Items, signage at home tell story of past, present culture

INDIAN VILLAGE, La. (AP) - James Chapman always admired the log cabin constructed by the Arnolds in 1983. He remembered the pond in the front yard of the Indian Village home long before the log cabin was constructed.

“We would ride our bikes from town to swim in Mable’s pond and then stop off here to fish,” James Chapman said, nodding to the pond in front of his home. “We looked like a bunch of wet rats, but sometimes we’d fish until dinner time before we’d head back home.”

Times were different then. Youngsters rode bicycles. They swam and fished in water holes. Neither cell phones nor video games commanded their attention.

The Chapman house is unique because it is a cabin, and also because of the vintage decorations and Chapman’s collection of signage.

“Some people get my place confused with the Indian Village flea market,” Chapman said.

When he purchased the property in 2006, the house had not been occupied for some time. He went to work to reclaim the yard, rebuild the porch and clean out the house.

“My dad has always been meticulous about his yard,” Kayla Courville said.

A hobo was living here when I bought the house,” Chapman added. “The last owners left almost everything.”

Chapman’s job as a power line builder has taken him all over the country and into areas where new construction and change to the landscape means that existing signage is usually discarded.

People bring him odds and ends to display. He purchases some of the items. Some items are discards, such as the old Hoosier kitchen cabinet he repaired and uses.

Chapman’s log home has four bedrooms and two baths. One of the bathrooms has a floor covered with old comic strips, finished with modge podge. The last owners left stacks of old newspapers. That’s where the old comics came from.

The attic is as large as the first floor, but has not been finished. Walls throughout the home are pine tongue and groove.

Owning a log cabin has some drawbacks, he admits

“Bees love it,” Chapman said. “The woodpeckers love the bee larvae. But I love this place. A log cabin is so unique.”

People are always telling Chapman to call them if he ever thinks about selling his place.

He doesn’t see that happening. After all, it’s home, not just unique, but a welcoming place for friends and family.

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Information from: American Press, https://www.americanpress.com