Businessman builds Hope up one cabin at a time

By Bianca Durrant
Turnagain Times
Hope Correspondent

In Hope, one can draw much inspiration from Jim Skogstad, a Hope denizen since the mid-70s who has graced our valley with some of the more sustainable and beautiful log homes.

Skogstad is the owner of Hope Woodcrafters, manufacturer of custom log homes. His cabins are a tribute to the spruce, log structures that keep Alaska pioneer traditions alive.

Skogstad grew up in Anchorage and began his career in the early 70s working on houses in Girdwood, where he also lived at the time. During one particularly wet weather stretch in 1975, it rained everyday for three months straight and Skogstad decided enough was enough. He headed for the drier climate across the Arm.

“When I moved to Hope, there wasn't a lot going on,” Skogstad said. “Tito's (Café) hadn't even opened yet. I had to commute to Girdwood for work.”

Skogstad said he did play a part in one early Hope job of significance when he laid the foundation for the one room schoolhouse. This same schoolhouse now serves as the community library.

The commuting thing worked for a while, he said, until Skogstad and his wife divorced in the early 90s. Following the divorce, he had to adjust his lifestyle to accommodate the week on, week off parenting of three boys.

“I knew that I had to be in Hope during my weeks with the boys,” he said.

He brainstormed and his entrepreneurial wheels led him to log homes. He had already worked with logs on his own home starting with the construction of a log sauna on his property in 1978. It was a method of building which appealed to Jim on many levels, starting with the connection that Hope's pioneers had with logs. Early Hope settlers utilized logs on structures that are still standing today, such as the much used Hope Social Hall, built in 1902.

“I value buildings that require minimal maintenance and that will last decades and decades,” he said.

If a town's vitality could be judged by the state of its buildings, at the time Jim began manufacturing log homes, Hope's vitality was taking a nap. The existing log structures were decades old and while they were rich with hand-hewn beauty and historical significance, that significance, by the looks of things, had come and gone.

Sure many others had built their little cabin in the woods, but it could be argued that none of those shelters had the timeless beauty of the logs that Skogstad uses to build his homes.

“I love the idea of taking a raw resource from the forest and turning it into a structure that is practical and nice to look at,” he said.

It was fortuitous that at about the same time that Skogstad got to work on his mill, the beetle-killed pines that line the Hope Highway were just standing there, dry and ready to be harvested. The trees gathered by Jim have gained redemption from their beetle-kill fates. In their new lives they are part of beautiful log structures that will last for decades.

Jim has built several log homes in the Hope area over the past 15 years. A majority of those homes belong to Anchoragites who have a “weekend” cabin and escape the big city and relax in tranquility of Hope.

They are happy to be in this charming small town and Hope's residents are happy to have them, providing an infusion of good cheer and patronizing businesses.

In that sense, Skogstad has contributed greatly to the aesthetics of the community, while providing a boost to the local economy.

The best part is that after all of this time working with logs, Skogstad still takes pleasure in all aspects of preparing the harvested lumber; going to get it from the forest, peeling and milling.

Well, all aspects except one.

“I have never liked sanding the logs,” he admitted. “Still don't.”

Skogstad added that one of the biggest challenges a small town like Hope faces is “keeping its unique character and not commercializing itself.”

One could say that Skogstad has done his part in maintaining that special Hope character, adding a touch of natural aesthetics to our collective architecture.