By Justin Andress
The Mountain Times
On August 9th, the Mt. Hood Cultural Center and Museum will celebrate the 20th annual Steiner Cabins Tour with a special treat. Seven cabins will be featured, all of which are within walking distance, making for the most accessible cabin tour ever!
In advance of the big event, we caught up with Ian McCluskey, a member of the Steiner Cabin Committee, to tour a Steiner cabin that’s currently on the market and discuss the legacy of Steiner cabins and what makes them so special.
Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, Henry Steiner put his stamp on Mt. Hood’s culture by building 100 handmade log cabins and 2 log churches. Seventy still survive to this day. Buildings in this style can’t be found anywhere else on the planet.
We zeroed in on a Steiner cabin that was built in the 1930s. In 2023, the cabin was donated to the Mt. Cultural Center and Museum. On the sale of the property, a sizable portion of the proceeds will go to the museum to further their goal of keeping Mt. Hood’s history alive. Executive Director Dave Winterling says that the donation was an extraordinary honor for both the endowment and the opportunity to help preserve Mt. Hood’s history.
For two months, the Steiner Cabin Committee has cleared the land and prepped the house. It’s currently available for sale to interested buyers. There is still some foundation work to be done, but even those structural defects don’t detract from the beauty of the cabin itself.
“These cabins are one-of-a-kind,” explains McCluskey. “They come out of the heritage of Oregon. Henry Steiner’s cabins are a uniquely Oregon form of architecture. They’re a creative signature that’s found only on Mt. Hood. To preserve them is to preserve our history. They’re very very special.”
Several clues let you know you’re standing in a Steiner cabin. For example, Steiner used a draw knife to peel the bark from trees. The marks remain on the walls of the finished product. Steiner also hand-crafted quarter-round logs to fill the gaps.
To build his door knobs, Steiner took one of two paths. He either found a curved branch or used a section of log to create a wholly original locking door mechanism. “Out of this comes something that is 100% unique. Every Steiner door has a similarity to it, but no two are exactly alike.”
Perhaps the most distinguished feature of a Steiner log cabin is the staircase. McCluskey says that in most homes, “staircases are a thing of function. They’re used to get from one floor to another. Steiner made his staircases a journey.”
To build a gorgeous staircase, Steiner searched for uniquely-shaped branches to use as a handrail. This detail is both a Steiner touchstone and a unique touch found in every home.
The single-pane windows in this cabin are also rare. When updating or refurbishing a Steiner cabin, the tendency is to replace the single-pane windows with more energy-efficient options. McCluskey says that misses the point of a Steiner cabin. “Every Steiner cabin looks out to nature, and he very intentionally placed windows and framed nature. These old windows just give the vibe.” They capture the original essence of Steiner’s imagination and design.
“Steiner cabins are more relevant than ever,” says McCluskey. “What these cabins represent is something that is more and more scarce in modern life, which are things that are made durable, by hand, with intention, with care, and with craft.”
If you’ve never taken the opportunity to take a look inside a Steiner cabin, your chance is coming quickly. The 2025 Steiner cabin tour is on August 9th. This walking tour will stop at 7 Steiner cabins over a one-mile span. The walking tour will have a gentle slope, and the cabins themselves are not ADA-accessible.
Tickets are on sale now! If you’re interested in the home, or you’d like to get your tickets for the 2025 Steiner Cabin Tour, you can reach out at mthoodmuseum.org.