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Honest Abe Monthly, August 2011

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Honest Abe Monthly is a publication of Honest Abe Log Homes Inc., which designs, manufactures and builds energy-efficient, custom log homes, log cabins and timber frame houses. Founded in 1979, Honest Abe Log Homes is headquartered in Moss, Tenn., and features three Tennessee show homes and sales centers in Cookeville, Crossville and Murfreesboro. An extensive dealer network services clients worldwide.

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August 2011

Like so many log home enthusiasts, the Hickey’s plans and dreams of building their own log home started many years ago. “It was about a 15 year journey for us,” recalls Todd Hickey. “It was really my wife’s idea. We had thought about building a custom home, and one day Kim asked what I thought about building a log home.” It didn’t take Kim much convincing to get Todd on-board with the idea. The couple felt a natural connection, a link through their Appalachian heritage, to the idea of building a home made of logs.

While they dreamed and planned, the couple located a five acre lot, only a few miles down the road from their rural home in Lascassas, Tennessee. “The land is in a subdivision, but every lot is at least 5 acres, so we really have a lot of privacy, but also still have neighbors we can depend on,” noted Todd. Not long after acquiring the land, the couple built a small pond and prepared the land in preparation for where their dream home would one day reside.

The couple spent about five years of research before deciding to purchase their log home

from Dan Smith, salesperson at Honest Abe Log Home’s location in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. “Dan made us feel comfortable,” said Todd. “We researched other companies and found that Honest Abe would allow us to start on the construction ourselves, then we could have their builders come in to erect the logs and roofs. We could work with Honest Abe alone, and didn’t have to search for an experienced log builder, so that was a big plus.”

Todd, who works in the field of light construction, knew he could save some money by working on certain portions of the home himself. The foundation and sub-floor systems are standard and much the same as any other home. “I had the sub-floor constructed and then one of Honest Abe’s

crews came in to do their portion. We contracted with them to dry-in the home, and they had it complete in seven weeks.” With the logs up, roofs constructed and the doors and windows installed, the home was “dried-in” from the weather.

Once again, the Hickey’s took reign of the project, choosing to finish the construction

themselves. Todd recalled, “We spent most of our nights, weekends and vacation time over the next

Appalachian Inspiration

August 2011year working on the home, it really was a family effort.” The couple’s three children, Tyler, Kayla and Trey also played an important roll. “We had them doing small jobs around the site, and they were a big help in keeping the job site neat and orderly.” As part of the kid’s reward for helping, the family would “camp out” in the home quite often. “I remember a number of nights that we had our sleeping bags thrown around on the unfinished floors of the home. The kids really enjoyed it, and I think it’s time with us they will always remember.”

In December of 2005, one year after construction began, the family moved into their new Honest Abe Log Home. They had completed a modified version of Honest Abe’s Castlewood home, which is constructed with two full stories of Honest Abe’s D-Log profile. The home totals around 2,354 square feet, and features an open great room, dining and kitchen area. The master bedroom and bath suite incorporates a sitting area, the bathroom has his-and-her vanities, and dual walk-in closets provide plenty of extra

storage space. In all, the master suite area encompasses a good portion of the first floors 1,470 sf total.

Three more bedrooms, and a bathroom make up the second story of the home. A landing at the top of the stairs serves as a small open loft area, and an elevated exterior deck is accessible through

one of the bedrooms. The interior of the home uses White Pine tongue and groove on the interior walls and ceilings. “The only place we have sheet-rock in the home is in the bedrooms,” mentioned Todd, allowing the family to add more color to their kid’s rooms.

Some of the families favorite features include the

August 2011large stone fireplace that adorns and demands attention in the great room. That leads to the 22’ high cathedral ceiling, a feature the family has noticed always strikes awe with their visitors. Finally, Todd says the fixed glass windows located to either side of the fireplace is definitely a favorite feature. “We’ve spent a lot of time looking at the moon and the stars at night through those big windows, all in the comfort of our great room.”

Six years later, the family enjoys their log home as much as the day they moved in. Todd remarks, “My wife and I looked for fifteen years for the perfect log home. After meeting with Dan Smith, we found the house we were looking for. Honest Abe’s staff were great to work with. The experienced construction

crew, led by Joe Isenberg, did an exceptional job from floor to roof. With Honest Abe, someone is always a phone call away. Thanks to Honest Abe for our dream home.”

Article By: Joshua Beasley, Honest Abe Log Homes

Editors Note: Dan Smith, Salesperson for Honest Abe Log Homes contributed to the content of this story.

August 2011

Honest AbePorches

Porches are an extension of the living area of a home, especially for owners of log homes. Porches provide shade for you, and they also provide shade for your home, extending the durability of stains, doors, windows and so forth. Honest Abe’s porch system is not the average porch found on a conventional home. Instead, our homes typically include exposed 4x6 heavy timber rafters and 2x6 tongue and groove, all supported by large 6x6 posts. Handrails and spindles are also included as standard porch package contents.

Honest Abe also provides a smaller, more economical system using 2x6 exposed rafters, 1x6 tongue and groove and 4x6 posts. This system also includes the standard handrails and spindles.

Two main styles of porches are seen in many of our designs. The most common is a shed porch, offering the traditional look and feel. We typically design our porches to be 8’ wide, offering plenty of space for outdoor furniture. The other style is a gable porch, which is often an extension of a gable roof line. With either style, a great option can be to screen in an area, creating a sanctuary from insects.

Many of us have memories tied to spending time with our families on the porch. One of my favorites is with my grandmother, sitting on an old-fashioned glider on the porch, while breaking beans from the garden. Now, as a grandmother myself, I can sit on my own Honest Abe Log Home porch and make memories with my grand babies!

Article By: Inez Price, Salesperson for Honest Abe Log Homes.

Shed Porch Roof Gable Porch Roof

Combining Shed and Gable Porches

August 2011

J.E. Spear Retires from Honest AbeThis past month, J.E. Spear retired from the Honest Abe organization after working over 21 years. J.E. was multi-talented, often driving a truck and delivering materials, but he was a master at loading our log home packages for delivery.

J.E. will be missed, but trucks will continue to be loaded with log homes. Jackie Cherry, Vice President of Manufacturing commented, “We are really going to miss J.E. and his abilities, but thankfully our whole manufacturing team has years of experience.” Thomas Dulworth, who amongst many other responsibilities oversees the timbers being cut into log home packages, has been with the company for over 26 years. Jimmy Scott, who manages the timber yard, dry kilns, and general movement of materials throughout the manufacturing process, has 25 years of experience with Honest Abe. In fact, there is so much experience amongst the team that the “rookies” have been with the company for several years.

“You all are like family to me,” J.E. announced to everyone as he spoke a few words at a surprise party held by the staff in his honor. His wife, children and grandchildren were invited, and in attendance at the event. Those of us at Honest Abe would like to congratulate J.E. and his wife on this exciting new chapter of their lives and wish them the very best!

August 2011

Rocky-K Log Homes & Construction, LLC, an independent dealer for Honest Abe Log Homes in Central Kentucky, has had the pleasure of working with John and Anita in Pine Knob, KY to make “What They’ve Always Wanted” come to reality.

Having a large natural habitat for wildlife, their dream was to build a log home that blended with the surrounding acreage. With this in mind, the existing home on the property needed to be removed. The owners decided to construct the 3-car garage first, including living quarters above so they could be close to the site during construction of the main home. The Insulated Concrete garage was built and has a round log-siding exterior which would match the main log home to come.

The brick home was then removed to make room for the custom-designed log home utilizing the 8” X 8” Interlocking Round log profile from Honest Abe. The floor plan is a modified Navajo, and includes a large sun room off of the Master Suite and an enclosed breezeway/mudroom to the garage. The home will have a spacious, open layout featuring the Heavy-Timber roofing system highlighting exposed Douglas-Fir beams and rafters. It’s been exciting to watch their dream unfold, and we are honored to have a part in making this happen.

Article By: Josh Goe of Rocky-K Log Homes & Construction, LLC

A Home To Match Its Surroundings

August 2011

House of the Month: The DeSocio IIThe DeSocio II is an enlarged version of it’s predecessor, built by the same customer a few years later. This custom floor plan is available for viewing in our Customer Creations series on our website. The home features a beautiful wrap around porch, three bedrooms, three bathrooms, loft area, and a game room that doubles as an apartment over the garage. A large entry way welcomes you into the homes kitchen and dining area, which are all open to the great room. The home is designed to feature a fireplace in the center of a wall of glass, lending beautiful views out of the home. Spiral stairs grant access to the loft, minimizing stair space requirements and keeping the room open. The mud and utility room off of the kitchen can also double as a pantry.

More information about this plan is available on our web site, along with an article featured in Log Cabin Homes magazine earlier this year.

August 2011

1. Grease and flour two 8x4 pans. Preheat oven to 325.

2. Sift flour, salt, baking powder, soda and cinnamon together in a bowl.

3. Beat eggs, oil, vanilla and sugar together in a large bowl. Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture and beat well. Stir in zucchini and nuts until well com-bined. Pour batter into preheated pans.

4. Bake for 60 minutes, or until tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Remove bread from pan and cool completely.

ENJOY!

Recipe By: - Melissa Copas, Design & Drafting Department - Honest Abe Log Homes

ZucchiniBread

Ingredients:3 cups all-purpose flour1 teaspoon salt1 teaspoon baking soda1 teaspoon baking powder3 teaspoons ground cinnamon3 eggs1 cup vegetable oil2 1/4 cups white sugar3 teaspoons vanilla extract3 cups grated zucchini1 cup chopped walnuts