7 More-Than-Great Log Home Great Rooms

1. Gathering Place:

Log homes aren’t just about the logs. There’s also how they’re featured in the home’s design. The owners of this three-story home in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley blended D-shape white pine logs with elegant timber elements to create a second home where their whole family could gather for annual celebrations and vacations.

2. Dream Fullfilled:

Architects take pride in seeing their creations turned into actual buildings, even more so when it’s their own home. Such was the case with this custom home, located in New York’s Catskill Mountains. The owner realized the property called for a log home.

3. Lakeside Dream:

Building on a lake in southwest Michigan fulfilled a lifelong dream for the owners of this log home. For their design, the couple wanted a home that blended with the nature of the surrounding woods and the lake, a place, they said, “built with the hill as opposed to on the hill.”

4. The Maine Event:

Some people consider owning a log home a lifetime achievement. Doug and Mimi O’Neill regard log homes as a way of life.

5. Shelter From the Norm:

Contractors Jim and Mary Darcy had built homes with log accents before but never one of full log. Then they bought 1.7 acres in a subdivision of Steamboat Springs, Colorado. The three-story classic log home is built in an L-shape. On the main level, one leg of the L is devoted to the open great room, dining and a large, open kitchen that the Darcys say is ideal for entertaining.

6. A Welcoming Home:

Years of living in Europe persuaded these homeowners to move to a rural area when they returned to the United States. They were invited to visit the Yellowstone Club, near Big Sky, Montana, and found this northern Rocky Mountain area similar to the ski areas in Europe with which they were familiar.

7. True Bliss:

One visit was all Chuck and Mary Bliss needed to realize Leatherwood Mountains was the perfect community to build a second home. Situated near Boone, Blowing Rock and Wilkesboro, North Carolina, the gated resort spans just under 4,000 acres and offers abundant recreation.