Y’All Come Eat
Y’All Come Eat

Patchwork Palace

The story about how this pièce sur pièce log home came to be built is a true epic tale of timely decisions, good fortune and, most of all, perseverance. It all started back in the mid-1970s when Gaétan Ruel and his wife Nicole welcomed their third child. At the time, they were living in a beautiful modern mountainside home facing a ski hill in the Laurentian Mountains of Quebec. But they were quite a distance away from schools, grocery stores, and recreational centers for the kids, and with only weekend…

Home on the Range

Different topographies and climates can impact the log home construction process, and can also impact your experiences as a log home owner. A structure built in the southeastern United States, for example, must be able to withstand hurricanes and tolerate high levels of humidity, while one constructed on the West Coast has to stand up to earthquakes. The elements can take their toll in areas where high winds or extreme cold are prevalent, and natural&nbs…

Home of the Brave

In 2004, Marine Staff Sergeant Vincent Gizzarelli’s life changed. During his second tour of duty in Iraq, Vince’s anti-armament platoon was called out to assist a rifle squadron that had been engaged in combat. While in transit, an IED went off about 20 feet away from his HumVee. “I saw an orange flash; then everything went black,” Vince recalls of the night that would eventually end his military career. Diagnosed with severe brain injuries and post traumatic stress disorder, Vi…

A Course of Patience

There’s no definitive answer on when the buying process begins. For some folks, it begins the first time they clip a photograph of a log cabin from a magazine and start a file. For other people, it’s the first time they walk into a log home model and start picking out floorplans. When it comes to building a custom log home, the buying procedure isn’t only about money. It’s a progression that lasts from concept to completion with steps in between. “A lot of patience is needed thr…

A Serene Space

When Charles and Lana Sangmeister said goodbye to the hustle and bustle of central New Jersey seven years ago they had no idea that they’d be in for such a treat. After retiring from their jobs, the Sangmeisters returned to Lana’s Montana roots and purchased 277 acres of land in the small town of Nye. Nestled in the foothills of the Beartooth Mountains, the region proved to be the perfect backdrop for the couple’s new log cabin home. Before that dream came to fruition the Sangmeisters studied hundreds o…

Almost Heaven

Log home producers mill logs to uniform dimensions and then combine them with other structural components and building materials to make a log home package. The uniform look of a milled log home is often what is most appealing to log home buyers. When Sue and Mike McKenrick moved to Morgantown in the northeastern part of West Virginia, they wanted to settle down somewhere with space and privacy. With their four children grown, they didn’t need a huge home, but as avid motorcyclists they sought room for …

Landscape Your Property

Landscaping should be at the top of your list when you begin to plan your log home. A National Gardening Association survey found a well-designed and maintained landscape can increase the value of your home by as much as 15-25 percent. “Too often the landscape is an afterthought” says Maureen Parker, owner of Common Ground Landscapes in Boyne City, Michigan, “and landscape architecture is much more than plantings.  Planning for your landscape starts with positioning your …

First, Do No Harm

All doctors are familiar with the phrase, “First, do no harm.” It’s part of the Hippocratic Oath they swear to uphold once they become doctors. It means that they will treat patients to the best of their ability and judgment without doing them any unnecessary harm.  When you are planning your new log home, why not treat it and the property you are building on as your patient and do your best not to disturb or contaminate it or the other living things you will be sharing it with? Today, “green” is t…

Share and Share Alike

When asked if I would like to write the Trend Watch column on the subject of shared log homes I replied to my editor, “Of course, this will be fun.” Within a minute or so I was thinking to myself, “Hmmmm … shared log homes? REALLY?” The term “shared home” conjured up images of college days, when I was one of many housemates (my experience was not as bad as Animal House), living pretty inexpensively in a large, somewhat dilapidated rental home. Even after univer…

Sweet Dreams

We often pour energy and creativity into the “public” rooms in our houses: great rooms, kitchens, and entertainment rooms. But we should reserve some of that care and effort to create an idyllic environment in our most personal rooms: the bedrooms. Resist the temptation to make your bedroom multifunctional: studies show that we sleep better when we reserve our bedrooms for relaxation, not work. From layout to furnishings, your bedroom designs should reflect your …

Quality & Craftsmanship

During the 32 years that Ellis Nunn has been designing luxury log and timber homes he’s seen many different design trends come and go. A member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the National Council of Architects Registration Board (NCARB), Nunn is president of Ellis Nunn & Associates Architecture in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.  Nunn’s firm specializes in high-end mountain-style and log home architecture. Over the last three decades Nunn has designed over 300 log homes. A leader in t…

Why Buy Now?

While some economists continue to lament that one of the longest recessions in U.S. history persists, signs of recovery and a return to economic vitality are surely coming around. Despite a lingering concern for the future, those looking for the log home of a lifetime can take heart. Somewhat ironically, there may never be a better time to buy. The reasons for this sudden surge of opportunity are varied; however, the most dramatic lies in the price of money, the funding that makes a log home purchase po…