Selecting the Best Floor Plan
Selecting the Best Floor Plan

Living the Fairy Tale

When Dallas couple Jennifer and Robert Quinn began taking their family on annual camping excursions two decades ago, they explored various areas throughout the Southwest—particularly Colorado. On one occasion, they happened to drive through Lake City, Colorado, a small town nestled in the San Juan Mountains. “It was just like driving through a fairy tale,” Jennifer says. “We fell in love with it.” The couple began dreaming about and planning to build a log home in  Lake City as they continued makin…

Mountain’s Majesty

Just a few minutes from the Bozeman, Montana, airport, the Rocky Mountains rise toward the heavens. A drive along the Gallatin River leads to a captivating log home that fulfills a lifelong desire for its owner, blending the beauty of the Mountain West with modern convenience and sweet serenity. “I wanted to create a home where our large family and other families with us could all be in one room,” relates the homeowner. “The house is centered around a great room on the main floor with dining room, kitch…

Scandinavian Fusion

The essence of the hybrid home lies in cooperative construction methods, perhaps both log and timberframe, incorporating varied elements both in materials utilized and the home’s comprehensive theme. Creativity comes to the forefront in hybrid construction, allowing the homeowner to blend such elements as wood, stone, and concrete while achieving a captivating fusion of décor elements. In short, a hybrid home provides the palette for the ultimate in inventive and original vision. On a sprawling 147-acre…

An Open & Shut Case

Surprisingly, the look and quality of interior and exterior doors often come as afterthoughts in the construction of log and timber homes. However, a missed opportunity to brighten an entryway, welcome guests, and increase the “wow factor” can be corrected. It’s never too late to spruce up doors, keeping an eye on cost and environmentally friendly factors. Getting in touch with the ins and outs of interior and exterior doors is easier than you think. Craftsme…

Thermal Mass of Log Walls

When talking about green building, energy efficiency, and passive solar design, you may hear the term “thermal mass.” The term refers to the ability of a material to stabilize the temperature of your home by storing heat from the sun (called solar gain) during the day, then slowly releasing it at night. Some people add a thermal mass feature to help store solar heat, but luckily for log home owners, logs themselves have considerable thermal mass naturally. Therma…

Big Stix

Bill and Mary Elder’s desire to build a log home percolated over a number of years. “When our children were young,” says Mary, “we owned a small log cabin about a half hour away from our Fredericktown home. It was perfect for weekend getaways and gave Bill some necessary down time from his busy medical practice.” As the Elder children grew up and became more involved in school activities, cabin time was less frequent. “We were reluctant to sell it,” says Bill, “so we rented it out for a while, then even…

Online Exclusive

The log home lifestyle is within reach of homeowners everywhere, whether their current homes are of conventional or log construction.  More popular than ever, log additions to existing residential structures are gaining momentum with creativity and affordability. A log addition to a home of any style may be accomplished with planning, consultation, and vision. “The sky is the limit on what you can do with a full-scribe handcrafted log home,” comments Brad Neu, president of Montana Log Homes, “and w…

Good Things Take Time

“Initially, we were looking for bare lake frontage to build a log cabin on,” begin Wisconsin homeowners Jamie and Karen Geschke. “However, finding a great lakefront lot without an existing home proved to be impossible.” Then a realtor friend, Erik Johnson, showed the couple a property on Lake Kaubashine that was coming on the market, and it was love at first sight: sand beach, pristine water, not much boat traffic, and bordered on one side by state-owned land. There was a modest house on the property, b…

Legacy Begets Legacy

“Our client chose full logs for their family house,” says Dennis Davis, project manager for RJ Dailey Construction, “believing the aesthetics would make the proper statement about family and farm values: strong, stable and, most of all, enduring.” RJ Dailey builds only custom residences and estates, says Davis, “but up until now only in California, where our company is based.” It was an honor and a pleasure for the company to be selected as the general contractor for a log home on a family farm in Illin…

Dream Escapes

Do you want your vacation getaway home to be an exact duplicate of your main home? Of course not! Your leisure life is far more relaxed and free than your everyday life so you’ll want that to be reflected in your home away from home. Perhaps you are attracted to a different architectural and decorative style that you’d like to explore. Go a bit more sleek and modern or maybe indulge your love for a rustic, natural feel. If the colors used in your main home are neutral, take a chance …

Winter Weather Advisory

Seasons change. Log and timber home owners are wise to heed the advice that seems to be everywhere. Winterize to protect your investment, prevent larger maintenance issues, and ensure the best of experiences regardless of temperature, snow, ice, and howling winds. Basic prevention makes all the difference. Begin with a general inspection, much of which can be completed by homeowners themselves. Service providers are also available to make light work of seasonal chores. “The first thing to do is to inspe…

Ensuring Energy Efficiency

Considering the rising costs of energy and the environmental awareness that is so necessary as natural resources become more scarce every day, log home owners are taking advantage of opportunities to maximize the energy efficiency of their homes on a regular basis. While doing so, they discover not only that savings in real dollars may be substantial, but also that their personal impact on the environment is becoming “greener.” Those who are constructing their log homes and those who are purchasing an e…