You know the saying, “It takes a village to raise a child.” Well, the same could be said of building a log or timber frame home. Your log producer, builder, and contracted experts in plumbing and electrical systems are all critical to building a successful new home, and interior design expertise is just as important. Having a professional you can rely on to guide you through each step of the design process makes building a home more manageable and can actually end up saving you mon…
You’ve most likely spent months, if not years, planning the design of your log home and hadn’t even considered what you would use to protect its precious walls. There are many companies out there that claim they make the best finishes for the exterior of a log home. Weeding through all of these products can be a daunting task, and you may be tempted to drive down to the local hardware store and pick up a few cans of the product that’s on sale that week. Before hopping in your car, get to know what makes…
A stunning stone patio, boulders, ornamental grasses lined up in rows, and tall, slender trees all serve to enhance the beauty of this home. An old saying tells us that the devil is in the details, but so is the dazzle! Landscaping and hardscaping your log or timber home put the finishing touch on the self-expression that motivates homeowners everywhere. Rather than an afterthought or an add-on, the exterior finish of the home and surroundings bring the vision to life and complete the journey from idea …
The professional consensus on current primary home trends, from differing regions of the country, includes cost-consciousness, sustainability, practicality, and a better-than-ever educated client. These are the overarching trends that will likely be around forever, becoming, as architect Shawn Leatherwood says, “the new norm.” “It’s a strange time right now,” suggests Leatherwood. “Prospective clients seem to be doing plenty of tire kicking before hi…
With any home, maintenance plays an important role in protecting your investment from the elements and from the normal wear and tear that are inflicted on it on a daily basis. Ignore this important aspect of log home ownership and you could find yourself dealing with high repair and restoration bills, and a lot of heartache. Where log homes are different from traditional construction lies mainly in the logs themselves. While these natural wonders are strong, sturdy…
A beautiful log home—it’s a great dream for anybody to have for their retirement years. Now imagine if that home required zero maintenance: No painting, no toilet repair, no worries … talk about a beautiful dream! Of course, a home that doesn’t require any maintenance really is a dream. But what you can do is take steps during the planning process for your log home that will minimize maintenance in the long term. And that’s a dream that everybody can live with. To help us come up with the best planning …
Photo by Heidi Long My husband likes to joke that I’m picking up space-planning skills from him. For as long as I’ve known him he has been a wizard at packing a suitcase so that everything fits, loading the car trunk for a vacation with room to spare, and arranging furniture in a room for the most efficient use of space. The truth is, I’ve come to realize that sometimes there really is a “right” way to do things! Space planning is arguably the most important part of the home design process. Ideally, you…
Building a log home is, quite simply, an adventure. And nobody should undertake an adventure without adequate preparation. When Jock Davidson, owner of Daniel Boone Log Homes, considers the process of building a log home, he advises, “The nature of home building, particularly log homes, is usually more art than science. No two log homes are exactly the same, and therein lies the art. The single biggest pitfall that homebuyers face is unrealistic expectations. The home will invariably take longer to buil…
For many log, timber frame, or hybrid homeowners, the most daunting task in completing the purchase or construction of their ideal residence is dealing with financing. Although economic pressures have weighed on the market and banks have often been described as reluctant to lend, even during the best of times obtaining a loan for a log, timber frame, or hybrid home requires planning, patience, and understanding of the necessary steps. While the processes of financing conventional a…
Sam and Gale Easter, self-described “loggies,” are enthusiastic about living in the log home of their dreams. But during the planning stages for the house, the couple took time to carefully research log home companies and builders. They were looking for professionals that would not only turn out a quality product, but who also would deal with them fairly and honestly. “The company we chose answered all our questions right up front,” says Gale, now owner of Roanoke River Vall…
More than a century ago, celebrated architect Frank Lloyd Wright initiated the Prairie Style. A departure from the residential architecture of old Europe that had been widespread in the United States, it was distinctly American and featured bold horizontal lines. Wright’s influence on modern architecture remains strong, and in southwestern Montana near the city of Bozeman a tribute to his legacy rises in splendor next to a quiet pond with majestic vistas of the Bridger Mountains in the distance. The own…
A log home is a beautiful complement to any setting, no matter if it’s poised out in the middle of a wide-open prairie or hugging the shoreline of a lake or ocean. But there’s just something irresistible about a cabin in the woods. Nestled among the trees, a log cabin home or weekend camp against a deeply wooded backdrop just seems at ease and, well, right. When designing and building your dream woodland log cabin home, there are a few factor…
