Innholdsfortegnelse for April/May 2024 i Log and Timber Home Living

More than five years ago, when I first joined the team here at Log & Timber Home Living, part of the agreement was that I’d relocate to our Boulder, Colorado, office. Years into the job, I’d learn that my team had actually felt a little guilty asking me to move more than 1,000 miles from my hometown. I assured them there was no need — one look at the snowcapped skyline that’s the muse for so many songs, poems and works of art, and I considered the location to be a job perk. Today, it only feels natural to write this welcome letter for our Great Outdoors issue with those same views of the Rocky Mountains in the distance. As I hike and ski my way across the state, I catch…

In my vegetable garden, succession planting is the secret to a nonstop harvest. It allows me to maximize productivity in my raised beds and harvest year-round, even though I live in a cold climate. In addition to the extended harvest that I enjoy, there are so many other benefits to succession planting: It allows you to grow more food in a small space, and it reduces weeding and watering. Bare soil is an open invitation to weeds, so replacing spent vegetables with new crops keeps the soil covered, therefore reducing weed growth and conserving moisture. Succession planting is a technique that works for every size space and type of garden. Even patio gardeners who grow vegetables in containers can practice it by seeding new pots every few weeks. Succession planting…

1. This 24-by-28-foot, three-season outdoor sanctuary with a living room, full kitchen and swim-up bar was designed so everyone could interact at once, whether they were lounging by the fire, making a pizza in the dual-fuel oven or taking a dip in the pool. 2. Tongue-and-groove planks line the ceiling, which is supported by Douglas fir posts and beams. The powder-coated-steel strapping that connects the posts to the columns is both functional and decorative. 3. For a native touch, the fireplace and walls are clad in a mixture of Brandywine, Freeport and West Mountain rock cut into thin veneers. All the stone was quarried locally from Brandywine Quarry in Lancaster. 4. As with all the counters, the swimup bartop is granite in a shade called “Blue Dunes.” The bar received…

At OakBridge Timber Framing in Loudonville, Ohio, business is a family affair. Three generations of owner Johnny Miller’s family currently contribute to the operations, and the fourth, Johnny reports, simply can’t wait to be old enough to join. Like many growing families, Oak-Bridge found themselves running out room after nearly 40 years in business and 27 in their most recent location. It was time for a fresh space. “We were either going to have to do some drastic changes on the [current] farm to get enough space or find an updated space where we could all work together. In the past, we’ve always had our woodshop and offices apart. This was an opportunity to bring the two together and become even more efficient,” explains Johnny. Luckily, this family knows a…

Successful off-grid living is all about two things: boosting energy-awareness and reducing consumption. “When you are building off-grid, energy efficiency becomes the most critical consideration,” affirms architect Kyle Barber. Of course maintaining comfort is key, too. Whether your motivation for cutting ties is to be kinder to the environment or to lower your monthly energy bill (or maybe a little of both), here are some essential “musts” for building an off-grid log or timber home. DO THIS: Design It Right As with all other aspects of off-grid living, efficiency is the name of the game when it comes to a home’s design and layout. “Keep it simple,” is the building philosophy that should drive an off-grid home’s design, says Kyle. He recommends an uncomplicated rectangular shape with simple rooflines and…

NEED A LITTLE EXTRA SPACE? Be inspired by the ways to design an accessory dwelling unit on page 24, then head to loghome.com/adu-history to learn about the multicultural and multigenerational origins of these structures. ARTIFICIAL FENCES don’t have to conflict with your landscaping. Visit timberhomeliving.com/living-fences to see how a living fence of trees and shrubs can enhance privacy while maintaining a natural look. SPRING’S HERE, and for many that means it’s time to start opening up the cabin! If you have a cabin that you close up for long periods, check out our guide at cabinlife.com/cabin-check to learn how often you should check in on it throughout the year. Connect with us on social media and sign up for our newsletters! @logandtimberhomeliving Subscribe to Log & Timber Home Living’s YouTube…

PLANT ONE CROP AFTER ANOTHER. This is the most common technique for succession planting, and it’s also very easy to do. As one crop matures and is harvested, it’s followed by another planting. Depending on your growing season and the types of vegetables you choose to grow, you can likely enjoy two to four harvests from a single garden space during the main growing season. PLANT THE SAME TYPE OF CROP, BUT VARIETIES THAT MATURE AT DIFFERENT TIMES. You may have noticed that varieties of vegetables mature at different times. There are early, mid-season and late-maturing varieties of tomatoes, potatoes, cabbage, broccoli and peas. By choosing to plant two or more varieties with different maturity dates, you’ll have a long harvest season without the need for a second planting. Planted:…

Granny flat. Casita. She shed. Carriage house. In-law suite. There are as many names for accessory dwelling units (ADUs) as there are uses, from work-from-home offices to backyard yoga studios to a place to host overnight guests and big events alike. These little spaces can even be rented out for extra income. So how do you begin to define something that shape-shifts so seamlessly? Let’s start with the basics. An ADU is a compact residential unit on the same property as a larger, single-family residence. These structures can be attached or detached to the primary residence and often include a kitchen, living room, bedroom and bathroom. (But they certainly don’t have to.) Square footage is where it can get tricky. Broadly, they often fall between 600 and 1,200 square feet,…

WHEN YOU OWN A LOG OR TIMBER HOME (or dream of owning one), it’s often because of the one-of-a-kind wood features. Their rustic charm is unique, but just like any home, they require maintenance. That being said, a simple routine can keep your home in tip-top shape through the years. Here are a few easy strategies to get you started. Include roof overhangs. During the planning process, be sure to account for roof overhangs that are at least 3 feet deep. These will protect your exterior walls from moisture and sun exposure. Consider the humidity levels. While the exterior needs to remain as dry as possible, the interior wood of your home should maintain the right level of humidity for your region. A humidifier in the HVAC system can keep…

Comfort is king — that was the unspoken rule that drove Will Hinkston and Diane Parrish as they were building their lakeside home as a retreat to share with family and friends. “We wanted it to be the kind of place where if you spill a drink, so what? You won’t find any white carpet dining rooms,” laughs Will. Their desire for casual, cozy spaces also led them to choose logs for their weekend home, which offers easy, walkout access to Lake Gaston on the North Carolina-Virginia border. “We wanted it to feel warm and homey, and since both of us have always liked log homes, it was a natural choice,” shares Diane. Their plan selection turned out to be an easy decision, too. After choosing Appalachian Log Structures —…

Perched on a hillside in Pine, Arizona, interior designer and real estate agent James Judge’s “Ridge Trail Ranch” is a 1,864-square-foot study in the power of potential. Here’s how he took his cozy cabin from practically condemned to completely charming. James: This was a pandemic project. I was going through emails, bored out of my mind, and I thought I should clean up my junk email because when else am I ever going to take the time to do that? There’s this email that says, “Beautiful Rim Views!” (in Arizona we call the mountains the “rim,” FYI), and I was interested. Sure enough, the views really were great. I sent it to my husband, and he sent me back a screenshot from the listing, which looked like bloody handprints on…

You can grow a lot of food in a single 4-by-8-foot raised bed. This planting plan that shows the parade of vegetables planted from midspring to late summer with the harvest for most lasting until frost. The carrots, lettuce and parsley are cool-weather tolerant and can be harvested about a month past the first frost, longer if protected with a mini hoop tunnel. Learn more about the plants (and the days to harvest from transplanting) in the lists here. A ‘Sugar Snap’ peas [Pisum sativum] Sweet, crisp pods that are produced in abundance in early summer. Trellising is necessary as the plants grow about 6 feet tall. (58 days) B ‘Yaya’ carrots [Daucus carota sativus] An early maturing carrot ideal for spring, summer and autumn harvesting. The roots grow about 6 inches long…

When homeowners run down their dream-home wish lists, big, beautiful windows almost always hover near the top. For log and timber homes, which often are built in the most scenic locales imaginable, it only makes sense. If you can enjoy your property’s views while washing the dishes, why not? This isn’t unique to log or timber homes though; the American Society of Interior Designers’ 2024 Trends Report specifically highlights the use of large window walls in kitchens to connect visually with the outdoors as well as retractable window panels in living rooms to quite literally connect indoor spaces to the outside. But windows are about more than just views — they’re also a chance to double-down on the energy efficiency of your home. According to Houzz’s 2024 Kitchen Trends Study,…

Aged hardwood timbers are the backbone of the home’s design. “The structural timbers are 12-by-12, which have the capability of carrying our tremendous snow loads,” says builder Steve Pike. The combination of traditional framing with closed-cell urethane foam insulation and structural timbers allows the home to meet the region’s stringent Zone 7 building requirements. The beams are all hand-hewn with hand-scribed joinery, giving them authenticity and character. Mary Blake knows it’s been a good weekend when she finds herself, vacuum in hand, ready to tackle the mounds of sand that have accumulated in her guest bathrooms. “I never thought I’d vacuum a shower, but the sand gets all over the place and once it dries, it’s the easiest way to do it,” she says, laughing. The culprit: seven grandkids and…

Maryland natives Nancy and Scott Graeves already owned a large log lake home in the charming mountain town of Oakland when they found their dream two-acre lot on the other end of Deep Creek Lake. From their home base in Brookville, Maryland, two-and-a-half hours away, the couple loved escaping to the state’s largest lake, where friends and family often joined them. So, despite the fact that they loved their log home, the Graeves simply couldn’t pass up the lovely lakefront lot upon which they could build what they really wanted. “We’re in the mountains,” Scott explains, “so to find a flat lakefront — a cove lot — we were very lucky.” So began their process of designing their dream vacation home. At first, Scott and Nancy commissioned local designer Doug…