When Bill Ault promised to make his wife Dot a miniature log cabin, Dot wasn't holding her breath. But three months later, Bill presented his astonished wife with the first of his handmade houses. Nine years and almost 400 little log cabins later, this octogenarian, who was himself born in a log cabin, is still creating these unique pieces of Americana. Bill makes the cabins from tobacco and plaster lath, much of which are antiques unto themselves. If he has the exact date of the lath, he will incorporate that somewhere on the finished house.
Cabins made for family and friends generally have inscriptions on the bottom.
Details including stone fireplaces, plaster chinking and even interior furnishings, such as little tables and butter churns, make these cabins truly distinctive pieces of art. Lately, Bill has been including in his houses tiny baskets carved from fruit seeds. Sometimes he gets ideas from watching TV westerns or looking at pictures in magazines. On occasion, he is asked to create a replica of an actual structure. Often, the designs come from his own imagination.