When Canadian couple Paul and Patty Marshall accepted an invitation to spend a weekend getaway at a friend’s log cabin in western British Columbia, they expected a few days of rest and relaxation. What they didn’t anticipate was that their mini vacation would be the start of their own log home story.
“Over that weekend, we got to know the area and the lake and thought, ‘What a great place for a holiday retreat away from the city,” Paul says.
For the next couple of years, the Marshalls dreamed of the home where they would enjoy weekends with family and friends and amassed an impressive stockpile of photo-filled binders in the process. “We spent a lot of time cutting pictures we liked from magazines and looking at showrooms for ideas,” he says.
Their research and “lots of conversation” led the couple to a level, waterfront plot just three hours from their full-time residence and, soon after, a log-and-timber-frame home. “We liked the look of a log home, but we also wanted it to live more like a traditional house,” explains Paul.
The Marshalls relied on PrecisionCraft Log & Timber Homes to provide architectural plans and the log and timber package. “The homeowners were looking for a style that blended a rustic cabin-like feel with contemporary features,” notes Stephanie Johnson, PrecisionCraft’s marketing manager. On the exterior, cedar log walls and vertical ash siding combine with stone and exposed log purlins with beaver-tooth ends. “On the inside, the couple chose to add drywall over the flat-interior D-shaped log walls and let the wood focus be on the roof elements and posts,” Stephanie says.
Beyond the nuts and bolts of building, the Marshalls had a vision for their 4,000-square-foot home that drove the design. “We wanted it to be a social place,” Paul says. In addition to four bedrooms, each of the home’s three levels offers common gathering areas, including a bar and theater in the lower level and a game room in the upstairs loft.
On the main floor, the open plan is perfect for the steady stream of friends and family that frequent the home. Combined into one great room, the kitchen, dining and living spaces invite visitors to make a connection with each other and the outdoors. A towering wall of windows floods the space with light and serves as an ever-changing gallery of nature’s best artwork and local activity.
“One of our goals in building the home was to get closer to nature and get outside more,” Paul says. “It’s a warm-water lake, so there’s lots of kayaking, tubing and water skiing in the summer and ice skating and ice fishing in the winter.”
With the lake (and accompanying water toys) at their fingertips, multiple gathering areas for conversation, movies or games and a hot tub and water-side fire pit, the Marshalls and their guests can stay as busy or as rested as they’d like.
It’s that option to join in the flurry of area activity or sit back and relax that make the couple truly appreciate all the aspects of their home away from home. Every day is different, and every day is an adventure. “We start with a cup of coffee,” Paul says, “and let the day evolve from there.”
Home Details
Square Footage: 4,000
Bedrooms: 4
Bathrooms: 3 full
Log Home Provider: PrecisionCraft Log & Timber Homes
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