This is Sherida Holland. I'm a fourth generation Montanan and I recently got back from working on the family cabin in Melrose, Montana. It's hard to believe it has been closed up for 15 years. It was our Grandmother's cabin, a small 133 year old log cabin typical of the early west when mining towns sprung up overnight.(see video).

Melrose was a tiny stage stop in southwestern Montana along the Big Hole River that served the mining activities in the area. With the advent of the railroad in 1881, isolated mining ventures high up in the Pioneer Mountains west of town soon became one of Montana's most monumental chapters of early mining history. The Hecla Consolidated Mining Corporation, during this period, was the second largest supplier of silver in the nation, consisting of mine sites in Hecla, Lion City and Trapper City. They also had a huge concentrator in Greenwood and a smelter and reduction plant in Glendale. Our Grandmother grew up in Glendale and her Dad hauled ore out of the Pioneer Mountains from Hecla to Glendale down dirt mining roads with a wagon and team of horses.

After retiring in 2010, I moved to East Aurora, New York to live with my son, his wife and their three little girls. Now that I'm retired my dream is to spend more time in Montana. To have the family congregate during the summer at the cabin. To take up my paint brushes and paint the rugged wilderness, vast openness, and breathtaking beauty of Montana. To offer the cabin as a retreat and sanctuary to anyone who has always wanted to visit Montana or longs to return. A wonderful opportunity to enjoy outdoor activities, scenic adventures, history and inspiration. Montana represents the untamed, the wild, the natural.  Quoting John Muir, "Wilderness takes you beyond your human existence to become one with nature and the universe."

• Artist's Retreat: painting, photographing, or capturing as prose and poetry the beauty and majestic wonder of nature and wilderness. 
• Nature Retreat: fishing the rivers or streams (the Big Hole River is world renown for it's fly fishing), horseback riding, floating or canoeing, hiking the mountains and camping under the stars.
• Learn and Experience History: drive up old washed out mountain roads to ghost towns high in the Pioneer Mountains, relive the unspeakable hardships of residing in an isolated mountain wilderness at 10,000 feet with harsh and bitter 8-9 month winters, the daunting and perilous task of early hard rock mining, refining, and hauling. 

 Now the bad news and why we're in desperate need of your help. The cabin was way worse than we thought. Everything we tried to do turned into a major problem. Instead of getting anything done, we left the cabin torn apart, unable to do the work as planned.

Our first goal is to fix the foundation and north wall. The fireplace, cut-in in 1974, was pulling away from the cabin. When we took it out the opening had no structural support or framing. Under the concrete slab, the foundation, partially removed when the fireplace was put in, had eroded further from leaking hoses rigged to the well by a camper using the property for 5 years. This also caused the bottom plate, ends of the floor joists, and the first course of logs to rot.

Even though our first goal is to fix the foundation and north wall, this will not restore the cabin. Several other major problems became evident (see our website http://mountaincabinstudio.com ), which will be our second goal. Our third goal is to do an addition of a bedroom, bathroom and wrap-around porch. This will be necessary before we can have guests at the cabin, or offer it as a retreat, since it's a one room cabin with an out-house. We have a lot of room on the north side (5 lots), so we utilized the north wall, or lack of it, to design the addition (see renderings below). 

 FIRST GOAL: FOUNDATION & NORTH WALL - $9,700 (a stand-alone goal)

•  New footings and foundation under the cabin       
•  New bottom plate, floor joist ends, and first course of logs on north wall      
•  Re-build north wall as specified in detail drawings

SECOND GOAL: COMPLETION OF RESTORATION - $24,900 (a stand-alone goal)

• Build a new roof using hand peeled poles per original design, replace sheeting and re-roof
• Wash, bleach and oil logs, re-chink logs
• Fill, oil and restore wooden windows and doors, replace hardware and glass as needed, trim and paint

THIRD GOAL: ADDITION & MODERNIZATION - $64,700 (a stand-alone goal)

• The addition of a bedroom, bathroom and wrap-around porch (400 sq. ft.)
• Small kitchen inside cabin
• Submersible pump, pressure tank and water line to cabin from well
•  Utilities and services to cabin, including sewer, electrical, phone and cable
• Propane tank for heating
• Backfill, compact and grade the site 

FOR YOUR CONTRIBUTION:

In exchange for your contribution, we're so excited to offer at this time these beautiful,  fine art prints, on 100% cotton rag paper, signed and numbered, of watercolors painted around Butte and Melrose. They are available framed or unframed (see Gallery for individual prints and details).

FIRST: choose a print from a series of Montana wildflowers painted above Melrose.

                  Blazing Star                      Alpine Bluebell                Indian Paintbrush

SECOND: a print from the watercolor titled "Mountain Cabin," painted north of Butte looking towards the Anaconda-Pintlar Mountain Range. 

THIRD: This painting was also used for the hand-made art book titled, "I Love to Wander Down Mountain Roads." It is also made of fine art prints on 100% cotton rag mounted on acid-free mat board. You'll also notice on the back cover, you can dedicate the book with your own personal message and your own personal artwork and/or photographs. The book below with audio is from youtube.

FOURTH: STAY AT THE CABIN

We're also thrilled to offer a weeks lodging at the cabin (lodging only), restricted to small groups of 6-8 people depending on the sleeping arrangements. A small camp trailer on the property is also available. You would fly into Butte, MT, 30 miles north of Melrose on Interstate 90 (see video). It will be sometime in the near future, as soon as the work is completed. Although we can't confirm the date at this time, it will hopefully be late summer of 2014 to early spring of 2015.

AND IN YOUR NAME, A WEEK RETREAT FOR A GROUP OR WORTHY CAUSE:

Because of your help to save the cabin, we want to help others in your name. For every week booked by you we will donate a week retreat at the cabin to an official organization that supports artists and writers, or supports physical, mental, emotional or spiritual healing. Upon request we will include a one or two day art workshop as part of the healing retreat, wanting only to be reimbursed the cost of any art supplies provided. In studies conducted by the National Endowment for the Arts, quality arts experiences improve the quality of lives through creativity and artistic expression. Art's programs "are flourishing in hospital outpatient programs, hospices, nursing and retirement facilities, as well as other healthcare institutions around the world." (see website for more information and links)

The Arts Corps spearheaded a similar study, through The Seattle Arts Consortium Project, of art programs in education. The Consortium was made possible by generous grants from The Paul G Allen Family, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and The Mayor's Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs. It found, "Research demonstrates time and time again that arts learning is essential to human development - it fosters creativity, engages diverse learners and deepens connections between people and ideas." (see website for more information and links) 

• Aging and Evolving Retreat:
• Artists' and Writers' Retreat: paint, write, be inspired
• Bereavement Retreat: loss of a loved one to cancer, suicide, or traumatic event
• Bipolar and Mental Challenges Retreat: depression and anxiety, social disorders, addictions
• Cancer Survivors Retreat: celebrate life and overcome the trauma of an ongoing life threatening disease
• Caregivers Retreat:
• Church Groups Retreat:
• Nature Retreat: explore sacred wilderness,
• Outdoorsman Retreat: rugged outdoor activities
• Urbanization Isolation Retreat: social isolation, fear, anxiety, lack of community
• Veterans Retreat: post traumatic stress disorder, re-entering society 
• Yoga & Mindfulness Retreat: holistic fitness, wellness and mindful living
• Youth Groups Retreat:

Please help us save the cabin, promote art and healing, and preserve a piece of Montana history. It is beyond our means and must be addressed  immediately. Without your help, we fear the cabin will fall in and have to be torn down. We want our children and grandchildren to spend time at the cabin, embrace the wilderness and great-outdoors, and come to know and hold dear the legacy of their forefathers. To offer it to those in need of a sanctuary to reconnect with and rekindle their spirit. To experience the wonder and beauty of nature without man's footprint, something so much bigger than we are. To be humbled and empowered at the same time by the grandeur and the grace. To feel peace, fortitude, and a sense of belonging.

Painting by Albert Bierstadt, "A Storm In The Rocky Mountains" (1866) 7' X 14'

It all depends on you and your generosity. We want to thank you in advance with all our heart and hope to someday welcome YOU to the cabin as a friend and benefactor. If you are unable to contribute at this time, please share it with your friends and family so more people are aware of our need. Feel free to visit us at our website, http://mountaincabinstudio.com, or contact me at sherida@mountaincabinstudio.com. Thank you for your time, we deeply appreciate anything you can do!