Larry and Pam Kerns never imagined that after 10-plus enjoyable years of residing in their North Carolina dream log home they would be uprooting and moving to Louisville, Kentucky.
“We put our hearts and souls into building this amazing log home,” says Larry. “It took a couple of years of design just to figure out what we wanted it to look and feel like … and for seven years beforehand we were doing all sorts of research into what we were hoping for in a retirement home.”
Since then, things have changed. The couple has added another generation to their family. They have a granddaughter, now seven, who has a way of tugging at their hearts, like a strong magnet.
“Our granddaughter and her family live in Louisville,” says Larry. “We bought a condo there so that when we made the eight-hour trip to visit them we would have a place of our own to stay. Now we are realizing we want to be around them more frequently, to be more involved in their daily lives. Admittedly, we are also aware that as we age it makes sense for us to be closer to family.” It’s a bittersweet transition.
While still living and working in Atlanta, Georgia, Larry and Pam began planning ahead for their retirement by searching for rural property to build on.
“We found this wonderfully unique gated development in North Carolina,” says Larry, “with great amenities for the residents, but also laid out in a way that makes you feel as if you are living in the middle of nowhere; lots of privacy and beautiful scenery.”
The Springs at High Rock, a rural waterfront community located in southern Davidson County, is in close proximity to Charlotte, Winston-Salem, and Greensboro. It encompasses 2,000 wooded acres on High Rock Mountain (the highest mountain of North Carolina’s Uwharrie range), and it’s bordered on the south by High Rock Lake, the second largest lake in the Carolinas.
Various “green zones” throughout the community are accessible to all of The Springs residents and include picnic and barbecue pavilions for social gatherings, lakes, ponds, cascading waterfalls, and numerous walking trails through forest and wetlands.
“Pam and I are very outdoorsy,” says Larry, “and we felt The Springs was a good fit for us, opting for a wooded 3.19-acre ridgetop site rather than a lakeside lot.” Their selected parcel capitalized on panoramic views of surrounding forest, pristine air, cool temperatures during the summer months, and heavenly
breezes.
With the purchase of their property seven years in advance of retirement, Pam and Larry had plenty of time to consider the type of home they wanted to build. “Larry always wanted a log home,” says Pam. “He likes their rustic look … natural, unique, woodsy, but we both definitely wanted all of the modern-day conveniences.”
The couple subscribed to log home magazines, spending hours pouring over articles and photographs and generating a large file of ideas and examples of homes that appealed to them.
Pam and Larry also took advantage of several log and timber home shows in Atlanta, which is how they became acquainted with Log Homes of America, based in Jefferson, North Carolina. “The LHA representatives were very knowledgeable and helped us ‘lay people’ understand the complexities of building a log home,” say the twosome.
One of the reps suggested the Kerns get in touch with Kevin Nunn, of Bear Creek Log Homes. Nunn is a LHA dealer/builder based in Mocksville, North Carolina, not far from High Rock Mountain. The Kerns contacted him and arranged to meet at an upcoming Charlotte log home show.
“Kevin’s personality and knowledge of the log home building business gave us confidence to go forward with having him build a home for us at The Springs,” recalls Pam. That initial confidence continued throughout the project. Larry says, “Building our log home, as in building any home, was stressful at times. Kevin, however, was accommodating and amenable to the inevitable changes that were made to the original blueprints, as well as the logistic ups and downs that occurred during the project.”
Larry was very hands on during the construction process. Once retired, he and Pam rented an apartment in Salisbury, North Carolina, about 30 miles from their property at The Springs. Larry visited the construction site nearly every day, a concept that would make many general contractors cringe. Not so Kevin Nunn, who enjoyed his experience with Pam and Larry.
Nunn says that having Larry on hand during construction actually expedited the building process. Changes and challenges that came up could be resolved quickly with Larry on site to make decisions. Although two years were spent on the house design, the actual construction of the home was completed in just eight months, from April to December of 2006.
Pam reflects on their log home building experience: “Larry’s background is in engineering,” she says. “To begin the design of our home, he took an existing LHA plan (the “Keen”) and then adapted or altered it to fit our specific desires.” Larry approached one room at a time, developing the space around the couple’s lifestyle, existing furniture, needs for retirement, and disability access. Once each of the individual living areas was fine-tuned, they were combined to generate the overall floorplan.
The main level was designed for day-to-day living throughout their retirement years, with the loft level intended to accommodate visiting family and friends. The lower level includes a mechanical room, storage, Larry’s woodworking shop, and an exercise/relaxation area. The couple anticipated that the lower level could also be adapted for use by aging parents or relatives.
Most of the Kerns’ living has, indeed, taken place on the main level. The dining room is adjacent to the kitchen, which has a huge pantry and is close to the garage, making grocery handling easy. The kitchen is also open to the great room, allowing the cook to remain involved with family and guests. The master bedroom and bath are situated on the opposite end of the great room, providing privacy for the couple. There are several reading nooks, important to Pam, who is an avid reader, and Larry can “retreat” to his workshop on the lower level of the home for hours at a time.
Pam had some assistance with the interiors of the home from one of her favorite designers, her daughter. “Initially,” Pam says, “during the design phase, we developed furniture layouts on grid paper to determine room sizes. Our daughter, Katherine, who lives in Louisville, assisted with the furniture arrangement and art placement, especially on the main level after we moved into the home.”
Pam finessed the interiors to suit the couple’s lifestyle, particularly a desire for lack of clutter. She worked with some of the couple’s furniture and décor from their previous homes, some that they had inherited, and new pieces selected specifically for certain rooms. They purchased rustic bedroom furniture for their spacious master suite from local, well-known designer, Bob Timberlake.
Log Homes of America offers a choice of white pine or red cedar logs. The Kerns chose kiln-dried white pine for its stability and beauty. Kevin Nunn says, “Larry and Pam selected our 6×12 D-style log profile with dovetail corners. The logs are double tongue and grooved; we use only lags, dovetail splines, and butyl sealant tape to join them together.”
Over the years, Larry has found log home maintenance to be on par with a traditional home. “The exterior stain/finish should be maintained about every five years,” he says, “very similar to painting a traditional home every five years. Our builder, Kevin, recommended that we have a pest treatment company spray the exterior each spring for boring insects, and we have followed this advice religiously. By doing so, we’ve never found holes from carpenter bees or other insects.”
Other maintenance considerations have also paid off for Pam and Larry. “Due to the number of trees around our home,” explains Larry, “we installed a gutter-shield system that prevents leaf clogs; no gutter maintenance is required.” The couple installed aluminum-clad windows that don’t require painting. They opted for a central vacuum system that makes cleaning easy and expels dust externally.
It’s understandable why they like to keep maintenance simple. Even though Pam and Larry have been officially retired for over a decade, their days are filled with numerous activities and volunteer work in the community. They also love to travel, domestically and internationally.
“We’ve had an extremely rewarding experience, living in this home we built,” say the couple. “Our days here have been so relaxing, the serene environment promotes well-being.” The screened porch furnished with a dining table has been one of their primary dwelling spaces. A water feature just below the porch murmurs the soothing sounds of a mountain brook. When it is too cool to be outside, the huge expanse of windows floods the great room with light and brings the outdoors inside.
Pam says, “One of the greatest joys of retirement and slowing down, at least for me, is the ability to sit and read. Having time to enjoy books is a tremendous delight.” While Pam has capitalized on a slower pace of reflection and serenity, Larry remains a man on the go. He fills his days volunteering his time with local charities and interacting with the community. When he is home, he enjoys woodworking, yard work, and spending time on the computer.
With their move to Louisville in the works, the Kerns are reflecting with gratitude on The Springs experience they created for themselves. In their search for a new home in Louisville, some things are a must. Pam is determined to find a home with at least one quiet, comfy reading nook. Larry insists he has a garage or basement for setting up his woodworking shop.
“We are looking forward to a new chapter of life that involves more time with our children,” say the pair. “But we have definitely grown fond of our lifestyle and routines of retirement; having the time available to us for enjoying our favorite pastimes, including just being together. That part won’t be changing much. We’re counting on some of the best things to remain the same.”
Living in this log home has been an uplifting experience for us. There is an abundance of light and a sense of airiness provided by the large expanses of windows. The multiple sets of double doors contribute to our home’s charm and cheerfulness, and enable us to enjoy the beauty of the outdoors that surrounds our home.
The rooms, especially on the main level, are spacious and comfortable. There is also an abundance of storage: numerous closets, cubbyholes, and cupboards, including a large pantry in the kitchen.
Despite the considerable square footage of the home, the inherent warmth of logs and other wood elements provide a feeling of coziness throughout.