Step 1 - The Site and Design Process.
William Burr
Through the years, most of us have collected enough photographs and magazine articles of our ideal home to fill a box full to overflowing. Now, when we reach the stage in life where realizing our dream is possible, we're no longer satisfied with a simple chalet in the mountains or a cottage by the shore. The time has come to build a home of unparalleled elegance in the perfect spot. Join us as we follow this ideal hideaway through the design and building process step by step.
The Concept
In the story that follows, it is important to understand that the owners are a couple who love to entertain. The house they build will serve as a home away from home for friends and family. Think of a privately-owned bed and breakfast where each guest has a suite with a fireplace, a breakfast bar and a deck overlooking an extraordinary view. Dinners and social events will be communal affairs, but whenever the owners or guests want privacy, their individual suites will beckon. With this basic concept in mind, the owners began their search for the right location.
Site Selection
Custom home builders are of two minds. Some believe that one should first choose a site and then adapt the home to the topography, while others vote for designing the home first and then finding the land that will accommodate it.
In this case, the owners had a good idea of what kind of house they wanted to build and merely had to find the right piece of property. After buying and building homes in a variety of locales, they decided to build in the mountains of North Carolina, a place both of them had been eyeing for years.
After a drive through the rolling green hills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, they were convinced that this was the ideal location: A southern state with mountains high enough to provide a respite from the hot days and nights of summer, and with the possibility of snow in winter.
Fortunately, North Carolina's mountains offer an ample variety of homesites at reasonable prices. After spending a number of weekends searching, our two prospective buyers found an area ideally situated between the quaint towns of Lake Lure and Black Mountain, two villages chock-full of galleries, craft shops, boutiques and restaurants. Just eight miles off Interstate 40 and 18 miles east of Asheville, the area was surprisingly convenient to dining, shopping, and all types of cultural events.
The local, independent Heritage Log Homes representative, Eric Gibson, suggested a number of sites. Eventually, they narrowed their choice down to an area where strict conservation rules and building regulations set the tone for elegant homes.
Realizing that the large house they wanted should not overpower the size of the homesite, they chose a good sized parcel of four acres. It has a 3,100 foot elevation with a sloping grade and a picture postcard, long range view out over the neighboring mountains including Mt. Mitchell which towers above 4,000 feet to the north. With trees and brush still covering the building site, they visualized the location of the house to capture the best views and use the land effectively.
Coincidently, on one of their drives while looking for a site location, they saw an elegant log home and phoned Gibson. They later learned that custom design to meet their needs was possible with a log home and would be perfect for their mountain setting.
Design Process
Once the couple decided that they wanted a custom-built log home, they began an Internet search for existing log homes and the manufacturers who had created them. They soon discovered that Heritage Log Homes of Kodak, TN, had the concept they wanted and a reputation for excellence that won their approval.
Though Heritage Log Homes is a builder that produces 'kit' homes, as Bob Hanggi, the company's vice president of marketing, says, "'Kit' or 'packaged' home is not an accurate description. Ninety percent of our homes are custom-designed with no two alike."
What makes Heritage's process different? All log components are pre-cut at the factory, not at an open-air job site as with conventional construction. Once the plans are finalized to the smallest detail, each log is milled in the Heritage factory to extremely tight tolerances. In the case of this 7,200-square-foot home, the components will be packaged and delivered in ten truckloads to the job site, where the home will be assembled on a previously-prepared foundation.
Heritage's patented, unique through-bolt joinery system utilizes a thick bolt with a spring at the top that runs through each log from the top of the wall to the foundation. Each bolt is spaced four feet apart and on each side of every door and window. When the bolt is tightened, the spring compresses, forcing the logs together. This prevents the occurrence of gaps between logs from drying out or settling.
Mike Loy, head of design at Heritage, feels that this system kept one of their through-bolted homes standing after Hurricane Rita. All of the surrounding houses, churches, cars and trees were destroyed, but the custom log home withstood the onslaught with minimal damage.
The couple was sufficiently impressed and selected Heritage as their log provider. They visited some log homes that the company had built and collected new ideas. Next, a design session with Mike Loy and Eric Gibson, Heritage Log Homes' representatives, helped them determine that they could create a completely custom-built home to their personal taste.
Next, they determined the size and specifics of their new home. The bulging file of home ideas, assembled through the years, came out and the house began to take shape in simple drawings showing the number of bedrooms and baths, the location of the kitchen and dining areas and a lower floor with theatre, gym, sauna and family room. Decks and porches were added to completely surround the house.
As the design process moved forward, approval drawings were submitted, modified, and finalized. Interviewing several builders and selecting Marty Walke to clear the site, prepare the foundation, erect the home and manage on-site finish sub-contractors was a crucial step. Walke is experienced with Heritage Log Homes. He has completed many of their homes and his third generation company has been building in the Black Mountain, Lake Lure areas for nearly 50 years. After filing all the permits and doing the necessary legal work, clearing of the land and site preparation began. The owners' ideal home was finally underway.
In this first article on building an Ideal Home, we have taken a look at site selection, site planning and the process of designing a custom-built home. In the next three issues of the magazine, we will follow the construction's actual progress. We'll share with you this couple's moments of excitement—from breaking ground to furnishing the interior—as their ideal home evolves from dream to reality.
Pre-Cut Log Home Concept
Using this factory pre-cut method of construction, there are significantly fewer contractor mistakes, no badly cut joints and no leaky windows or skylights. Every log is numbered and lettered then bar coded to make final assembly at the construction site free from errors. There is no waste and the project is not subject to delay due to material shortages or scheduling problems. The time required for completion is dramatically reduced. For a home this size, nine months from start to finish is normal whereas it can take more than a year to build a comparable site milled home. The quality control and efficiencies of this type of construction has proven to be the most error free method of home building.
Planning is very important because the owner must make almost all construction decisions prior to the factory production phase. It is not possible afterwards to change some things like wall locations and beam systems. Minor changes like wall socket locations can be made but not as easily as with some types of construction.
Another major advantage of building a custom log home is that the new owner can live hundreds of miles away and know that the project will not need constant oversight as everything has been predetermined when the house goes into production at the factory. Having everything clearly decided ahead of construction is the closest thing to a worry-free project imaginable.
