The Log Home Floor Plan Blog

Michael and Denise came to us with a very unique request. They wanted to design a Craftsman style home around their already existing swimming pool. Why build a home around a swimming pool? A great question and one that we had to ask as well!

Recently, Michael and Denise purchased a home built in the late 1980s but it wasn’t the home itself that had them sold. The layout of the home they purchased featured a formal entry, separated living areas, and smaller bedrooms with wardrobe closets. A design and layout very typical of the 1980s but not so appreciated by Michael and Denise who were looking for a more contemporary home. But, the home was nestled in a heavily wood area in Granite Falls, WA, complete with distant views of the beautiful Cascade Mountains and a pool with a one-of-a-kind story.

The most outstanding feature of this 1980s home is the kidney-shaped pool located in the daylight basement. This pool took quite a bit of planning and hard work to get it positioned perfectly. Huge granite boulders buried deep in the landscape that Michael and Denise love so much were carved out to make room for a pool. Their existing 1980s home is to be torn down (while saving the pool) and replaced with a Craftsman style, timber frame home complete with a contemporary flair. The layout of their new home will feature a more informal and open design incorporating new spaces and features such as offices, a workout room, a steam room, a caretaker’s apartment over the garage, and an elevator.

Well, it sounds like a great project; a fun challenge. One that the team at Mountain Architects and PrecisionCraft is eager to take on! Be sure to check back with us periodically as we plan to follow this project all the way through.

As an architectural firm that specializes in the design of log homes, we see many different projects with an array of build site conditions and design specifications. But, this log home design story is unique. It is a story of a challenging build site and a client’s rather unique design request.
 
When we first met with this Florida client, we learned that he was looking to build a handcrafted log home in Breckenridge, CO. Great! Sounds rather straightforward, right? This client currently resides in a very nice French Country style home in the beautiful Sunshine State – a flatlander’s paradise. Completely in love with the home he has lived in for years, this Florida client tells us that he wants his home – the floor plan exactly as is – to sit on his steep build site in Breckenridge, CO.
 
Now, when I say steep, I am not using the word lightly. My colleague and I flew into Colorado for a site visit to meet our client’s builder at a restaurant that sits only 7 blocks from where we were staying — what we thought would be an easy walk. After a steep climb, and a few fast beating hearts, we found ourselves at the restaurant and unable to talk as we were so out of breath. We then realized we were in a town that was 7,000 feet higher than home.  But what a terrific view on the customer’s property! As we gained our breaths and looked around, we began to understand our client’s desire to build his log home on that very spot in Breckenridge, CO. 
 
It is while we stood there taking in the view that we truly realized the scope of the task ahead of us. Not only were we faced with a challenging build site, but we also had to find a way to squeeze a handcrafted log version of our client’s Florida home on the steep ground we were standing on and stay under the height limit imposed by the CC&R’s. 
 
As if the challenging build site and unique floor plan layout were not enough, a quick review of the development’s CC&Rs revealed that we were faced with a few more challenges. From ridge lengths to wall heights, the list of design dos and don’ts began to grow. And, to top it all off, our client has the great pleasure of building his log home next to two members of the development’s design review board; two members interested in watching his every move.
 
In the log home design business, you learn to embrace and even welcome every challenge. From the steep build site to the development’s strict guidelines, we will make this log home dream a reality for our Florida client. As for the design review board members…all we can say is, “Go ahead. Keep watching our every move. We are well on our way to making it happen!”

See 65+ log home plans at PrecisionCraft’s Floor Plan Gallery.

You could feel the energy in last week’s log home design meeting escalate at the mention of Frank Lloyd Wright. Our client, infatuated with the crisp clean architecture found in Frank Lloyd Wright’s designs, challenged us to mix in elements of his favorite architecture with our square log walls.

As the design meeting kicked off, the team found itself working with a list of spaces and dimensions rather than a sketch of the home. From this list of spaces and dimensions, we began to assign relationships and ended up with a bubble diagram to give the client a feel for the general shape of his log home floor plan. Eureka, we were on the right track. Now, we just had to refine these relationships and put a scale to it all. The result is remarkable; a contemporary modern layout which emulates Wright’s genius for this type of design.

This unique log home will be built in Steamboat Springs, CO. A place where Frank Lloyd Wright will meet the Rockies. A log home with horizontal lines and low pitched, hipped roofs is the perfect contrast to the tall peaks of the Rockies.

The envy set in as we all began to imagine sitting in the glass walled space inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright, looking out over the terrace to a high mountain meadow and lake with the Rocky Mountains as the backdrop. Yes, we are on the right track; on our way to creating a simply amazing log home design. Every log home design meeting is different. Learn more about Mountain Architects and their exclusive log home designs.

Mountain Architects are the industry’s finest log home architects.

A prospective client’s love for the great outdoors inspired the creation of this log home floor plan design, The Alderbrook.

With the natural environment at the heart of the Alderbrook log home plan, enjoying the outdoors just got easier. A screened-in porch complete with a fireplace is perfect for warming up the chilly evenings. The Indian summer days are best enjoyed on the open deck or over breakfast on the dining porch.

This unique design concept initiated out of Log Home Living’s new feature You Dream, We Design. Log Home Living asked Mountain Architects to design a log home plan based on a prospective client’s needs and desires. The results, published online, were astonishing! After hearing many great comments regarding the design’s focus on the outdoors, PrecisionCraft decided to make the design September’s “Log Home Design of the Month.”

Every new floor plan created by the team at PrecisionCraft and Mountain Architects is professionally rendered to help clients think about the look and feel they want in their log home. As rendered, the Alderbrook shows how a combination of materials – log, timber, glass, & stone – can work together to create a one-of-a-kind log home. Clients looking for classic log homes or a full timber frame homes can work with their Mountain Architects designer to customize the Alderbrook to match their own architectural style preference.

As drawn, the estimated turnkey cost of the Alderbrook is $530,000. This estimate reflects PrecisionCraft’s past log home building experiences and average construction costs generated by 3rd party, national data (RS Means Data). Mountain Architects works to refine this turnkey cost estimate, which may be more or less taking into consideration a client’s specific build location, build site conditions, and design modifications. Learn more about this log home turnkey cost estimating service provided to PrecisionCraft’s clients.

It was a typical design meeting where a client had selected one of PrecisionCraft’s standard log home plans as a starting point for the design of his own log home.

As with every design meeting, this one took a unique turn with the discussion of the client’s vision for his Master Bedroom. Looking for a connection to the outdoors, the client began to tell a story…a story that illustrates a theme that we, as log home designers, hear all of the time. It begins with a love for the outdoors and the need to have a home that “takes in” the outdoors.

This client shared his story of a friend that “put his bed on rails.” What in the world did the client mean by this? Well, after some explanation, we discovered that their friend decided to have rails installed – rails that connected his bedroom to the deck outside. With a love for the outdoors, this rail system allowed their friend to simply push his bed outside and sleep under the stars. An interesting way to stay connected with the outdoors, don’t you think?

The “rail system” is an unusual solution and may not appeal to most people. However, it does make you think about the importance of designing a log home that works with the outdoors.

After some brainstorming, an old fashioned sleeping porch off the master suite might just do the trick. It could be a screened-in porch or something more like a Sunroom. A gazebo might also be an idea…maybe a porch of some sort with skylights or an open gable. Once you let your imagination wander, the possibilities begin to come to light. This client will have the log home he has envisioned for so long — a log home that flows effortlessly to the outdoors!

Take a look at some of PrecisionCraft’s standard log home plans and let your own imagination wander.