So the cabin does move or manifest itself sporadically.

So the cabin does move or manifest itself sporadically.
When we didn't see it tonight I thought "Aha! It DOES move!!" but now that Ive been thinking it over I think its more of a manifestation .........

So essentially is Jacob just not in the mood to manifest himself to Locke at the moment?

So essentially is Jacob just not in the mood to manifest himself to Locke at the moment?
Well Locke brought company........perhaps Jacob wasn't up for entertaining a crowd?

i was wondering something;

when Ben took Locke to see Jacob last season, they stopped at the circle of ash and then kept travelling for some time before they came upon the cabin.

In this episode Locke stopped at the ash circle and didn't even travel any further, he just seemed to decide that the cabin wasn't there.
What gives?

The circle of ash wasn't far from the cabin before right? I'm wondering then, is this where the cabin always manifests itself?

i dunno, i don't think Hurley was anywhere near the ash when he saw it...but who knows.

i always thought the ash was there to keep it contained.

I'm going with the cabin manifests itself wherever, as in, its a projection of Jacob, or the island, or whatever.I like that better than a teleporting cabin flatening trees everywhere it goes.

The cabin moving reminds me of a weird fairytale I read as a child about a witch named BaBa Yaga who lived in a house that moved around on chicken legs. According to Slavic foklore, BaBa Yaga is the wild old woman; the witch; and mistress of magic. She is also seen as a forest spirit, leading hosts of spirits.
Interesting reading, for more I suggest you read the entire Wikipedia article about BaBa Yaga. My gosh, if nothing else...Lost will make us literate yet.

could it be only at night...is that only time we have seen it?

So essentially is Jacob just not in the mood to manifest himself to Locke at the moment?


Jacob not perform for group hiking tours, Just one on one visits

I've always been under the assumption that the ash circle was meant to keep something out, rather than keep the cabin in. From what I've read, circles can be used for both containment and protection.

The cabin moving reminds me of a weird fairytale I read as a child about a witch named BaBa Yaga who lived in a house that moved around on chicken legs.

I remember BaBa Yaga from playing Dungeons and Dragons as a kid (actually AD&D for all you other gamer dorks). Her hut was a coveted magic item. The hut was bigger inside than outside, like a tesseract, like the house in Mark Z. Danielewski's novel House of Leaves. The tesseract/BaBa Yaga/House of Leaves concept is interesting when you think of all the threads about pocket universes and the time delay Daniel Faraday saw.

I think the theory about it only appearing at night could be possible. It makes sense that the only time Locke tries to go see Jacob during the day it's not there. Although I guess he could have gone there after Walt helped him out of the hole, and that was during the day. Who knows??

I actually kind of felt bad for him when he couldn't see it. It was like all the wind was let out of his sails. But he had to step up and make decisions on his own.

I thought that it must only appear at night as well. (Plus, that makes it so much scarier!).

If he only appears when he wants to though, I guess it was just lucky that he appeared the first time Ben and Locke went to see him. He may have wanted to see Locke, but Ben couldn't have known that.

Could it be that Locke is on the wrong path and hence can't see the cabin right now? Similar to how he lost the use of his legs when he lost faith in the island.

When Locke first demanded to go see Jacob, Ben said something like, You don't just go see Jacob, he has to invite you." Not the exact words, but something to that effect.

It seems like Hurley got the invitation to visit Jacob when the door creaked open, but he declined.

This group had not been invited.

It will be interesting to see if it is only visible at night.

I wonder too, if the circle of ash has been broken. Maybe Jacob has gone jungle-cruisin in his single-wide motorshack!

i dunno, i don't think Hurley was anywhere near the ash when he saw it...but who knows.

Since it wasn't actually in the episode, I guess it can't be technically considered canon but when Jorge did an interview on The Lost Podcast with Jay and Jack and he said that there was a scene in the script that did involve Hurley and the ash line. Perhaps it was cut due to time constraints.

I think the whole point is Locke feels he's so self important and "in" with the Island, he feels like he can just march in and see "the man" any time he wants. Just like Ben said, he was going there to ask Jacob what he should do next...but Locke seems to never understand how anything works.

Think about it. The button was right next to a giant magnetic thingy. How come he couldnt draw a simple conclusion that one probably controls the other? No, it's not about controlling a magnet, its about being "Chosen" to push the button.

Locke is a fool and will always be a fool. Instead of being happy with what he has, he will always search for some higher purpose which will always make him completely disillusioned.

Sure, he received a vision saying something...but rather than just listening to the vision and taking advice, it's about the fact he was "CHOSEN" for a vision and now feels like he needs to start leading. He always misses the point by trying to see a higher purpose rather than doing what he's supposed to do.

This is why Jacob probably wants Hurley now.

I think because of the early people there the cabin didn't show up. I am assuming that it is why it wasn't there and perhaps John realized that after a while.

When Locke first demanded to go see Jacob, Ben said something like, You don't just go see Jacob, he has to invite you." Not the exact words, but something to that effect.

It seems like Hurley got the invitation to visit Jacob when the door creaked open, but he declined.

This group had not been invited.

It will be interesting to see if it is only visible at night.

I wonder too, if the circle of ash has been broken. Maybe Jacob has gone jungle-cruisin in his single-wide motorshack!

Well Ben said "Jacob's not someone you just go and see. This is a man who summons you."

But still, even then, Locke was pretty much forcing Ben to take him even then, so I'm not sure you could say he was being invited.


And when it happened, Ben obviously knew what was going thru Locke's mind, as he's looking around for something. I can only suppose Locke didn't then press Ben for answers because he didn't want to look even more clueless in front of everyone else.

He said that he was told by Taller Ghost Walt to come to the cabin, presumably for further instructions. However, I'm also going with the "cabin can only be accessed at night" theory. That's just something that Taller Ghost Walt neglected to tell him. :drowsy:

Perhaps Hurley can wish things away. Remember how he closed his eyes to make the cabin go away, and did the same thing later with dead-but-here Charlie? And Charlie said "Don't do this, Hurley"?

My thought was that perhaps you would need to cross the ash line to see the cabin. Hurley may have crossed in the middle of the night and we may not have seen it. It seemed to me like everyone in the group was on the one side of the line. (I must rewatch to be sure).

I actually kind of felt bad for him when he couldn't see it. It was like all the wind was let out of his sails. But he had to step up and make decisions on his own.

Yeah -Locke was all like Jacob loves me better than you Ben and feeling so self righteous. Then he can't even find the cabin. Loved the look on Ben's face when Locke couldn't find the cabin.

So essentially is Jacob just not in the mood to manifest himself to Locke at the moment?
I don't think Jacob would like to run into that guy that is the ghost buster. That is my guess.

I remember BaBa Yaga from playing Dungeons and Dragons as a kid (actually AD&D for all you other gamer dorks). Her hut was a coveted magic item. The hut was bigger inside than outside, like a tesseract, like the house in Mark Z. Danielewski's novel House of Leaves. The tesseract/BaBa Yaga/House of Leaves concept is interesting when you think of all the threads about pocket universes and the time delay Daniel Faraday saw.

I didn't even get to the second line in your post and thought "House Of Leaves!" :D The poem at the end of the book is something I've often associated with Lost for some reason.

Anyway. Locke doesn't KNOW stuff about the Island. He interprets signs. I think Ben is looking ever so smug now and they're both eyeing Hurley and seizing up the competition for The Island's Speshuler Boy. But if Jacob really doesn't want to help out Ben in a tight spot... does that mean Locke has done something to displease him?

I don't think Jacob would like to run into that guy that is the ghost buster. That is my guess.

I agree with this completely. 'Jacob' must be fully aware of the new island visitors, and has no interest in having company at the moment.

I got the feeling that 'something' happened between Hurley approaching Locke on the hill when it was a 'monsoon'. Locke mentioned it was just about over. And it was. Ben shoots Charlotte [how did Locke not foresee that?] and Locke asks about the smoke monster. Did the disagreement with Hurley take place between the monsoon and the shooting? I'll have to rewatch them. I remember Locke acting all big and mighty. Perhaps Jacob didn't care for that.

D/

I think its one of two things which have been proposed already.

I think either you have to cross the line to see the cabin in that spot.

Or possibly the ash circle is just a marker of ONE of the places that the cabin will manifest at night. That is, it manifests many places on the island if you know what you're looking for, but only at night.

i think the cabin and/or jacob manifests itself to whomever and whenever it chooses. locke or anyone else can't just go looking for it. altho, as ben said, locke was looking for further instructions, jacob didn't have any instructions. jacob hadn't summoned locke, so the cabin wasn't there.
however, when locke insisted, and ben took locke the first time, jacob had been waiting for locke--remember, ben told him in the hatch that he had been sent to get locke because he was special--locke had been summoned.

Just a thought.....if Locke found Hurley right after the cabin incident then it couldn't have been Locke in the cabin at the window, he would know where it was. So was it Jacob and Christian? or do we have another player?

I think the more important part about that scene is what Ben says - that Locke needs to be told what to do next. He's searching for advice instead of knowing what he has to do and acting on it.

I believe that Jacob in the guise of Taller Ghost Walt told him to come to the cabin after he rescued the Losties. Then, he either forgot to tell him that he was only available at night OR he's not appearing to Locke because Locke didn't bring ALL of the Losties with him OR he's aggravated with Locke becuase the call to the boat was made anyway because Locke couldn't kill Jack.

To sum things up:

--he didn't actually cross the line of ash

--it was daytime

--more than one line of ash?

What is this stuff? We have seen it in another epi.... Any insight?

I remember BaBa Yaga from playing Dungeons and Dragons as a kid (actually AD&D for all you other gamer dorks). Her hut was a coveted magic item. The hut was bigger inside than outside, like a tesseract, like the house in Mark Z. Danielewski's novel House of Leaves. The tesseract/BaBa Yaga/House of Leaves concept is interesting when you think of all the threads about pocket universes and the time delay Daniel Faraday saw.

I love the idea of the island being similar to the House of Leaves...very interesting idea!

although i have always loved the character of locke, i like to see the "unraveling" of his control of a situation. he honestly looked panicked when he could not figure out why he couldn't find the cabin. it's just like when he couldn't open the hatch and he was losing it. i think that locke will certainly lose it before all this is over. he definitely likes things to go his way.

I hope this does not end up like Dallas, with Hurley waking up in the mental ward shower and we had 7 seasons of his delusional dreams...
100%
or like that Cusack movie where they are all manifestations of him...

TPTB have said that it won't all be a dream in the end or someone's imagining.

There was no ash when Hurley saw the cabin because we got a good look at the ground in both locations where it appeared, didn’t see any ash and no one posted they saw it or screen capped ash from that scene. There have been posts of a theory that the ash contains the cabin and that was why Jacob asked Locke for help. I think that just got disproved on both counts, Locke was so surprised that the cabin wasn't there he couldn't have freed Jacob and the Cabin moved around despite the ash which was still where we last viewed it. Hurley saw the cabin in two different spots and there was no ash around it, so the cabin was somewhere else on the island. (The second appearance of the cabin to Hurley was definitely in a clearing) The proof that the cabin moved somehwhere else is that when Hurley saw the cabin he was heading away from the Beach in the direction of the cockpit, where Locke expected to see Jacob's cabin is on the way to Othersville, opposite sides of the island, remember Zeke's warning don't cross the line to our side of the island.

I have to think that with all the EM stuff going on- the time lapses- the light scattering not quite right- and Desmond’s time jumping- that part of Jacob’s mystique comes from his ability to tap the island’s unique properties to do some major stuff, like moving his cabin around and hanging with or manifesting Christian Shepherd. Watch for more of the amazing appearing and disappearing cabin. I always remember these writers never do a thing for no reason

although i have always loved the character of locke, i like to see the "unraveling" of his control of a situation. he honestly looked panicked when he could not figure out why he couldn't find the cabin. it's just like when he couldn't open the hatch and he was losing it. i think that locke will certainly lose it before all this is over. he definitely likes things to go his way.

That's exactly what it reminded me of. I feel like laughing and patting him on the head when he makes a "I'm not Jack! Sure, come into the jungle and if you're really lucky I might sacrifice you to the Island!" speech.

At the moment, he's scared and looking for validation from a daddy figure again and those quests usually end up in a lot of pain for Locke and sometimes loss of limb and life for others as well. The real element of danger this time is Ben because you know how much he's enjoying this and he's going to exploit it every chance he gets.

i seem to recall from previous episodes that jacob is afraid of light, so it would make sense if the cabin only appeared at night... :undecide:

It seems pretty clear that Jacob isn't held captive by the dust. It's also clear that Hurley has experienced Jacob's mobile cabin. What does this say for Locke's inability to find it?
Is it because there are too many plebes present or that he's not on the right path?

It seems pretty clear that Jacob isn't held captive by the dust. It's also clear that Hurley has experienced Jacob's mobile cabin. What does this say for Locke's inability to find it?
Is it because there are too many plebes present or that he's not on the right path?

I have a theory that the cabin itself might be a haunting. The theme of a house that appears mysteriously and then dissappears or reappears somewhere else is actually quite common among ghost stories. There is one such dissappearing house next to the famous haunted "Bachelors Grove Cemetery (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bachelor%27s_Grove_Cemetery)", located in Midlothian, Illinois, which is a southwest suburb of Chicago. It is described in the wonderful book "Chicago Haunts" written by Ursula Bielski (ISBN: 978-0964242678). Bachelors Grove is supposed to be one of the most haunted places in the US - with more reports of hauntings, and more varied types of hauntings - than anywhere else.

This house has been reportedly been seen by numerous people while they are walking either to or from Bachelors Grove Cemetery. This cemetery is located out in the middle of what is public land - part of the Forest Preserve lands that encircle the greater Chicago metropolitan area, and which were set aside to provide a nature sanctuary for wildlife and for people to get away from the city. Nobody cares for this cemetery anymore, and over the years it has been repeatedly looted, graves have been dug up by people, and high schoolers have had beer parties and all-nighters there. It's not a nice place to visit - I know, I've been there. I would compare how I felt while looking at the desecrated graves in that derelict cemetery to visiting a toxic waste dump - not a place I'd really like to hang out in - just yucky... I got the impression of there being a "presence" there that just wanted to be left alone and was very hostile to anyone coming to visit.

At any rate, to get to Bachelors Grove Cemetery, you have to hike down a very neglected and overgrown forest road for about a quarter of a mile from the nearest road. The forest is very dense and young there - it is a typical forest that was obviously logged off at one point, and is now growing back but has not yet reached its maturity - so it is very thick with middle aged trees. As you walk back you become completely cut off from the outside world, and a growing sense of foreboding is present as you get closer to the Bachelors Grove Cemetery. It is along this derelict roadway in the dense forest that this house has been seen by people.

The house appears out in the woods, inexplicably cut off from any road, path or utility lines. There are quite a number of varied stories connected with this house, but they all share similar themes. Some people have reported seeing lamps glowing inside the house, as seen through the front windows on the porch. When some people try to approach the house they report that it seems to keep fading away - they can't ever get close to it - and instead they just get further and further into the thick woods trying to reach it. Others report being able to actually get to the house and try to climb the few stairs up to the porch, but that the house dissappears suddenly when they do. Others have reported that they've actually gotten onto the porch of the house, but have found that they cannot get inside. Nobody that I have read about has ever seen anyone inside or outside of the house - the only evidence of occupation is that some people see the lit lamps through the windows. Some people have seen the house but ignored it, but then they see it again in a totally different location on the way back from the cemetery. There's all kinds of variations on this house's story.

Some ghost hunter people went in and combed the woods around the area where the house has been reportedly sighted, and they've managed to find an old decrepit foundation of where a house once stood many years ago, but there is no record anywhere that has been found to determine who lived there or who owned the house that once stood on that foundation. It is within a few hundred yards of the Bachelors Grove Cemetery, so that would make it the closest domicile to that very haunted place. Other than that there's really not much to go on other than the stories people have told about seeing it in the dense woods.

Here are some references to this house:

Weird and Haunted Chicago (http://www.prairieghosts.com/bachgrov.html)
BachelorsGrove.com-1 (http://www.bachelorsgrove.com/Archive/Structures/House2/index.htm)
BachelorsGrove.com-2 (http://www.bachelorsgrove.com/Archive/Structures/House1/)
YouTubeVideo (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2NRtnCMg4c&feature=related) (a very good look at the area)
YouTubeVideo - 2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEKwNOnAHI8&feature=related) (this one is a bit hokey, but worth a gander)

I have heard of other similar stories of houses that are apparitions, but I can't recall the details about them at the moment. At any rate, this house in Bachelors Grove sounds a lot like Jacob's cabin to me. Perhaps the writers are using this house or others like it as a reference in creating Jacob's house. What do you think?

Haha.. i love the topic of the thread.

The real reason the cabin keep moving, is because it's a mobile home!

I think Jacob is fueling up somewhere to get the van on the road again.

I think the cabin has the samekind of camouflage system, as the whole island has.

Just a miniature version of it.

This also means the island moves around, and does not stay in one place.

Maybe Jacob needs a kidney. ;)

Haven't read the whole thread so if this has already been mentioned, ignore me.

Ben said something along the lines of "Jacob isn't a man you go and see, he summons you". This makes me think that the cabin will only appear if Jacob wants you to see it. When Ben brought Locke, Jacob gave Locke the message to help him. When Hurley stumbled on it, he ran away but when he turned around, he saw the cabin again. It only seemed to disappear when Locke showed up. Maybe this was Jacob trying to summon Hurley, and Hurley alone?

Whatever the reason behind its dissapearance, Ben didn't look to me too be very shocked by it's dissapearance. This leads me to believe that the lack of the house has less to do with locke and his attitude and more to do with the general nature of Jacob.

Maybe, like the smoke monster, jacob can project images into the minds of visitors. There may not actually be a house, may never have been a house, but that is just the physical representation jacob chooses to present.

Maybe Jacob needs a kidney. ;)

Yeah, heh. Or maybe Jacob needs a whole body... :cool:

Ben said something along the lines of "Jacob isn't a man you go and see, he summons you". This makes me think that the cabin will only appear if Jacob wants you to see it.

I think you're absolutely right, Miss Aly. I also think that Ben knew that the cabin wasn't going to be there, and smugly commented that Locke was "Waiting for someone to tell him what to do", which took Locke's leadership status down a notch in the eyes of those in his party. Ben basically put into words exactly what was going on. One of the differences between Ben and Locke is that Ben can act on his own without having to go to Jacob for everything. Locke is less capable of doing that now, it seems...

Whatever the reason behind its dissapearance, Ben didn't look to me too be very shocked by it's dissapearance. This leads me to believe that the lack of the house has less to do with locke and his attitude and more to do with the general nature of Jacob.

Maybe, like the smoke monster, jacob can project images into the minds of visitors. There may not actually be a house, may never have been a house, but that is just the physical representation jacob chooses to present.

I think the house is itself a ghostly apparition.

My theory on the Jacob issue is Proteus

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proteus_%28comics%29

I believe that "Jacob" has the ability to warp reality.....but only for a limited range. This would explain people seeing the Cabin only when he wanted them too. That would also explain the plane wreakage found in the sea and the constant walking dead people. It would also explain Walt's "Visions" to John. I believe that he is locked away in the hut and the "ash" that we've seen keeps him in that area and that is how Ben keeps him at bay.

Now, if you want to really step outside the box, I'll tell you who I think he is. I think he is Walt......from the future! Weird, I know, but possible. I don't have much proof, it's just a left field kinda thought, but it would be an interesting twist :D. neo

mmmmmm...............
"Jacob's moving cabin"........?¿?

Someone posted this on another thread but he/she suggested the cabin was a mobile home.

I laughed so damn hard but honestly, sometimes the simple explanations are the best!

Are we certain there was no powder on the ground when Hurley saw the cabin?

I've been thinking for a while that perhaps the powder was less a protection or confinement spell and more a markation of (for lack of a better term) landing sites where Jacob's house may potentially be found.

Have we seen the cabin during daytime on the island? As silly as it sounds I think it may only 'come out' at night. Heh.

Edit: Saying that, we've seen many manifestions(I hope) during the day. Just a thought anyway :cool:

... What does this say for Locke's inability to find it?
Is it because there are too many plebes present or that he's not on the right path?

I think you hit on something there. Perhaps Locke is on the wrong path in more ways than one.

When we first saw the Cabin it was kind of up on a hill. It looked to be the same exact spot as in this episode. The ash line wasn't far from the cabin itself. It previously looked like it was farther away because it was at night maybe?

When Hurley saw the Cabin it was in a location that wasn't too far from the beach and it was more flat. I rewatched that episode several times, and I never saw Hurley cross the ash line.

I would think that if Hurley had indeed crossed the ash line then we would have been shown it. I think the lack of the ash line is supposed to reinforce the idea that the cabin can move.

In a previous episode we are shown that in the (Hydra?) station Ben has one of those cameras fixed on the cabin. Why would Ben have a camera fixed on the cabin if it could move? And where would the camera be located, up in a tree? Surely Jacob, who doesn't like technology, wouldn't approve of Ben watching him.

Maybe that ash ring is the main place the cabin appears but that it can go anywhere. Then I thought that maybe that shot in the Hydra station was just an easter egg and not intended to mean anything.

<<<<In a previous episode we are shown that in the (Hydra?) station Ben has one of those cameras fixed on the cabin. Why would Ben have a camera fixed on the cabin if it could move? And where would the camera be located, up in a tree? Surely Jacob, who doesn't like technology, wouldn't approve of Ben watching him.>>>>>


when did this happen??!! I watch each episode several times and I DO NOT remember anything like that.....are you perhaps thinking of the shot of Mikail's "cabin/farmhouse"?

Bawstngrl

I remember Locke acting all big and mighty. Perhaps Jacob didn't care for that.

D/

I think this is true. Maybe Locke is overstepping his bounds in assuming that he is one of Jacob's chosen ones.

Also, Jacob has the ability to only be visible to certain people so once he realized that Locke was bringing a party to his house, he made sure to hide out. Still don't know why he made himself visible to Hurley since Hurley is obviously not a leader-type.

Bawstngirl, I am looking for a screencap. I read (about the cabin in the camera) in a post on DarkUfo this morning. I am not entirely certain that the cabin in the camera shot I was referring to is Jacob's now that you mention it. It could be the flame station, but I thought it was of Jacob's cabin.

Maybe someone else remembers this and can help out.

I'm just now reading this entire thread.

Originally when Locke first went to see Jacob I thought that Ben was somehow confining or controlling Jacob. That Ben in his demented desire to control had trapped Jacob and the powder had something to do with this.

If this is correct then when Ben realized that Locke heard Jacob. And after he shot Locke and ask what he said (Help Me). Then Ben has a motive to keep Jacob hidden from Locke as long as he can arrange it.

Perhaps Ben has moved Jacob. Hurley actually saw the shack elsewhere and the dialog made a lot of the fact that Hurley would cover that he saw it.

How Ben managed this I do not know, but there could be a number of explanations.

I'm just now reading this entire thread.

Originally when Locke first went to see Jacob I thought that Ben was somehow confining or controlling Jacob. That Ben in his demented desire to control had trapped Jacob and the powder had something to do with this.

If this is correct then when Ben realized that Locke heard Jacob. And after he shot Locke and ask what he said (Help Me). Then Ben has a motive to keep Jacob hidden from Locke as long as he can arrange it.

Perhaps Ben has moved Jacob. Hurley actually saw the shack elsewhere and the dialog made a lot of the fact that Hurley would cover that he saw it.

How Ben managed this I do not know, but there could be a number of explanations.

This is a good theory. I guess it is possible that Ben is controlling and hiding Jacob. He was definitely upset that Locke heard him talk and Ben seems incredibly protective of his relationship with Jacob. However I still wonder why the house moved itself in TBOTE when Hurley saw it.

Also, it's possible that Jacob would reach out to Hurley being that Hurley is one of the least power hungry people on the island...I don't know, this show always keeps me guessing.

When we first saw the Cabin it was kind of up on a hill. It looked to be the same exact spot as in this episode. The ash line wasn't far from the cabin itself. It previously looked like it was farther away because it was at night maybe? Thank you, Colonel Corn!!! I thought I was the only one who noticed that the ash line wasn't where it was supposed to be as well as the fact that Locke and Ben clombed a hill to get to the cabin! I was confused when Hurley happened upon it but when it looked like it was following him whereever he went, I thought I had just imagined the hill.

I would think that if Hurley had indeed crossed the ash line then we would have been shown it. I think the lack of the ash line is supposed to reinforce the idea that the cabin can move.
They filmed a scene where Hurley kicks up some of the ash ring but it was cut from the episode, Jorge talked about it on the Jay and Jack podcast, I believe.

In a previous episode we are shown that in the (Hydra?) station Ben has one of those cameras fixed on the cabin. Why would Ben have a camera fixed on the cabin if it could move? And where would the camera be located, up in a tree? Surely Jacob, who doesn't like technology, wouldn't approve of Ben watching him.

I either missed that or didn't realize that was what was on the screen in the monitor room.

Maybe that ash ring is the main place the cabin appears but that it can go anywhere. Then I thought that maybe that shot in the Hydra station was just an easter egg and not intended to mean anything.

Could be but I had figured the ash ring was there to contain either the cabin or Jacob. Doesn't look it did either. :shrug:

The grey sand is the spot that marks Jacobs reserved space, nobody else should park there.

When he returns from the island travel, he needs to fuel up the mobile home and get some sleep.

I just thought it only appeared at night.

The Cabin
Maybe Jacob also has a day job !

Maybe the cabin goes up the stairs (ground level) down the stairs (underground)

We saw this technique used when we first met Mr Friendly and the circle of torches appeared.
The same may have been the delivery method of the food drops

Mobil home works as it may run on a track system down under and can surface at various locations

i think the cabin and/or jacob manifests itself to whomever and whenever it chooses. locke or anyone else can't just go looking for it. altho, as ben said, locke was looking for further instructions, jacob didn't have any instructions. jacob hadn't summoned locke, so the cabin wasn't there.
however, when locke insisted, and ben took locke the first time, jacob had been waiting for locke--remember, ben told him in the hatch that he had been sent to get locke because he was special--locke had been summoned.

This is along the lines of what I feel as well.

Have any of you read The Wheel of Time Series by Robert Jordan?

In the first book, The Eye of the World, the main characters are trying to stop the 'Dark One' from escaping his prison and taking over the world. Their quest leads them to an area known as the blight that is basically a waste land that is damned. However, in this waste land, there is an area called 'the eye of the world'. It is a tropical and floral oasis in the middle of a hellish land. There is a creature there that protects important secrets to beating the dark one.

The location of the eye changes. This oasis has never been found in the same place twice. It is confined to a certain area, but will appear anywhere within that area. The creature that lives in 'the eye' says that 'the eye' is always found where it is needed. In other words, the people searching for the eye must a pure a good need in order to see the eye, to be allowed into the eye.

Perhaps the cabin is similar to that. It is confined to the area within the ash, can appear anywhere within the ash, and will only appear to those it chooses to appear to.