Final answer:
Thoreau's cabin at Walden Pond was unfinished when he moved in, without plastering or a chimney, featuring walls of rough, weather-stained boards.
Step-by-step explanation:
The condition of Thoreau's cabin when he moved in was unfinished. Henry David Thoreau himself built the cabin at Walden Pond, but it was not fully completed at the time he began living in it. On Independence Day, July 4th, 1845, which marked the beginning of his stay, Thoreau described his home as a mere defense against the rain, lacking plastering and a chimney, with walls of rough, weather-stained boards and wide chinks that made it quite cool at nights. The cabin indeed had a clean and airy look due to the white hewn studs and freshly planed door and window casings. Thoreau's experience at Walden Pond, as recounted in his work Walden, was an embodiment of living simply and with minimal needs, asserting the value of simplicity and self-reliance.