Blending into the landscape
A home should compliment and blend in with the landscape… something this stone home certainly does well.
Originally posted 2016-02-16 20:12:54.
Stone Piers
Notice the stone piers under the house and porch… a stone laid flat upon a stone, one after another. Refinement was not the goal when building stone piers… getting it done was.
Craftsmanship was saved for chimneys, and continuous foundations.
It’s so tempting today, with modern cement to build these piers “too pretty” on an old cabin. It’s ok to give in some… but be careful not go down that road of looking cookie cutter.
Also, never go with an odd number of piers across the front of home… for some reason building three piers announce to the world “I was too cheap to put in four, and besides, three is enough to keep it from falling down”
Originally posted 2016-02-12 18:01:06.
Hidden logs
Notice the still remaining painted corner-board. This greyed and weathered cabin was covered in siding as so many old cabins were at the time. When nearly everyone lived in a log home having a wood sided home was highly desirable.
Many of the old farmhouses that we see today have logs hidden within.
Originally posted 2016-02-12 17:33:45.
A fine stone farmhouse
Originally posted 2016-02-12 17:22:34.
Patios
Ah yes, patios.
The nearly forgotten older sister to decks.
Located at yard height they don’t require view-blocking railings.
And since they are made of masonry, they need no maintenance, and, they last… forever.
Originally posted 2016-02-12 17:15:55.
Don’t make excuses, make plans
What’s the secret sauce?
Why is it that some people get their dream home while so few do?
I’ve built many handmade houses during my career and almost none of these clients came into a pile of money and then contemplated “maybe we should build our dream home?”.
Nope, it worked the other way around… these folks decided to go for it, they developed a clear vision of what they wanted, and then took it one step at a time.
Rather than making excuses, they made plans. They all discovered that the resources somehow fell into place as they moved forward.
Originally posted 2016-02-10 15:21:14.
Living the dream
When we build a handmade home for ourselves we are not only “leaving a legacy” behind. We are also “living a legacy”… now. Be that person.
Originally posted 2016-02-10 15:06:53.
We do have a choice
We either struggle for a year or two while building our dream home.
Or we struggle for a lifetime with the regret of never having done it.
Originally posted 2016-02-10 14:31:20.
Porches vs Decks on a log cabin
Which do you think looks better on a log cabin… a deck, or a porch?
Please say “porch”.
If you respond “deck”… continue looking at these photos until it becomes obvious that a deck does not look appropriate on the front of an old log cabin.
Decks are modern inventions. I enjoy a deck as much as anyone else does, but there are appropriate considerations in building and designing one…. and on what kind of structures that they are attached to.
I have seen one or two decks work off of the end of a cabin… but for the most part if you want a flat exterior space outside of a log cabin… with no roof over your head.. think “patio”.
Originally posted 2016-02-10 14:14:50.
Heart pine logs
Here we have the corner of an old hewn heart-pine log cabin.
Notice how it’s not “perfect”.
Rather, it has character.
It’s… handmade.
Each log is unique.
And, the spacing between each log varies from one course to the next.
The dovetail notches in the corners are also unique… made by hand, one-at-a-time.
Isn’t it something that handmade creation becomes a treasured antique as the years pass by.
While a manufactured item, on the other hand, just gets old.
Originally posted 2016-02-09 17:48:34.