I lived in northwest Alaska from 1976 through 1992, with a break for two years (1984-1986) while I attended the College of the Redwoods Fine Woodworking Program. My wife and sons and I lived in a semi-traditional sod house, or ‘iglu’ — about 14′ x 16′, spruce post and beam frame covered by spruce boards milled by chainsaw, 6mil visqueen (that’s the non-traditional part) and dirt and sod. The nearest road was about 300 miles to the east. Our nearest neighbor was a small Inuit village, 12 miles east on the Kobuk River, and another family 15 miles west, downriver.
Little Shop North of the Arctic Circle
We traveled by dog team in the winter and boat in the summer. We worked for wages 8-12 weeks each summer, and lived off the land the rest of the year. Besides our two caches, the only outbuildings we had were the outhouse and the woodshop. This was a small (10′ x 12′) log structure 30′ or so from the house. A friend passing by our old place a couple of years ago sent this image of the front of the shop.