Your own home-the stuff that dreams are made of!  Building a custom home is often a long-awaited dream.  For many, this dream includes a log home, but it's not always practical to build a log home from the ground up.  Fortunately, you don't need a log home to evoke the romance of log home living-you can incorporate log elements in a new or existing home, creating the same feeling for a fraction of the cost and effort.  The purpose of The Not So Log Cabin is to inspire you, the homeowner, to think outside the box and allow you to create a rustic spin on a new style of "log" home revised for modern-day lifestyles.  With so many material choices possible that are as varied as the people who live in them, log-element structures provide a limitless style of construction.  This new hybrid of architecture reflects the pioneering spirit of today's unique and adventurous builder.

Log columns, trusses, and railings can be configured into an endless number of design ideas, depending on the combination of client, design professional, builder, and log artisan.  In this home, final additions such as lights, furniture, and accessories are just as important as the home's general design, creating a fluid feel and continuity that capture this rustic glamour and lend a tailored contemporary spirit to the home.

Adding Log Elements To Your Home

A variety of log elements can be added to the interior and exterior of your home.  Some are most easily integrated while building a house, while others could be added to an existing home at any time.  Some of the most popular log elements added to homes include the following:

• Log Trusses
• Log Rafters
• Purlins (Horizontal beams that support a roof's system.)
• Floor Joists
• Log Railings
• Log Stairs

The sense of warmth and storybook charm are evident in this log-element structure.  This cozy setting is part of the Lake Placid Lodge, built in the late 1800's in a classic Adirondack style of log-element or whimsical twig art features of construction.

Earthy materials such as stone, tile, wood floors, and log elements like those in the free-form log stairs, log-column supports and overhead log girders all add to this home's rustic elegance.

The mix of country French furnishings, hickory chairs, a forest green island, and reclaimed wood floors gives this home a cottage charm with a fusion of high styles.

This outdoor living area is a tranquil space with distinctive style.  The angled fireplace and sharp-edged corners combine to create a contrast between the home and nature.

All of these are excerpts from the book "The Not So Log Cabin" by Robbin Obomsawin.  It is available for purchase through Gibbs Smith, Publisher.  1-800-748-5439 or www.gibbs-smith.com