Lakeside Hunting Cabin in Alaska

When Terry F. won a five-and-a-half-acre property in an Alaska land lottery, he knew he wanted to put some type of structure on the land.

“After we acquired that, I knew I was going to put up something but I didn’t know what. I have no building experience. I’m one of those people who, if i can YouTube it, I can probably figure it out. But I have no professional training,” Terry said.

He looked at many designs and types of buildings and initially thought about building a traditional structure, then became interested in a resin dome structure. 

“I was really interested in it because it’s supposed to shed snow super well. But the price was too high and it cost a lot for shipping.”

Eventually, he came across the idea of purchasing a steel building and called SteelMaster. He spoke with B2C Division Director Noah Taylor, who specializes in Alaska steel buildings.

“I sent a request and at that point, I decided I was going in a different direction. After I went back and revisited the idea I thought, ‘Well that actually looks like it could work.’ I called [Noah] back and started to talk with him about what you guys had.”

One of the members of Terry’s church-owned a steel garage and agreed to show the building to Terry and his wife. 

“We talked about what he liked about it and what he didn’t. Seeing one first hand was like yeah, this could really work.”

Terry called Noah and ended up purchasing a 12’ X 20’ S-Model to use as a lakeside cabin. 

“He gave me a really smoking price on it and told me, ‘We can get it right to your dock for free’ and I said ‘Alright, knock yourself out.’”

The building arrived on the barge and Terry picked up his steel building kit.

Easy Delivery and Assembly

“I went down and picked it up and we were good to go. I had to haul [the arches] up to the edge of the lake and load the pieces in my boat.”

Terry enlisted the help of his friend and his friend’s sons to put the arches together and raise them before winter arrived. He says his 19-year-old daughter, Shayla, was also instrumental in constructing the cabin. 

“[Shayla] has been a large part in putting together our cabin. She’s been helping me, she’s had a very critical eye. Her thinking is she wants to make sure dad does it right because someday it’s going to be hers and she wants to make sure it’s still in good shape when it gets to her.”

So far, Terry has been able to finish the exterior of the building and hopes to work on finishing the interior next summer. His building is holding up perfectly to Alaska’s heavy snow loads. 

Durable in the Snow

“We had a ton of snow last winter. I have been in Dillingham 20 years and I will say last year was an above-average snow year,” he said. “I had some apprehension of what I was going to find once I got there but man, there’s nothing. [The building] shed [all of the snow].” 

Terry says he’s extremely pleased with his cabin and his experience with SteelMaster. 

“It’s been super, I have no complaints whatsoever. Whenever I’ve had questions, Noah has always been very quick with an answer. And I’m not a contractor, I’m not a carpenter, so I’ve been very appreciative of that. I am very happy so far.”