Tilly Jane A-Frame Rehabilitation Project

The historic Tilly Jane A-Frame was a heavily used cabin for decades, not to mention the wear from substantial weather systems on the mountain.  This all led to the need for substantial renovations being needed to maintain a safe structure for public rental. With the support of the Oregon Nordic Club and local volunteers, a four phase rehabilitation project was completed between 2016 and 2019, using recommendations from the TJ A-Frame Assessment Report April 2003.  Here is the original cost estimate to accomplish this work: Nov 2015 Construction Cost.

Check out our Instagram site for pictures of the cabin, or better yet, book an overnight stay and look for yourself – then post your pictures and share! @tillyjanecabins


Here is a summary of the completed Phases:

Phase I: The fundraising campaign was kicked off in July, 2016 and Rehabilitation efforts began 

  • We held two raffle/silent auction fundraisers, a Halloween party benefit, and a small raffle at the October work party raising $16,000 at these 4 events alone

Rehab Summary:

  1. Obtained construction approval from the State Historic Preservation Office, and our partners from the Forest Service completed the site grading, stump removal, moving the old concrete piers away from the building and digging the new footing holes in preparation to re-install the original footing rocks. 
  2. We replaced 8 of the 14 original (rotten) rafters. 
  3. The non-original concrete piers were carted over to the campground parking lot where they wait to be removed and recycled.  5 yards of rock were hauled over to the cabin which was used for footing base material.  All this work took place over two long weekends in July.
  4. Over four days in September, we rebuilt the original rock footings and installed the new log rafters!  We had the help of a 3-4 volunteers each day, led by our contractor team, Wells Construction, Inc (the same people who re-built the historic Cloud Cap Inn).  All construction supplies were donated by Tum-a-Lum Lumber and Fastenal in Hood River.  
  5. We installed a new outdoor fire pit and built some bench seating to go around it. 
  6. The woodstove was cleaned and painted, and we replaced broken windows and sealed the airgaps around the windows for a less drafty cabin.

Phase 2: Completed Summer 2017

  • We held two fundraisers in 2017; the first at Base Camp Brewing in Portland and the second in Hood River at Kickstand Coffee and Café. These two events raised $10,000.

Rehab Summary:

  1. Provided two heavy duty outdoor picnic tables thanks to Chad Klaas. At the time, Chad was a Boy Scout with Troop 282 out of Hood River.  He approached us several years ago with an idea to earn his Eagle Scout badge by building a new picnic table to be placed out back near the fire pit. Chad completed the fund raising, design, fabrication and installation of TWO tables!
  2. We changed out the old door lock mechanism and installed a new metal security gate to take its place.  “Thank You” to Ed Powell Welding, out of The Dalles, for fabricating and installing the unit.
  3. Procuring Western Red Cedar to manufacture replacement roof shakes, estimated at 2500 sq feet.
  4. In late October, we partnered with the Forest Service – Hood River district to pull two large downed Cedar trees out of the Lost Lake campground. This work produced 2 cords of material that was trucked to our friends at Sandy Shake who completed the shake manufacturing over the winter.

Phase 3: Completed Summer 2018 This was the largest project phase

  • We limited our fundraiser events in 2018 to a hosted event sponsored by Andrew Stoner and the annual Oregon Splitfest event donation.   THANK YOU to you for the $3,000 combined donations.  
  • We were successful at obtaining several grants; one from the Oregon State Parks, Preserving Oregon, $20K matching grant and the second from the Kinsman Foundation in the amount of $5K. 
  • We received another $1500 in cash donations from the community of supporters, people like you.

Rehab Summary:

  1. Structural stabilization efforts at the A-Frame.
  2. Final rock footing and rafter replacements,
  3. Rebuilt the alcove/wood storage area log walls with local sourced downed trees, all the log ends were restored by using a liquid epoxy and wood filler
    restoration system, t
  4. Roof apex rafters were structurally secured to halt any further log spreading
  5. Removed and replaced the roof with a new cedar shake roof to match the original

This work was led by Andre Fortin with Wells Construction and the help of donated materials from Tum-a-Lum Lumber in Hood River. The project took 5 weeks to complete with the help of 75 individual volunteers who donated over 1100 hours to the effort! Thank you!!

Sack lunches were provided for a portion of the work by Rosauers Supermarket in Hood River, breakfast bars donated by Kind Bars and after work beer donated by Hopworks Urban Brewery in Portland. The project budget was $138,373 but we came in under budget at $88,870.00. We had another $2,596 in donated materials. All in all, I’m proud to say that we saved $52,100 off the original bid through the efforts of our volunteers and donated materials! THANK YOU to everyone who donated your time and effort to the cause, as you can see, every bit of help adds up to a meaningful contribution!


Phase 4: Completed Summer of 2019. The work was led by the Fortins, Mary Hepokowski and Wells Construction out of Hood River with lots of help from many of you. The project took 3 weeks to complete with the help of 75 individual volunteers who donated over 600 hours to the effort! The project budget was $113,042 but we came in under budget at $85,409.00. We had another $633 in donated materials, thanks to help from Gary’s Sandy Shake and Soil Solutions Environmental Services! All in all, I’m proud to say that we saved $27,000 off the original bid through the efforts of our volunteers and donated materials! THANK YOU to everyone who donated your time and effort to the cause, as you can see, every bit of help adds up to a meaningful contribution!

  • Hosted our Finish Line Fundraiser at the Portland Lagunitas Community Room in March. We hosted 200 guests who purchased tickets to attend the event which was our largest and best fundraiser with some incredibly generous prizes donated by many of our sponsors, including Deviation Ski & Snowboard Works, The Mountain Shop, ON3P Skis, and tons of other awesome gear.
  • We raised over $18,000 at the event, surpassing our goal of $12,000! This, along with continued cabin rental income has allowed us to reach the fundraising goal for all the planned restoration activities! Thank you to everyone who attended

Rehab Summary:

  1. A-Frame – replaced the exterior cedar wall shake and installed a new de-composting toilet system.
  2. Guard Station – We raised the garage up off the foundation, removed the old foundation and replaced it, then re-leveled and stabilized the building. We also replaced  the original cedar shake roof.

Looking Ahead – 2020 Forward

With the completion of the phase 4 project, the Save Tilly Jane Restoration Project is complete! The structures have been stabilized and should be good to go for another 80 years of continued public use. There are still some smaller project tasks that will need to be completed each year but the heavy lifting is done. Going forward, the plan is to perform all needed repairs in a timely fashion which will avoid any deferred maintenance which caused this project to be so large.

Since the Tilly Jane A-Frame is maintained by a volunteer nonprofit organization, funding and organizing these rehabilitation efforts required multiple fund raising events and the aid of many volunteers as well as donations and grants. Even though our rehabilitation project is complete, we can always use a helping hand to complete our ongoing maintenance of both cabins. To learn about how you can help, sign up for the Tilly Jane newsletter and check out the Tilly Jane A-Frame volunteer and donation pages.

Want to get more involved? Have a specific skill such as project management, sawyers, photographers, website maintenance, or communications? Send an email to: Reservations@tillyjanecabins.org and let us know how you can help!


Below are links to more information regarding the Tilly Jane A-Frame rehabilitation project:

Site Drawings

Rehab Project Phasing, Cost and Timeline

Final Construction Expense Summary Detail

SHPO Project Request and Clearance Form Phase 1

SHPO Project Request and Clearance Form Phase 2

Phase 3 FS_SHPO Approval Form

Letters of Support