Building Dos & Don’ts for Legacy Homes
Building Dos & Don’ts for Legacy Homes

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 …

Retired and Loving It!

Gregory and Kym Lagios had corporate careers in the Boston area, working long, hard hours. Their efforts paid off, earning them enough income to afford an early retirement. “Kym and I had been searching for property in the Lakes Region for several years,” says Greg, “and came across this lot through our friend and realtor Gerard Constantino. What we love about our site are the views of the water and mountains, along with our very own 106-foot private sand beach. Rural enough to afford them plenty of pea…

Construction Time

The average log home can take anywhere from four to eight months or more to build, depending on its size. A custom log home is well worth the time and effort. Prior to construction, you plan for months, sometimes years, to make this vision become real. Because of the many stages that happen before the home is ready to move in, the construction process can seem daunting. Understanding the steps beforehand makes you a well-prepared consumer. It is your knowledge and passion to build a log home that help g…

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…

A Slice of Heaven

A ski trip to Deer Valley, Utah, more than a dozen years ago awakened a deep love for log homes in Donn and Candy Fuller. “We rented this beautiful handcrafted, full-log home with more than 10,000 square feet of space,” recalls Donn Fuller, an orthopedic surgeon in Fort Myers, Florida. “It was just gorgeous.” On another ski trip the Fullers discovered where they wanted to build their dream vacation home: Big Sky, Montana. “Another orthopedic doc friend invited us out and we just fell in love with Montan…

Skimp or Splurge?

A home is the epitome of self-expression. It shows the world your personal style and hints at what is important to you. It offers an escape from the world, creating a sanctuary for those who pass through its doors. But building the ideal sanctuary involves planning and budgeting to accommodate all the design options you might desire. Beginning with the structure, a home will speak volumes about who lives in it and where it is sited. But what about the design deta…

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 …