Is this Portland Oregon or Portland Maine? I thought it was Portland Oregon, but then they mentioned the footings were 12 inches below the frost line, and there basically is no front line in Portland Oregon since the winters are too warm and rainy. But I assume there is a frost line in Portland Maine.
Either way I can't imagine this can be very comfortable in the winter with basically zero insulation, unless you plan to run the wood stove all day and night. For summer it's great, but it sounds like the author wants to live there all the time (he mentioned not having to shower at the gym after installing the shower).
That's crazy. In the 2 decades I've lived in Portland, I've never seen more than the top inch or two freeze, and that's typically only for a few days to a week when a real cold snap sets in. Then it starts raining again and quickly thaws out. I can't imagine it has been cold enough for long enough to freeze down to 18" since the last ice age.
The problem is you can't have your buildings destroyed every 30 years with freak weather. So the frost line for building is set at X00 year depth, and then a little extra.
