Designing and Building Your Own Home Archives - Page 24 of 28

29 06, 2019

One step at a time

Noah Bradley2019-06-29T10:26:28+00:00

Building a log cabin, one section at a time, makes a lot of sense, and it produces a very attractive home. The simple break in this roof line adds so much to the appearance of this home.

Originally posted 2016-01-02 13:18:20.

One step at a timeNoah Bradley2019-06-29T10:26:28+00:00

29 06, 2019

Flooring… character vs perfection

Noah Bradley2019-06-29T10:26:25+00:00

What do you think of this stone floor?
Certainly it’s very attractive.
But would it be too “textured” for your daily use?

I once encountered a woman who told me her tale of woe, how she was living in her new home and that a gap had appeared between two of her floorboards (about an eighth of inch). She told me of her frustration that her builder had not come back to repair or replace the flooring in that room because of this issue. She was pondering suing the builder and asked my opinion. My only response for her was to be thankful that only one board had such a small gap in her house, that her house contained thousand of pieces of wood whose behavior was beyond the control of the man who installed them.

It’s issues like this why so many good builders close their doors.

Originally posted 2016-01-01 17:12:07.

Flooring… character vs perfectionNoah Bradley2019-06-29T10:26:25+00:00

29 06, 2019

The purpose of kitchen cabinets

Noah Bradley2019-06-29T10:26:19+00:00

Too cluttered?

Or, just right?

Originally posted 2015-12-30 13:58:27.

The purpose of kitchen cabinetsNoah Bradley2019-06-29T10:26:19+00:00

29 06, 2019

A single log wall

Noah Bradley2019-06-29T10:26:09+00:00

Just having one log wall in a bathroom can change it’s whole character.

Originally posted 2015-12-26 13:08:44.

A single log wallNoah Bradley2019-06-29T10:26:09+00:00

29 06, 2019

She is not symmetrical

Noah Bradley2019-06-29T10:26:06+00:00

Notice how the center door and window are skewed to one side of the center of this cabin… and ponder, if you will, the affect that this change has given to this log home.

I imagine the reason the builder did this was to be able to create two equal size rooms within the cabin. He ignored the urge within most of us to make the home symmetrical, which tends to make a home “formal” looking and instead created… “charming”.

Originally posted 2015-12-21 16:09:07.

She is not symmetricalNoah Bradley2019-06-29T10:26:06+00:00

29 06, 2019

You are not the only one who wants a handmade home

Noah Bradley2019-06-29T10:26:00+00:00

One year ago I began posting here and on Facebook… the handmade house community has now passed the 50,000 mark in that short time! (this photo is what 50,000 people look like… it’s huge!)

It turns out that we are not alone… we are not just five or six people that are considered odd by the rest of the world. But rather many who want a special place to call home.

Originally posted 2015-12-19 14:45:51.

You are not the only one who wants a handmade homeNoah Bradley2019-06-29T10:26:00+00:00

29 06, 2019

Inquiries like this keep flowing in faster and faster

Noah Bradley2019-06-29T10:25:58+00:00

Here’s a cabin that I built years ago.

And below, is one of two messages that I received just this morning, both of which asked similar questions. (I’ve edited it a bit for privacy sake, but I thought everyone might benefit from my response)…

Dear sir, I am in Central xxxxxxx. After doing some research I have not been able to find any builders of the style cabins you are recommending. Most, if not all of the ones I have found here are building kit homes. I am seriously interested in the style cabin that you advocate. Are there any source materials you would recommend to help me in that direction? Do you know of any builders in my area you would recommend? Lastly, I would be interested in possibly purchasing one of your floor-plans. If I have missed obvious answers to these questions on the website, then forgive me. I thank you in advance for any of your time and correspondence back that I receive.

Handmade Houses with Noah Bradley

Dec 17th, 2:37pm

Thank you for getting in touch. Congratulations on making the decision to move forward on building an authentic log cabin. You are going to love your new/old log home!

I’m afraid that I don’t know of any builders in your area that I can recommend… in fact I’m sorry to say that I don’t know of any other builders anywhere that I can recommend… It’s not that there aren’t any… I’ve seen cabins built by others that I felt were done well and that were attractive… but, I have no names to go with the finished homes. I’ve searched online for handcraft builders… in fact my main focus a year ago when I started posting online was to put together a community of builders who created handmade houses, but is seems that they are either all gone, or are keeping themselves well hidden.

Be aware that you are not alone in your situation. I get several similar emails per week from all over the country. The membership list is steadily growing on my website and here on Facebook the community has grown to 50,000 in only a year’s time. Clearly there is hunger by many to have special handcrafted place of their own.

So, here are my recommendations for you that I feel will help you achieve the cabin of your dreams… Continue following along here on Facebook and consider visiting my website handmadehouses and go through as many postings that I’ve made there as you can (over a 1,000 to sort through)

On that site you will learn a little something with each photo commentary while you begin the process of narrowing down exactly what you want in your own cabin. Make sure and sign up at handmadehouses.com in order to get any updates that I might send out. I’m not a spammy kind of guy, so no worries about getting a bunch of junk in your email box.

I am in the process of scanning my favorite dozen or so sets of plans that I have drawn and built over my career, and will be offering them for sale at a very reasonable price in the near future. All were hand drawn by me, were approved for permitting, and have been built, lived-in and cherished. Your particular building department might like more details on these plans, and if so, that should be easy and inexpensive for you or a local architect to amend.

I would also encourage you to consider being your own builder. It’s easier than you think, you will save a good bit of money (how much depends upon the amount of hands-on work that you do), and to top it off, you’ll have a great time doing it. I built my first two houses in my early 20’s with no experience and I did a great job. After completing those projects I decided to make building handmade homes my career. I’ve now spent several decades perfecting the craft and have kept what I learned as a trade secret. But I’ve now reached that point that it’s time to share what I know and I’ve been doing a lot of just that here on Facebook and on my website.

I’m also finishing up an online course that will encourage and guide attendees step-by-step through the process of building a truly handcrafted home. The course is called the Handmade House Academy and it will start sometime in January… you really ought to sign on when it becomes available (more details to be released soon)

And finally, once you get your land, you figure out exactly what you want to build, you’ve taken the Handmade House Academy course, and have taken care of starting the process of building (permitting, foundation work, a floor system in place) I’d be happy to help you find a great old cabin and a crew to set the logs in place… from there it’s just one step at a time… carpentry, roofing, plumbing… etc

If you’d like to know more don’t hesitate to shoot me an email at noah@handmadehouses.com

Originally posted 2015-12-17 19:52:38.

Inquiries like this keep flowing in faster and fasterNoah Bradley2019-06-29T10:25:58+00:00

29 06, 2019

Small and tall

Noah Bradley2019-06-29T10:25:51+00:00

Small and Tall.

“Nine over Nine” windows… each nearly as large as the front door.

This little house appears to have ten foot ceilings, a steep pitched roof, and a proud chimney.

Sweet huh?

Originally posted 2015-12-14 18:31:49.

Small and tallNoah Bradley2019-06-29T10:25:51+00:00

29 06, 2019

Do you have a favorite window?

Noah Bradley2019-06-29T10:25:48+00:00

Imagine if you were challenged to come up with the best window that you could imagine… what would it be like?

And then, when the comes time to build your next home… make sure that dream comes true!

Originally posted 2015-12-13 22:38:38.

Do you have a favorite window?Noah Bradley2019-06-29T10:25:48+00:00

29 06, 2019

A log and stone home

Noah Bradley2019-06-29T10:25:47+00:00

Log and stone.

What a great home!

If I may be so bold as to suggest a “if I had built this” comment…

I just can’t help myself…

It’s the way I am… lol…

It’s challenging to find a more attractive house than the ones that feature the combination of log and stone.

I would have made one little adjustment on this home that I feel would have made it much more appealing… I would have built the stone addition a different size than the log section, rather than having it as a continuation of the existing log structure.

Here I would have made the stone section one-and-a-half story tall and I would have recessed it a foot or two back from the front of the log section. This subtle change would have made each section “pop” and celebrated each section’s uniqueness.

And, of course, (while I’m making changes), I’d have added a welcoming porch across the front of the cabin.

Originally posted 2015-12-13 17:57:58.

A log and stone homeNoah Bradley2019-06-29T10:25:47+00:00