“Rebuilding Brown,” a documentary depicting the restoration of an historical homesteading cabin by lifelong Alaskans Anne Coray and Steve Kahn, will open at the Homer Theatre on Thursday, Oct. 19 at 7 p.m.

The film, sponsored by the Alaska Historical Society, first showed at Kenai Peninsula College on Oct. 6 during the Society’s annual meeting. Admission is free for the Homer showing, though donations will be accepted. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. for drop-in viewing, seating up to 200; advance reservations will not be available.

Although Coray grew up in Kenai, she was born on her family’s homestead on Lake Clark, west of Homer across Cook Inlet. She and Kahn, her husband, lived year-round on her family’s property for 17 years, Coray wrote in an email to Homer News, and now split their time between Lake Clark and Homer.

The property on which the rebuilt cabin sits lies adjacent to Coray’s family property and was owned by a man named Brown Carlson, who first came into the area circa 1906, Coray wrote. The documentary details Coray’s and Kahn’s restoration of the log cabin over approximately nine years, as well as “the colorful character of the man who built it. Old-timers who remember Brown Carlson share stories of his feats and foibles,” the film’s summary states.

“We call it his ‘feats and foibles’ because there were some really admirable aspects to his personality, and there were also a bit of a dark side,” Coray said in an interview on Friday.

Among those who share stories about Carlson in the documentary is Coray’s brother, Craig.

“Craig is 10 years older than I am, and he remembers Brown very well,” Coray said. “So Craig is the primary storyteller. My brother David remembers him also, he was just a little bit younger. “

Coray and Kahn acquired the cabin and land from Brown Carlson’s daughter in 2001, Kahn said on Friday. The cabin was left alone for a number of years after the purchase, as the couple were kept busy with their own projects on their family property.

“Whether it was that we caught up on a project, which doesn’t seem possible, or whether we just finally couldn’t stand it anymore, we decided to try to go ahead and see if we can rebuild it,” Kahn said.

As they began their renovations, Coray first had the idea to take photos for documentation. That morphed into the couple acquiring a video camera and taking videos of the restoration, which then morphed into the documentary project.

“We did that without the real intention of making the documentary,” Kahn said. “But then we got the videos and I said, ‘You know what we really need to do — there are still people around, living, who remember Brown.’ So we went and did the interviews then, and that’s how we were able to mesh in these two storylines.”

The film was written and directed by Kahn and Coray, and the couple worked with Homer editor Silas Firth for several years putting the final product together. Firth is the co-owner and operator of Standing Tide Productions and the new membership director at the Homer Chamber of Commerce.

Coray and Kahn both have previous authorship and have collaborated on past projects, including the book, “Lake Clark National Park and Preserve,” published in 2009. Coray is the author of the novel “Lost Mountain” and several poetry collections, as well as the co-editor of the anthology “Crosscurrents North: Alaskans on the Environment.” Kahn is the author of “The Hard Way Home: Alaska Stories of Adventure, Friendship, and the Hunt,” published in 2010.

Photos and further information about the cabin restoration can be at https://www.facebook.com/RebuildingBrown/. A three-minute trailer for the documentary is also available on the Facebook page.

“We really hope to share our movie with others,” Coray wrote to Homer News in August. “We believe it will appeal to many people interested in Alaska history, colorful old-timers and the work involved in the restoration of a severely dilapidated cabin.”

Steve Kahn and Anne Coray haul roof materials in their boat to Brown Carlson’s cabin on Lake Clark during the rebuilding project in June 2018. Photo provided by Anne Coray and Steve Kahn

Anne Coray (left) and her husband, Steve Kahn (right) work in the loft of Brown Carlson’s cabin on Lake Clark during their rebuilding project in September 2018. Photo provided by Anne Coray and Steve Kahn

Anne Coray (right) and her husband, Steve Kahn (left) mill logs during the rebuild of Brown Carlson’s cabin on Lake Clark in June 2016. Photo provided by Anne Coray and Steve Kahn