Construction Diary: After a Devastating Fire, a Couple Start Over With a $17K DIY Cabin
In the Santa Cruz Mountains, Jeff Waldman and Molly Fiffer build a new retreat with salvaged, charred timber and a community of friends.
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As if the global pandemic wasn’t enough, 2020 brought San Franciscans Jeff Waldman and Molly Fiffer another major life challenge. That was the year a forest fire ravaged their 10-acre property in the Santa Cruz Mountains, destroying the cabin and camp-like retreat they had spent the last several years building by hand with the help of friends and family. "For the first couple of years, there wasn’t a lot to be done with the property," recalls Jeff. "It was pretty devastated by the fire."
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Lauren Gallow
Dwell Contributor
Lauren Gallow is a Seattle-based design writer and editor. Formerly an in-house writer for Olson Kundig, she holds an MA in Art & Architectural History from UCSB.
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