A Florida couple finds peaceful respite in a hybrid log and timber home on the shores of Tennesee’s Douglas Lake.
“My husband was born and raised in Florida,” begins Melinda Kolar, “where our primary home is located. I’m from Hendersonville, North Carolina, and ever since leaving I have missed the changing of the seasons that occurs there. Tom and I frequently discussed the possibility of having a second home farther north.”
When Tom and Melinda’s two children enrolled at Tennessee colleges (son at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and daughter at Carson-Newman University in Jefferson City) the Kolars decided to look for some property, ideally located between the two college towns, to build a family get-together home for holidays and summers. Douglas Lake in Dandridge, Tennessee, a stone’s throw east of Knoxville, was the perfect spot.
Convenient for Tom and Melinda, the home offices and production facilities of Hearthstone, Inc., are also located in Dandridge. Most prospective homebuyers interview multiple building companies before deciding on whom to contract with for a new home. Such was the case with the Kolars.
“What it came down to,” says Tom, “is, yes, we definitely went around to a lot of log and timber home builders in the region. We knew we wanted a rustic-style wooden home, not a conventional stick-frame and drywall house. To Melinda and me, Hearthstone was hands down the most professional and, equally important, least pushy of all the companies we met with. They presented their product and building options in a knowledgeable, streamlined manner and then escorted us to some of the custom homes they had built nearby. Hearthstone didn’t have to sell us on their product, the craftsmanship spoke for itself.”
A significant factor of appeal that sets Hearthstone apart from many log and timber frame companies is that, within 50 miles of their Dandridge plant, they offer turnkey construction services to qualifying clients. “We specialize in contracting for out-of-town clients who need a certain degree of total project management,” says Hearthstone’s Jobe Leonard. “Our design, accounting, construction, and subcontracting services make us unique from other log and timber home producers in the immediate vicinity. Out-of-state clients building second homes in this region realize an advantage to using our services in a general contracting capacity.”
Initial design concepts for the Kolars’ completely custom log and timber home began with some hand-drawn sketches. “Once we had a general layout that the clients were comfortable with,” explains Leonard, “we provided them with a proposal that helped them determine a budget, including choices for building materials and finishes.”
Leonard estimates that 99 percent of the homes created by Hearthstone are customized. Every client has different needs and wants for the layout of a home, and most individuals embarking on a custom building project prefer to have a unique design rather than one tailored for someone else. Site considerations frequently play into design direction, as was the case with the Kolar home, which is situated on a steeply sloped lot on Douglas Lake. “Building on steep mountainous terrain, some of it quite hard to access,” says Leonard, “is something our crews are accustomed to. It’s kind of a specialty in our trade. Many clients choose a log or timber frame home to complement the rusticity of their properties. This was definitely the case for the Kolars.”
For their lake home, the Kolars chose a large hand-hewn 6”x14” log profile married with a two-story Eastern white pine timber frame. “The 6”x14” log-on-log system is something we created especially for the Kolars,” says Leonard. “When a client has a special request for their building project we are able to accommodate them with the materials and dimensions they specify.”
“Hearthstone explained the many options for materials,” says Melinda, “showing us examples from their photography portfolio, in addition to taking us to both log and timber frame homes in the area. Desiring an all-wood home, Tom and I decided that a blending of the two building styles would work nicely for us.”
Jobe Leonard points out that these days the majority of Hearthstone’s clients want some sort of combined log and timber elements in their homes, as compared to all log or all timber frame construction. “We started out doing only log construction in the early 1970s,” he explains, “and in the early 1980s we began producing timber frame structures. This versatility has proven to be a wise move for us, as right now hybrid log and timber homes are definitely the trend. I don’t see that reversing back to a preference for full log or full timber frame.”
With any type of new home construction it is not uncommon for homeowners to enter into an agreement with their contractor that will allow them to complete certain aspects of the project themselves. Typical areas might include an unfinished basement, outdoor living areas, even driveway surfacing. Tom and Melinda Kolar chose to finish the basement themselves, as Tom had man cave visions dancing through his head. The couple also opted to handle the stone facing on the home’s retaining walls, stonework for the basement-level patio, and pathways connecting the outside living spaces.
“Tom is really good at conceptualizing and implementing projects like this,” says Melinda. “What was so wonderful about him taking on portions of the finishing construction was that our son and daughter worked alongside him, and it ended up being a great bonding experience for the three of them. The house was really a labor of love and a gift to us from Tom. In addition to building a family gathering place, he wanted me to have a summer home that would be more similar to the region I was raised in.”
The Kolars aimed to create family-friendly (thinking grand kids down the road) livable outdoor spaces that would flow easily from interior to exterior. “It all worked out really great,” continues Melinda. “When Tom has down time he needs to stay busy, so he threw himself into this creative process and it turned out wonderfully.”
A Hearthstone building materials package includes all of the heavy timbers for the timber frame, log walls, and roof systems for a home. They also provide insulation, tongue-and-groove decking, plywood, and felt paper for the roof and gable ends of the structure. The balance of the Kolar home’s construction materials and labor were subcontracted by Hearthstone, which managed all of the billing, invoices, payments, and warranties that went along with the various contracts.
“Jobe introduced Tom and me to subcontractors that Hearthstone had a proven track record with,” says Melinda. “We met them all before hiring them and were impressed with each supplier. We picked out our granite from a nearby granite yard and worked on the kitchen design with a local cabinet company. I did a lot of online research and purchasing for fixtures and lighting that we had shipped to the cabin for installation when the timing was right.”
The overall process for building the Kolar home went very smoothly. After a two- to three-month design process, the foundation construction was started in January. Unusually cold winter weather for Tennessee, along with straight-line winds off the lake, posed some challenges for the Hearthstone crew while they set the log and timber frame elements of the home over a two-month period. The finishing construction took an additional 10 months.
The Kolars appreciate the streamlined fashion in which the project unfolded. Jobe Leonard believes that in many ways having an out-of-state client actually aids in the decision-making process. “The Kolars traveled to Tennessee every so often,” says Leonard, “and I would have a checklist ready for them, for decisions that needed to be made while they were in town. It’s a great way to progress through a building project.” He says working through certain checklists in the design phase readies a client for a similar approach when the construction phase of the project arrives. By the time choices need to be made for the finishes during the last phase of construction, the checklist approach has been mastered.
The Kolars returned to the cabin building site whenever they could, but say that Hearthstone basically handled everything for them. “Our construction manager, Robert Kingery, gave us nearly daily updates,” says Tom, “and he kept Melinda informed about dates that products for the home would be needed.” “I remember one time we flew up to Tennessee and were at the cabin when the living room chandelier arrived,” adds Melinda. “We were blown away watching Robert and his crew hang this huge antler fixture from the center of the two-story timber frame.” Melinda furnished the home with a mix of antiques and rustic furniture pieces from nearby towns. “Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg are antique Meccas,” she says. “And there is a great furniture store in Wears Valley called Timber Valley Rustic Furniture. The owner was extremely helpful and we purchased a lot of items from him, including our master bedroom set.”
Tom and Melinda have spent time during all four seasons at their Dandridge lake house. Christmas has been a special time for them to enjoy the holiday with their children. “Mostly it’s the summer months that beckon us from Florida to the lake,” says Tom. “But we also like visiting during springtime, when the wildflowers are in bloom, and then again in the fall for the changing of the leaves. We gather there with the kids whenever they have school breaks.”
Impeccable work without budget or warrantee issues made for an enjoyable relationship between the Kolars and Hearthstone. “Whenever we come up to the cabin,” says Tom, “I always make sure to connect with the Hearthstone guys. I knew from the start that I was dealing with honest, capable people. It was a pleasure doing business with them, and I continue to enjoy lunch and golf dates with Jobe now that the house is completed.”
With children completing their educations in Tennessee, the Kolars are looking a little farther north for a summer home. “If I could pick up the Douglas Lake cabin and take it with me, I certainly would,” says Melinda. “The memories we have created there mean the world to our family. We couldn’t ask for better neighbors. But I am feeling the urge to get back closer to Hendersonville, maybe in the Asheville or Highlands area, where summers are even cooler than Tennessee and the change of seasons more dramatic”
Whatever they decide, wherever their next getaway home might be, there’s one thing Tom and Melinda Kolar are certain of: If another wooden home project is in the picture, they have their log and timber company already figured out.
Photography by Roger Wade Studio