All language subtitles for The.Cabin.Chronicles.S03E06.1080p.WEB.h264-EDITH[eztv.re]

[music playing]

JONATHAN HALPERN: As you
come up the mountain,

you come through those
turns and you just

start to get into the
trees and the environment

starts to change.

You can see the
sky over your head.

You're on your way
home, and it's just

a great way to
start to decompress,

relax, and get ready
for what's ahead.

My name is Jonathan Halpern.

We're at the Spider House in the
San Bernardino National Forest.

[music playing]

The house got the name
the Spider House based

on these legs that come
down all around the patio,

and when you look
at it from below,

it kind of looks like
spider legs coming down.

A friend of mine had moved
out here several years ago.

I went online, I did a
search of his community,

I saw a picture of this
house, and I said that's it.

I need it.

I was on a flight a couple of
weeks later to come see it.

A few months later,
I was the owner.

When you pull into the carport,
the first thing you see

are two very large
ancient pinyon

trees right in front of you.

When you get out of the car,
you walk onto the patio,

you come around
to the front door.

The front door is
made of Douglas fir.

It was made here on
site back in 1964,

and it really has a feel
of almost a castle door.

Once you walk to the
front door, you just--

you're like Wow.

What waits behind this?

What's inside?

When you open the door, the
ceilings are soaring inside.

The light is pouring in
through the large windows.

You look down the hallway,
you can see all the way

into the master bedroom.

And then it just opens up into
the kitchen and dining area.

Some of the walls are rough sawn
Douglas fir and the ceilings

are rough sawn Redwood
and all the beams

are Redwood going
through the house.

And they also have that
just textured rough.

You put your hand on it,
and you can just feel where

the blade cut through the wood.

And it just feels natural
and not factory polished.

The chandelier in the living
room comes from Mexico.

It was made around 1970.

[music playing]

And I found it here locally
in Southern California

and just knew that was the one I
had to hang in the living room.

The rugs were hand
hooked in Mexico.

They were made in the
late '60s, and they also

have this kind of nubby texture
that to me just reminds me

of the surrounding environment
and the decomposed granite

on the ground outside.

I selected the couch
and the seating

in here to really build a wrap
around and face different parts

of the environment
out the windows

and also to go to sit in
front of the fireplace

on a cold winter evening.

And the colors in here, I picked
everything that was earth tone,

warm, felt like a blend
with the environment,

wasn't harsh or startling.

It just makes you
feel relaxed and one

with nature out the window.

You're just looking beyond
everything in the room

and out the windows.

The house has two
bathrooms, two bedrooms,

and when you open the
bedroom door in the morning

and you look down the hallway,
the first thing you see

is the grand entryway.

And it kind of calls you.

[music playing]

Come outside.

Come experience nature.

So as you step off the patio and
go down the stone stairs down

to the pool area,
you kind of descend

down into the environment.

Instead of looking down upon
the greenery from the patio,

you're in the greenery.

You're in the nature rather
than an observer of the nature.

Then you turn around
and if you come back up,

you ascend up to this cabin.

It's just looming above
you in a graceful way.

And I would describe this
cabin as one with nature.

Half of it is glass.

You're directly connected
to the exterior.

If you're inside, primarily
you're looking right

out the window at the outside.

Even though it's
a smaller cabin,

with the floor to
ceiling windows,

it feels like the whole world
is part of your living room.

So it really gives
a great feeling.

You're in this small
efficient home,

but it feels as big as
the largest mansion.

[music playing]

When I decorate the space and I
buy any objects for the space,

I try to keep a connection
to the original design

concept, which is this kind
of Mexican meets mid-century.

So I may love an object, but it
may not be right for the space.

So I feel like I always have to
keep it rooted in the origins,

how it was originally decorated,
what the intention was.

The architect John Moyer,
he was very influenced

by Mexican and Spanish
culture and design.

The story goes that he
was a prisoner of War

during World War II.

While he was in prison there,
they gave him books to read,

and he got a book
on architecture.

And when he came
back to the US, he

became a builder
and an architect,

and then he built this
as a summer getaway

from the very hot desert floor.

So we're up at 4,300 feet.

[music playing]

This property is unique
because of its views,

and it's also built
into a hillside, which

gives a protection
from the winds

that you can get here
in the mountains.

So you can really enjoy
nature in almost any weather.

So I live here full time,
and typical day, I wake up

when the sun rises, head right
outside with my coffee cup,

and start to take in the sounds
of the day, the lighting,

watching the sun come
up as the colors change.

Weather permitting,
which is probably

350 days out of the year, I stay
outside almost the entire day.

I just love to be
out in nature, walk

through the property,
landscape a little bit,

snip some dead things off.

It's just so nice to be
climbing on the boulders.

I feel like I'm
camping all the time.

When I sit in the den area,
that's no computer, no phone,

records of being played, I close
my eyes, it's about the music,

and the whole world
has to just go away.

I use a very vintage
style stereo system.

And that to me communicates
the music so much better

than anything modern can.

One of the interesting
things about living

here is that you have
all your solitude.

You're completely at peace
and alone when you want to be.

At the same time, we have
neighbors that are just

varied and all interesting.

We have this common bond
that we just love living here

in this beautiful wilderness.

Sitting out on the patio in the
rocking chairs in the evening

is just so quiet other than
occasional coyote howling.

And then in the
distance, you can just

see the city lights sparkling.

And it's so far removed,
you hear nothing.

It's like a silent movie.

So the cabin in
the evenings, you

can almost see the
soul of the home

glowing through the windows.

And then you just stand back
and you see this warm glow

with the stars all
around it above,

and it just feels almost
at one with the universe,

like not something made.

It seems almost surreal.

[music playing]