Stokes planned on going last year, but the event was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

This year, the tour returns on Saturday, Aug. 14, and Zoller and Stokes will
get to enjoy the tour in an unusual fashion: as owners of two of the seven log
cabins hand-built by Henry Steiner and his family during the 1920s and
1930s.

“It’s super exciting,” Zoller said. “It was just a dream we never thought would
come true. (We) never thought we’d have an opportunity to get a Steiner
Cabin and preserve it and restore it.”

Steiner built a number of log cabins in the Mountain community and beyond,
known for their signature architectural features such as basalt fireplaces, log
doors, half log staircases and more. Materials for the cabins were primarily
native materials found around the site, with the only exceptions being items
such as windows and sinks.

This year’s tour, a self-guided walking route through the community of
Rhododendron that will take up to three hours, begins at a “pop-up” museum
at the Log Lodge, 73330 Hwy. 26. Volunteers will greet participants at each
cabin and provide a brief description of the cabin and owners, while
participants will also get to meet the owners and learn more about their
cabins.

Zoller, who grew up in the Portland area and spent time cross country skiing
on Mount Hood, purchased her cabin with her boyfriend in July 2020. The
cabin features a banister classic of Steiner’s work, but also a built-in bookshelf
and a sleeping porch.

She added that the small cabin needed quite a lot of work and that it remains
a work in progress. But her boyfriend spent the winter peeling and staining
logs by hand to start the restoration process.

“When I saw it, it’s just an amazingly cute cabin,” Zoller said, adding that she
expects the chimney and fireplace to be restored in time for the tour and that
she’s also focused on restoring native plants to the property. “We never
expected to get our hands on one.”

Stokes, meanwhile, purchased his Steiner Cabin in September 2020 and
moved in that November. He was familiar with the Mountain community from

visiting his son, who lives in Portland, and vacationing on Mount Hood. And
after living in a 100-year-old craftsman house in Seattle, he feels right at
home in his new cabin.

“I’m used to living in old, well built homes,” Stokes said. “This was a dream
come true, to have an authentic Steiner on Mount Hood.”

Stokes noted a number of elements he enjoys, including the half-log staircase
with a unique, curved railing, a lofted ceiling and one special feature not found
in many Steiner Cabins: a bridge.

“Even the floors are just hand-planed,” he said. “That craftsmanship is just
outstanding.”

Stokes’ cabin was in excellent shape, noting that he has focused on electrical
and heating upgrades, but he also added that he’s brought in some special
decor to the cabin. For nine years, Stokes lived close to Bavaria, where
Steiner’s family came from, and he has a cuckoo clock and other items made
from the area now in his cabin.

Lloyd Musser, the museum’s volunteer curator, noted that the tour (which
started 15 years ago) offers a full range of features that Steiner Cabins are
known for, while a couple cabins are now on the second generation of owners.
He added that capacity for the tour is limited to 300 people.

“We’re feeling good,” Musser said about the mood at the museum. “We didn’t
know what to expect when we reopened here.”

Tickets for the 2021 Steiner Cabin Tour will go on sale at 7 a.m. Thursday,
July 1, and are available online at the museum’s website,

www.mthoodmuseum.org. Tickets are $35 each for museum members and
$40 each for non-members; they can be paid for with a credit card or via
PayPal. All proceeds will benefit the Mt. Hood Cultural Center and Museum.
Participants should print a receipt at check-out. This will be exchanged for the
required wrist band and tour map on August 14.

The usual etiquette rules apply: no pets, no high heels, no strollers in the
homes and small children are not recommended. Some cabin owners may
provide and request booties to be worn. Participants can also ride bicycles on
the route.

For additional information, please call the museum at 503- 272-3301.