A Pennsylvania Log Home with Old-Fashioned Charm

This Pennsylvania log home combines the best of present-day amenities with old-fashioned craftsmanship and charm.

Written by Log Home Living Editors

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This quaint log cabin boasts a number of special touches that make it truly special. The board-and-batten on the gables and garage roof dormer, varying shades of stain on the exterior railing and porch roof and gray chinking, rather than the more traditional white, lend visual interest and ample country curb appeal.

Nestled in the rolling hills of western Pennsylvania, due north of Pittsburgh, there was a pastoral 2-acre site perched atop a ravine that was just crying out for a classic log home. Nearby, in Ohio Amish country, a log home provider — Hochstetler Milling — was more than happy to accommodate this plea.

After attending Hochstetler’s annual “Log Cabin Days” event and sketching out a preliminary plan, the owners were ready to set to work. Their vision was to make the home a place where the entire family — parents, grandparents and children — could enjoy a peaceful, laid-back lifestyle together. The couple quickly realized that their sketch closely resembled one of Hochstetler’s stock floor plans, The McKay.

The McKay featured the popular open-concept great room design the couple was looking for, but they modified the plan to include an enlarged master bedroom with en-suite bath. The laundry room was strategically relocated near the master suite and connects the main house to the garage via a breezeway.

The team broke ground in September 2015. Once the Superior Wall foundation was put into place and the log package was delivered, construction on the log walls could begin in earnest.

The beveled square-log profile is cut from 6-by-12-inch eastern white pine timbers, which were then finished in “Gentry Grey” stain with “Medium Grey” chinking, both by Perma-Chink Systems. Inside, the logs are stained with a custom color by Sikkens. The couple worked side-by-side with their builder, Owen Miller of Raymar Log Homes, employing much of their own elbow grease to accomplish their goal in short order. They moved into their dream log home in April 2016.

The rooms are filled to the brim with treasured heirlooms, right down to a vintage ice box, a wooden butter churn — even the owner’s childhood tricycle, whose rust and years of wear only add to its appeal. The combination of cozy log walls and meaningful decor give this thoroughly modern log home the personalized, old-fashioned charm its family sought.