“We just love being here,” remarks Bill Ray, gazing out over North Carolina’s Cataloochee and Smoky Mountain ranges. “It’s worth every mile and minute of the 71/2-hour drive it takes us to get here from Indianapolis.” Located at Cherry Hill, a rural development near Waynesville, North Carolina, the Ray cabin is situated on four-plus acres, but the astounding views make it feel like 4,000. “My heart has always been in the Smokies,” chimes in Bill’s wife, Louise. “My parents brought my twin sister and I d…

Ken Miles and Margo McKinney were leading very busy professional lives in the greater Baltimore area. Margo, a retired school principal, had taken up a second career in real estate sales. Ken worked as a sheet metal developer at Middle River Aircraft Systems. The couple had discussed living in a log home in their retirement years and agreed that a quieter, simpler life in the country was their vision for the future. They began to focus attention on their retirement goal, but couldn’t find property that …

Amy and Bill Richardson fell in love with Grand Lake, Colorado—and the dream of a mountain vacation home—at the same time they fell in love with one another.  “We met in grad school, and right after graduation from our two-year MBA program, we got in the car and hit 23 states in 26 days,”  Amy says. The couple’s journey took them through the Rocky Mountain National Park and Grand Lake. “Grand Lake’s marketing slogan is ‘America’s front porch,’ and it really does look l…

When Paul and Debby Kenney began planning their dream log home while they were dating during the mid-2000s, the couple envisioned a retirement home they could enjoy growing old together, surrounded by picture-perfect views in southern Colorado. “We wanted this to be a home that we could live in as long as we wanted to,” says Paul, who is retired from the U.S. military and his most recent career as a high school ROTC instructor. “We love Colorado, and we wanted to spend our retirement years her…

Like many members of the Stock Farm Club on the slopes of the Bitterroot Valley in western Montana, the owners of this spacious house chose a Rocky Mountain Log Home that blends seamlessly with its rocky, wooded environment. The Stock Farm Club, a golf club development owned by Charles Schwab, covers 2,600 acres on the mountainside and offers a variety of home settings  as well as a log clubhouse lodge and other amenities.    Architect Jeremy Oury of Kibo Group designed the home for this …

For Brian and Tracey Stratton, the log home they wanted was more than worth the wait; rather, it was a goal that they worked steadily to achieve. On a 14-acre wooded homesite in central Wisconsin, the idea took shape, and the result is just what they planned. However, the time table was a bit longer. “We wanted a warm, homey feeling, and I think we succeeded,” comments Tracey. “I also wanted to be able to decorate with antiques, so I did not want too much of a modern look to the house. Another thing I d…

Pete Pyles has been in the construction industry for the past 45 years, the last 20 years dedicated to the construction of quality log homes. “I have had a passion for building since my grandfather and father involved me in the art of building construction before I was a teenager,” says Pete. ”I had the good fortune of having quality bred into me while working on some very fine homes as a young person.” Pete and his wife Jackie have built three homes together for themselves duri…

Near the town of Hamilton, Montana, roughly 45 miles south of Missoula, the Bitterroot Valley and Sapphire Mountains converge, and the steep rock walls of Blodgett Canyon soar skyward more than 1,500 feet. In this majestic outdoor cathedral of Ponderosa Pine, swift-running streams, and incredible natural beauty, a family from Minnesota has found its western paradise. Within the Stock Farm Club real estate development, three structures—a house, cabin, and barn—surround a serene courtyard and welcome the …

Northern Colorado’s Routt National Forest might be one of the state’s best kept secrets. The outdoorsman’s mountain paradise remains spared from many of the crowds that enjoy Colorado’s other outdoor playgrounds. The forest, which is split by the Continental Divide, extends over one million acres with seven different wilderness areas and is home to Steamboat Ski Resort. As avid athletes and wilderness enthusiasts, John and Carrie Morgridge were overjoyed to find 15 acres in Routt County available for pu…