Log Home Living
By Barbara Ballinger
It’s more than just
an architectural style; it’s a mindset. Learn about the wide array of
log homes available today and what choices buyers of these homes now
have.
Log houses have
truly stood the test of time.
They emerged
in the United States as early as the mid-1700s, serving as a sturdy
home-made structure for settlers to call home. Hundreds of years later,
a loyal segment of home buyers are still in love with log-home living.
And thanks to specialized builders and remodelers, buyers can choose
from numerous styles, from authentic rustic cabins to sprawling, luxury,
high-tech homes.
Here's a primer to
help you and your clients understand the origins of log homes and stay
current on the latest trends.
The Beginnings
Although the very
earliest homes in American were shacks, tents, and other more transient
structures, log homes began to be built as early as 1725, with the
arrival of immigrants from Sweden, Finland, England, and other
countries, says Ralph Kylloe, founder of Ralph Kylloe Rustic Design in
Lake George, N.Y.
By 1740, the style
became more mainstream, thanks to English settlers who improved upon the
ax, says Kylloe, who authored The Rustic Home (Gibbs Smith
Publishers, 2006).
The refined tool,
dubbed the “American ax,” had a heavier form and a sharper blade, which
helped settlers build log cabins more easily from indigenous tree
species such as spruce, white pine, hemlock, cedar, and oak, Kylloe
says.
Since nails weren’t
readily available, early log homes had notched corners that allowed logs
to stack solidly atop one another. Gaps between the logs were filled
with twigs, stones, mud, and wet clay — a mixture known as chinking,
Kylloe says. These bare-boned structures typically lacked windows
because glass was scarce and easily broken.
Over time, the log
home was transformed into an America icon: Grade-school history books
often note that Abraham Lincoln was born in a log cabin in Kentucky.
Author Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote about growing up in a log cabin in her
popular Little House books. Legends about hulking lumberjack Paul
Bunyan further romanticized the log house. And children could even build
their own small-scale versions with Lincoln Logs, a toy introduced in
1916 by John Lloyd Wright, son of architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
Remaking the Log
House
Computers and
advanced construction techniques helped to further interest in log homes
in the 20th century. A host of manufacturers began to produce
designs on a large scale in the late 1970s and ’80s using computer-aided
design (CAD), says Jeremy Bertrand, executive director of the Log Homes
Council, a division of the National Association of Home Builders.
“When you stack
round logs, there can be gaps in between. But with computers, you can
take a log and mill it to almost the same dimensions as other ones, and
stack them with a tighter seal,” Bertrand says.
Bertrand’s group
represents 60 manufacturers, but he estimates that 400 to 500 companies
now produce a variety of log homes. The demand for this style isn’t
limited to America; more than 10,000 log homes are exported annually to
Japan, Kylloe says.
And today’s home
owners don’t have to give up modern-day comforts to live in a log home.
While some of these homes are tiny no-frills cabins, many newer models
are multi-room residences that are just as posh as any stick-built home.
Some people, like
Frank Groff, opt to rehab an older log home. Groff, who lives most of
the year in Southern California, transformed a small 1930s log house
along the Salmon River near Portland, Ore., house into an elegant
weekend retreat with rustic vibe. A skilled contractor matched missing
pine paneling, and designer David Michael handled the rest, he says.
Bill and Darla
Soles, like many log-home buyers, decided to start from scratch. They
conjured up a design for a 4,500-square-foot, Northern white cedar log
weekend house near a lake in western Maryland, and then took their
drawings to Katahdin Cedar Log Homes, a builder in Oakfield, Maine. The
couple intended for it to become their retirement home.
Log homes even have
come to the chic Hamptons in New York. The 7,000-square-foot weekend
house of Jill Rappaport, contributor to NBC’s Today show,
recently was featured in Architectural Digest magazine. The
magazine showed off the Western-themed styling of Rappaport’s 11-room,
seven-bathroom house, which overlooks her 18-acre horse farm.
Decisions,
Decisions, Decisions
With so many options
for log homes, buyers must be prepared to make lots of decisions —
especially when they plan to build.
-
Construction
method.
Architects and
builders can design a custom home in the traditional log
construction method, or they can construct a traditional stick-built
house and apply logs on the exterior and interior for an “authentic”
look, says Chris Seile, director of corporate sales at Kuhns Bros.
Log Homes Inc. in Lewisburg, Pa.
-
Building plan:
Custom or ready-made?
Most manufacturers have a collection of ready-made plans, which can
be adapted for custom designs or used as-is. Some manufacturers
preassemble parts of homes in a factory, where logs are predrilled
for electrical wiring and lettered and numbered to speed up on-site
construction. Other companies produce modular designs with the shell
totally completed at the factory. Plans also can be found at
log-home shows, in books, and on the Web. Simply type the term “log
home plans” into Google and you’ll see just how many vendors exist.
-
Shape of the
log.
For a flat inside wall surface, you can use logs with a “D” shape,
which are curved on the exterior but flat on the interior. For a
more traditional, rounded look on the interior, you can choose a log
shape that’s called the “Swedish cope” profile. There also are a
variety of ways that the logs can interlock at the corners of the
home. Some popular options are the “Scandinavian saddle notch” and
the “dovetail.”
-
Choice of woods.
Your
choice of wood affects the look of the home and its required
maintenance. Paul Puryear, a builder and founder of Roaring River
Log Homes in Hilham, Tenn., says he prefers Northern or Eastern
white pine because the grains tend to twist and warp less. General
contractor Christopher Hodshon, who built a log house on the DIY
Network’s documentary “Blog Cabin” with his twin brother Simon,
prefers cedar and hemlock because they’re decay resistant. He avoids
poplar because it’s soft.
-
Treating the
wood.
The wood you select should have its bark removed. It is then usually
air-dried or kiln-dried to remove moisture, and stained to protect
it from weather, sunlight, animals, and bugs. The wood also may need
to be treated to repel water, Seile says. Logs can be stained a
lighter color to achieve a brighter look inside the home, or can
also be covered with sheetrock for a smooth finish and painted.
-
Amenities.
As with any other style of home, the sky’s the limit when it comes
to what materials, furnishings, and amenities you can choose for
your log house. “Anything that goes into a conventional home can be
incorporated — smart-wiring, radiant-floor heating, wine cellars,”
Seile says.
-
Pricing.
Manufactured log homes generally run between $145 and $165 a square
foot to build, Seile says. Adds Puryear, “The wild card’s the cost
of the site.”
Quality Counts
With so many
aesthetic details to determine, buyers shouldn’t overlook the quality
factor, experts say. Log homes have special engineering and construction
needs; joints need to be put together precisely and vertical posts
should be placed to allow for some shrinking, says Hodshon, co-owner of
Clinch River Custom Builders Inc. in Knoxville, Tenn.
Because of that,
Bertrand, of the Log Homes Council, says that it’s essential for buyers
to work with a builder with experience in the log-home industry.
One of the council’s
top goals is to ensure quality, and one way to do that is by requiring
its members to use logs certified by a third-party grading program.
“Logs with too many large knots can affect the structural stability,”
Bertrand says.
Whether it’s a
rustic retreat reminiscent of America’s earliest cabins or a brand new
log-style McMansion with media room, chef’s kitchen, and spa-level
suite, buyers have an exhaustive list of choices that would have made
Abe Lincoln, Laura Ingalls, and other early inhabitants turn green with
envy.
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