Taj Ma'Outhouse

At this northwoods cabin, functional is also fun

By Fran Sigurdsson

Published: October 7, 2011

Photo by John Sylvestre

There was a time when every cabin had an outhouse. You could heed nature’s call and admire the bamboo fishing rods and wood skis in the Sears catalog at the same time. (For you whippersnappers: Such catalogs sometimes doubled as toilet paper.)
Alas, indoor plumbing usurped the outdoor throne. But stalwart outdoorsmen like John Sylvestre are restoring the privy to its rightful place behind the cabin.
When Sylvestre purchased a cabin in northern Minnesota in 2000, adding an outhouse was his first priority. “The outhouse is something unique to cabins,” he explains. “It’s definitely something people talk about. People have an image of an outhouse: It’s dark, you hold your nose, dodge snakes … .”

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