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http://media.charlotteobserver.com/smedia/2012/12/07/15/48/bv6Rp.St.138.jpeg|419Eustace Conway stands at one of the primitive log buildings, a barn with hand-hewn oak split shingles, at his Turtle Island Preserve. The preserve was created by Conway, a Gastonia native and subject of a 2002 best-selling book, "The Last American Man," and of the cable television show "Mountain Men." Watauga County building inspectors have shut down Turtle Island Preserve, a back to the land enclave near Boone, because its primitive buildings don't meet building codes. After 26 years, the county has ordered Turtle Island to stop accepting visitors. "Basically, they shut us down," Conway said this week. Structural engineers and lawyers are now working on his behalf, searching for a solution. Nearly 10,000 people have signed petitions asking the N.C. Building Code Council to change codes or exempt Turtle Island from them. Conway will appear before the council Monday in Raleigh. DIEDRA LAIRD - dlaird@charlotteobserver.com
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http://media.charlotteobserver.com/smedia/2012/12/07/15/48/1oiTbh.St.138.jpeg|420Eustace Conway at one of the primitive log structures at his Turtle Island Preserve. Watauga County building inspectors have shut down Turtle Island Preserve, a back to the land enclave near Boone, because its primitive buildings don't meet building codes. DIEDRA LAIRD - dlaird@charlotteobserver.com
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http://media.charlotteobserver.com/smedia/2012/12/07/15/47/WF4M6.St.138.jpeg|525The gravel road into Turtle Island Preserve. The handmade wooden buildings in the valley at the end of the road, with their logs and wood shingles, look like they might have been built by the first Appalachian settlers. DIEDRA LAIRD - dlaird@charlotteobserver.com
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http://media.charlotteobserver.com/smedia/2012/12/07/15/47/HeZ4Z.St.138.jpeg|446Eustace Conway shows members of the press photos taken by Carolina Code Studies & Consulting of outhouses on his Turtle Island Preserve. Watauga County building inspectors have shut down Turtle Island Preserve, a back to the land enclave near Boone, because its primitive buildings don't meet building codes. DIEDRA LAIRD - dlaird@charlotteobserver.com
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http://media.charlotteobserver.com/smedia/2012/12/07/15/47/QgfPM.St.138.jpeg|455Eustace Conway shows members of the press photos taken by Carolina Code Studies & Consulting of buildings and outhouses on his Turtle Island Preserve which they claim were erected without permits and don't meet construction codes. DIEDRA LAIRD - dlaird@charlotteobserver.com
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http://media.charlotteobserver.com/smedia/2012/12/07/15/47/RO1x0.St.138.jpeg|414Eustace Conway shows members of the press photos taken by Carolina Code Studies & Consulting of buildings and outhouses on his Turtle Island Preserve which they claim were erected without permits and don't meet construction codes. DIEDRA LAIRD - dlaird@charlotteobserver.com
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http://media.charlotteobserver.com/smedia/2012/12/07/15/47/I96qN.St.138.jpeg|443Eustace Conway shows members of the press photos taken by Carolina Code Studies and Consulting of buildings and outhouses on his Turtle Island Preserve. DIEDRA LAIRD - dlaird@charlotteobserver.com
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http://media.charlotteobserver.com/smedia/2012/12/07/15/47/m5AWh.St.138.jpeg|414Eustace Conway crosses a handmade bridge over a section of Laurel Creek leading to the kitchen area of his Turtle Island Preserve. DIEDRA LAIRD - dlaird@charlotteobserver.com
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http://media.charlotteobserver.com/smedia/2012/12/07/15/47/1rVxc5.St.138.jpeg|426Eustace Conway stands at one of the primitive log buildings, a cantilever barn constructed from pine, poplar and locust logs with hand-hewn oak split shingles, at his Turtle Island Preserve. Watauga County building inspectors have shut down Turtle Island Preserve, a back to the land enclave near Boone, because its primitive buildings don't meet building codes. DIEDRA LAIRD - dlaird@charlotteobserver.com
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http://media.charlotteobserver.com/smedia/2012/12/07/15/47/10VPpK.St.138.jpeg|442Eustace Conway at one of the primitive log structures (behind him is the log structure known as the classroom) at his Turtle Island Preserve. outdoor education center. Visitors come here to learn to plow with a horse, do blacksmith work, cook over a woodstove or turn trees into shelter. DIEDRA LAIRD - dlaird@charlotteobserver.com
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http://media.charlotteobserver.com/smedia/2012/12/07/15/46/vlyeo.St.138.jpeg|414Interns and members of the press inspect one of the primitive log buildings, a cantilever barn constructed from pine, poplar and locust logs with hand-hewn oak split shingles, at Turtle Island Preserve. DIEDRA LAIRD - dlaird@charlotteobserver.com
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http://media.charlotteobserver.com/smedia/2012/12/07/15/46/zXVvn.St.138.jpeg|525Detail of a crowing rooster and wagon wheel at Turtle Island Preserve. DIEDRA LAIRD - dlaird@charlotteobserver.com
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http://media.charlotteobserver.com/smedia/2012/12/07/15/46/1ejCRP.St.138.jpeg|414Detail of wagon and handmade log barn at Turtle Island Preserve. DIEDRA LAIRD - dlaird@charlotteobserver.com
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http://media.charlotteobserver.com/smedia/2012/12/07/15/46/4rMeG.St.138.jpeg|419Detail of lanterns and kitchen utensils in the open-walled kitchen area at Turtle Island Preserve. DIEDRA LAIRD - dlaird@charlotteobserver.com
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http://media.charlotteobserver.com/smedia/2012/12/07/15/46/qlEsK.St.138.jpeg|414Weathered flag in front of the classroom log structure on Eustace Conway's Turtle Island Preserve, with other barns and outbuildings in the background. DIEDRA LAIRD - dlaird@charlotteobserver.com
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http://media.charlotteobserver.com/smedia/2012/12/07/15/46/lQEbs.St.138.jpeg|423Detail of a whimsical boat-shaped treehouse 30 feet off the ground at Turtle Island Preserve. DIEDRA LAIRD - dlaird@charlotteobserver.com
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http://media.charlotteobserver.com/smedia/2012/12/07/15/46/BGYBu.St.138.jpeg|404Detail of barn and wagon at Turtle Island Preserve. DIEDRA LAIRD - dlaird@charlotteobserver.com
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http://media.charlotteobserver.com/smedia/2012/12/07/15/46/TNaSy.St.138.jpeg|250Detail of rooster and hen on wagons at Turtle Island Preserve. Watauga County building inspectors have shut down Turtle Island Preserve, a back to the land enclave near Boone, because its primitive buildings don't meet building codes. DIEDRA LAIRD - dlaird@charlotteobserver.com
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http://media.charlotteobserver.com/smedia/2012/12/07/15/45/x0aJ5.St.138.jpeg|414Eustace Conway with a compost pile at Turtle Island Preserve. He uses the compost to fertilize his gardens. DIEDRA LAIRD - dlaird@charlotteobserver.com
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http://media.charlotteobserver.com/smedia/2012/12/07/15/45/G148Z.St.138.jpeg|414Eustace Conway in front of one of the three outhouses at his Turtle Island Preserve. Watauga County building inspectors have shut down Turtle Island Preserve, a back to the land enclave near Boone, because its primitive buildings don't meet building codes. DIEDRA LAIRD - dlaird@charlotteobserver.com
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http://media.charlotteobserver.com/smedia/2012/12/07/15/45/UF7z1.St.138.jpeg|332Eustace Conway at one of the primitive wood-shingled log structures at his Turtle Island Preserve, each one totally constructed according to the old ways. Even the hardware on this door was made by Conway using his blacksmithing skills. Watauga County claims the visitors who stay overnight at Turtle Island, in addition to unpaid interns who live there 14 months at a time, make the primitive structures a public safety issue. DIEDRA LAIRD - dlaird@charlotteobserver.com
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http://media.charlotteobserver.com/smedia/2012/12/07/15/45/11mDM6.St.138.jpeg|414Farm equipment hangs on a Turtle Island Preserve barn wall. DIEDRA LAIRD - dlaird@charlotteobserver.com
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http://media.charlotteobserver.com/smedia/2012/12/07/15/44/E72OK.St.138.jpeg|430Detail of rooster on hay rake at Turtle Island Preserve. DIEDRA LAIRD - dlaird@charlotteobserver.com
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http://media.charlotteobserver.com/smedia/2012/12/07/15/44/H0yYD.St.138.jpeg|426Intern Daniel Puccini holds fresh eggs from hens at Turtle Island Preserve. DIEDRA LAIRD - dlaird@charlotteobserver.com
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http://media.charlotteobserver.com/smedia/2012/12/07/15/44/1rI0rr.St.138.jpeg|414Eustace Conway at his Turtle Island Preserve. Watauga County building inspectors have shut down Turtle Island Preserve, a back to the land enclave near Boone, because its primitive buildings don't meet building codes. DIEDRA LAIRD - dlaird@charlotteobserver.com
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http://media.charlotteobserver.com/smedia/2012/12/07/15/44/102Ck7.St.138.jpeg|419Interns and members of the press inspect one of the primitive log buildings, a cantilever barn constructed from pine, poplar and locust logs with hand-hewn oak split shingles, at Turtle Island Preserve. DIEDRA LAIRD - dlaird@charlotteobserver.com
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http://media.charlotteobserver.com/smedia/2012/12/07/15/44/KP84o.St.138.jpeg|414Eustace Conway is framed by hand-hewn oak split shingles on one of the primitive log buildings, a cantilever barn at his Turtle Island Preserve. DIEDRA LAIRD - dlaird@charlotteobserver.com
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http://media.charlotteobserver.com/smedia/2012/12/07/15/44/uU3eX.St.138.jpeg|525Detail of crowing rooster at Turtle Island Preserve. DIEDRA LAIRD - dlaird@charlotteobserver.com
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http://media.charlotteobserver.com/smedia/2012/12/07/15/44/EFAXk.St.138.jpeg|525Eustace Conway at the kitchen area of his Turtle Island Preserve. Food is cooked on a woodstove or over coals in the open-walled kitchen. DIEDRA LAIRD - dlaird@charlotteobserver.com
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