Log cabins & their staircases

[TuckerTavern]

I have the feeling that nobody is going to have an answer, but since Google has turned up nothing I thought I'd ask it anyway.
When a log cabin has a stairway up to the 2nd floor, where is that stairway most often located? My thought is that it would be parallel to an outside wall, or maybe in a corner where the stairs could have a landing and then turn 90 degrees.
We uncovered the marks on the upstairs floor where the banister was. The marks indicate that the stairs were 66" from the outside wall, assuming there was no landing and they just went straight up that's a 45-degree angle, the distance between the one side of the banister and the other is 33". That seems like a lot of wasted space to position it that way and I'm trying, probably futilely to make sense of it.

[Willa]

https://www.oldhousedreams.com/?unonce=8e71b9493a&uformid=392209&s=uwpsfsearchtrg&taxo%5B0%5D%5Bname%5D=category&taxo%5B0%5D%5Bopt%5D=1&taxo%5B0%5D%5Bterm%5D=uwpqsftaxoall&taxo%5B1%5D%5Bname%5D=state&taxo%5B1%5D%5Bopt%5D=1&taxo%5B1%5D%5Bterm%5D=uwpqsftaxoall&taxo%5B2%5D%5Bname%5D=region&taxo%5B2%5D%5Bopt%5D=1&taxo%5B2%5D%5Bterm%5D=uwpqsftaxoall&taxo%5B3%5D%5Bname%5D=style&taxo%5B3%5D%5Bopt%5D=1&taxo%5B3%5D%5Bterm%5D=cabin&taxo%5B4%5D%5Bname%5D=misc&taxo%5B4%5D%5Bopt%5D=1&taxo%5B4%5D%5Bterm%5D=uwpqsftaxoall&taxo%5B5%5D%5Bname%5D=architects&taxo%5B5%5D%5Bopt%5D=1&taxo%5B5%5D%5Bterm%5D=uwpqsftaxoall&taxo%5B6%5D%5Bname%5D=periods&taxo%5B6%5D%5Bopt%5D=1&taxo%5B6%5D%5Bterm%5D=uwpqsftaxoall&taxo%5B7%5D%5Bname%5D=periods&taxo%5B7%5D%5Bopt%5D=1&taxo%5B7%5D%5Bterm%5D=uwpqsftaxoall&taxo%5B8%5D%5Bname%5D=periods&taxo%5B8%5D%5Bopt%5D=1&taxo%5B8%5D%5Bterm%5D=uwpqsftaxoall&taxo%5B9%5D%5Bname%5D=periods&taxo%5B9%5D%5Bopt%5D=1&taxo%5B9%5D%5Bterm%5D=uwpqsftaxoall&cmf%5B0%5D%5Bmetakey%5D=year_built&cmf%5B0%5D%5Bcompare%5D=crange&cmf%5B0%5D%5Bvalue%5D%5Bval1%5D=&cmf%5B0%5D%5Bvalue%5D%5Bval2%5D=&cmf%5B1%5D%5Bmetakey%5D=number_price&cmf%5B1%5D%5Bcompare%5D=crange&cmf%5B1%5D%5Bvalue%5D%5Bval1%5D=&cmf%5B1%5D%5Bvalue%5D%5Bval2%5D=&cmf%5B2%5D%5Bmetakey%5D=square_feet&cmf%5B2%5D%5Bcompare%5D=crange&cmf%5B2%5D%5Bvalue%5D%5Bval1%5D=&cmf%5B2%5D%5Bvalue%5D%5Bval2%5D=&cmf%5B3%5D%5Bmetakey%5D=acreage&cmf%5B3%5D%5Bcompare%5D=crange&cmf%5B3%5D%5Bvalue%5D%5Bval1%5D=&cmf%5B3%5D%5Bvalue%5D%5Bval2%5D=

(Sorry that url is crazy but the link seems to work fine ?)

Old House Dreams archives their previous listings. You can do a search for style, location, etc. and there may be some houses of a similar age/construction/area. Some listings have excellent photos and information - others don't. There may be some clues to your staircase dilemma in the archives there ?

I love to look at the listings and fantasize, but it is also a very useful site for research on old houses.

Here's what came up for houses decribed as cabins, though if you broadened your search term for your area, there would be more properties that are similar to your home I bet ?

[TuckerTavern]

Thanks, Willa. There certainly are some gorgeous homes there! I didn't see anything that looked similar to our stairway (yet), but I'll keep looking.

[Willa]

OHD can steal many hours, if you are not careful. Once in awhile there is an unrenovated stunner, or a house that has been sympathetically dealt with, which always gives me hope.

Your stair situation does sound odd , though ?

[TuckerTavern]

Your stair situation does sound odd , though ?

It does. The more we uncover here the more questions I have. I sure wish they'd left a written account like I'm trying to do!

[Sow's Ear Mal]

Hi Tucker Tav. I can only speak from my own experience, but the current log house we are dismantling had a ghost of an original staircase along a side wall. It was very steep, and was in the rear left quarter. We don't know what the room divisions, if any, were there when that earlier staircase was in place. But yeah, straight, steep run ending up at the rear left. It was replaced in the late 1800's with a centre hall plan and a straight run centre stairs. Our earlier log house that we disassembled and rebuilt 15 years ago was composed of two structures. The smaller one was around 1900, built of re-purposed, earlier material, and had a straight run staircase that started on the back rear left, attached again to the left wall, and ended upstairs midway along the wall. (so reverse of the house we are working on now) The main log house of our previous place was a finer, hewn log house from 1825. Facing it, it had the doorway off centre to the right rather than in the middle between the windows. It was that way because the staircase was immediately to one's left as you came in, with one short 90 turn first, and then a straight run that ended sort of central in the second floor. That one was walled on both sides on the first floor, with a short railing on one side upstairs. I don't know if I'm describing that clearly, lol. I can put some pics up in the gallery if you would like to see.

[TuckerTavern]

I think I get it, but pictures would be great!