Honest Abe Monthly, September 2012

The ENORMOUS STRENGTH of a Log Home

NEW CUSTOM FLOOR PLAN INSIDE

September, 2012

Down a

Different Road

2 • Honest Abe Monthly • September 2012 www.honestabe.com

contents

get connectedblog & news room

3 Cover Story: Down a Different Road

The Enormous Strength of a Log Home

Honest Abe on Cover of Log Cabin Homes Magazine

Join Us For A Log Raising

Building the Thompson’s Home

Recipe: Grilled Chicken with Citrus Salad by Lodge

Monthly Floor Plan: Custom Joyce Residence

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Down a

Different Road

Maurice and Elfi Fliess didn’t take the same path that most log home owners traverse. It’s common that people will dream for decades and research for years before building

their perfect log home. They will visit manufacturers across the country, attend trade shows in their nearest metro area and even tour other people’s homes before starting the process. It’s an exciting and rewarding journey for many. Yet, some happen upon log homes in a very different way.

Maurice and Elfi had lived in conventionally framed homes all their married life together. Moving from the Washington, D.C., area to Nashville, Tennessee, over a decade ago, they did as most would and located a nice brick home in a suburban area of “Music City, USA.” As a few years passed, the couple began thinking more about retirement. The hustle-and-bustle of their neighborhood didn’t fit the lifestyle they envisioned for themselves, so they began to search for the perfect piece of property. The target was a private lot with decent acreage,

while remaining in the suburbs close to Nashville.

Deep into Hidden Valley Estates, bordering on the Brentwood city limits, sat a property on a cul-de-sac that immediately caught the couple’s eye: an Honest Abe log home. “It was perfect,” stated Maurice. “The area was private, yet in a neighborhood that was five minutes from a local mall and just twenty minutes from Nashville. We could hear no traffic. It was just quiet and peaceful.”


Top: The home sits on top of a rise, providing beautiful views to the couple. Left Inset: Bradford pears, seen here in full bloom, line the driveway from the Hidden Hollow Trail cul-de-sac

Below: Maurice captures a beautiful photo as hot air balloons drift overhead on a gorgeous Tennessee day.


There was a home-for-sale sign on the cul-de-sac, and Maurice used his cell phone to call the listing agent. Although the agent said the sign pertained to a brick home on a “pipestem” road branching off the cul-de-sac, the Realtor said he knew the owners of the log home and the frame home next door – and one soon would come on the market. Needless to say, the couple was excited. Maurice noted, “Aside from reading a few log-home magazines from time to time, Elfi and I had never seriously considered a log home,

but it looked so natural in its surroundings up on that hill.” From that moment on, the couple began to hope it would be the house offered for sale.

Jump ahead a few weeks, and the couple was back in the neighborhood – this

time with the Realtor. The day before, the log home had been placed on the market. Maurice and Elfi were the first to tour the home, even beating the “For Sale” sign to the property. Maurice recalls, “We walked up the stairs to the front porch, turned

“Aside from reading a few log-home magazines from time to time, Elfi and I had never

seriously considered a log home, but it looked so natural in its surroundings up on that hill.”

Right: The view off their front porch of Tennessee’s rolling hillside that so captured the hearts of Maurice and Elfi.

Below: The chinking in the Original Log System provides an authentic Appalachian feel to their home. Exposed ceiling beams can also be seen, still a standard feature in almost every design by Honest Abe Log Homes.


around and were stunned by the view, and then we entered through the front door and saw the log walls and exposed beams in the living room. I turned to Elfi and whispered, ‘This is beautiful.’ ” Elfi whispered back, “This home moves me.” The next morning, an offer was made to the home’s original owners, and they accepted. Maurice and Elfi were soon to be log home owners.

While the property was perfect, the house needed their own personal touches to make it home. Since it was built in 1983, a few updates and improvements were not going to hurt, either. The couple removed carpet, choosing to replace it with more hardwood and tile. New asphalt shingles were installed, and a number of appliances and bathroom fixtures were updated. Skylights were added in the kitchen and on the front porch. In addition, some exterior work was done – giving the home a fresh coat of stain, painting shutters and trim, and other projects. Once completed, their twenty-one-year-old log home looked practically new.

As Elfi and Maurice settled into their new home, their love for it grew. “Our home is nothing like what you see in a conventional home,” commented Elfi. A passion could be heard in her voice as she described how the morning sun shines into their home, traveling down the log walls and reflecting a warm, golden light. The couple quickly took to their new lifestyle. Elfi, an excellent cook, now prepares soups and stews on a small, wood-fired stove they use to augment the heating of the home during the winter. About five of their more than eight acres are wooded, enabling them to harvest dead timber to fuel the stove. In the spring and summer, they maintain a one-hundred-square-

www.honestabe.com September2012 • Honest Abe Monthly • 7

Top Left: The small wood stove found in their kitchen area provides additional heat to the home, serves as a stove top for cooking, and works great to heat water for tea or potpourri.

Bottom Left: The home features a spacious kitchen

with vaulted ceiling, one of Elfi’s favorite spaces in the home.

Bottom: A screened porch provides an excellent living area to enjoy the outdoors, yet retain many of the home’s comforts.


September 2012 • Honest Abe Monthly • 9

As seen in all of these images, the property abounds with wildlife, along with the opportunity to enjoy them with spacious outdoor areas such as their patio, porches and garden areas.

foot garden, growing herbs and their favorite vegetables. “It’s all organic,” noted Elfi. “We deposit food scraps and lawn materials into a compost bin throughout the year.” They also planted a perennial flower garden out front.

The couple has found the home great for entertaining. With plenty of room at about 2,600 square feet, the home features a vaulted eat-in kitchen, a high-ceilinged living room, a den, four bedrooms (one serving as an office) and three full baths, plus a screened back porch, the

front porch and an attached two-car garage leading to the kitchen. Guests also enjoy an abundance of wildlife on the scenic property. “We once counted 52 wild turkeys in our yard,” says Maurice. “We commonly see deer, have hawks soaring above, and it’s not unusual to hear owls during the evenings.” Elfi loves the way guests feel when they visit. “They compare staying here to a vacation at a bed and breakfast, and it never gets old to see how taken people are with the home.” Another improvement the couple has made is a large flagstone patio area just off of the back porch. “That area gets shade late

in the day, so it’s perfect for having guests over and enjoying late afternoons outside.” But as daylight fades, everyone retreats to the west-facing front porch to watch the sun set behind the hills of Middle Tennessee.

At the time the home was built, Honest Abe only had one log style, known today as the Original Log System. The log is 6” x 10”, and has a chinking joint as seen in the photos. The home was recently inspected for the couple’s insurance company to obtain an updated replacement cost estimate. The hired inspector, John Roach, a qualified builder of conventional and log homes in the area, commented afterward, “Not many homes today are built this well.”

One thing is for certain. Log homes have traditionally stood the test of time. Rachel Meadows, Vice-President of Sales, noted, “While Honest Abe may be in the business of building new log homes for customers, seeing our older homes perform and last so well is a credit not just to Honest Abe but to the log home industry as a whole. It’s rewarding to us to see people like Maurice and Elfi find such joy in something we helped create and build decades ago.”

Article by: Joshua Beasley, Honest Abe Log HomesEditors Note: Special thanks to the homeowners, Maurice & Elfi Fliess, for their beautiful photography and contributions to this story.

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The Enormous Strengthof a Log Home

Over and over again, the strength and durability of log homes is proven by real-world examples. This photo may not be the prettiest, but it’s a great example of the strength of our log walls and roof systems. Just read the testimonial from the professional below, forwarded to:

Ron Pitts has an Honest Abe Log Home he built in Lascassas in the 80’s, he had a big maple tree fall on it. It crushed the porch and you can see the size of the crane they needed to move the tree off the house. When the tree guys came to look at the house he was told “it was a good thing he lived in a log house, because if he had been in a framed house it would have gone all the way through it”.

This isn’t the only testimonial available. Read about Honest Abe log homes hit directly and indirectly by tornado’s by clicking the articles to the right, or by visiting our website at www.honestabe.com

http://www.honestabe.com/homecenter/featured.php


Honest Abe on Cover of Log Cabin Homes Magazine

The Honest Abe home of Janet and Grady Wilson just made the cover of Log Cabin Homes November issue! The featured article in the issue deals with trends, and Honest Abe’s Bellewood floor plan (which the Wilson home was based from) is featured specifically. It can be found at all major retailers now, or start your subscription today!

http://www.logcabinhomesmagazine.com


Join Us For A Log Raising!

These demonstrations allow you to see first-hand how an Honest Abe Log Home is built. We’ll show you how to stack the log walls, install beams and ceiling, and apply the roof system. Tour our manufacturing facility, and have the opportunity to speak with the people involved throughout the process.

The log raising will be hosted by Randy Fudge, President and Jackie Cherry, Vice-President of Honest Abe Log Homes. Honest Abe staff will be on hand to answer any questions you may have. It is also very common for some of Honest Abe’s dry-in construction crew leads to be on hand to answer questions.

So join us at our National Headquarters in Moss, Tennessee on September 22, 2012 at 9 AM CST. Seating is limited, so please call for more information and reservations at: 800-231-3695.

View a YouTube preview by clicking below!

Sept 22, 2012

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Customer: Robin ThompsonSalesperson: Sharron Bilbrey (Crossville, TN Model)Crew: WEB Construction Inc.Log Profile: 6x12 D-Log

With building in the beautiful countryside of Crossville, Tennessee in mind; Robin & Vickie Thompson bought blueprints for their log home in March, 2010. Two years later they were ready to build! With Sharron’s help the Thompson’s had found a General Contractor, finalized plans, installed the foundation and presently Mike Strong (crew chief of WEB Construction Inc.) is finishing the dry-in.

House Plan – Deciding on a crawl space foundation, Robin and Vickie feel that they have plenty of room with the 32’x 50’ ranch-style house. It holds a bedroom and bath on each side of the home with the kitchen, dining and living areas in the middle. A utility room

is also situated in the corner on the guest bath side.

Complimenting the 1,600 sq. ft. log home are two porches that run full length (50’) across the front and back with a breezeway attached that allows them to access the two car garage (24’x 28’) which will be covered in siding to match the home’s log profile. If you are interested in seeing the floor plan or house, contact us.

We are blessed to have Robin and Vickie as customers and want to congratulate them as they get one step closer to their dream!

Article by: Josh Watson, Construction Coordinator for Honest Abe Log Homes

Building the Thompson’s Home


We hope you enjoy this recipe from the new Lodge Cast Iron Cookbook: A Treasury of Timeless Delicious Recipes. The cookbook

can be ordered from the Lodge web site or from Amazon.

For more information about Lodge and their cast iron

cookware, visit: www.lodgemfg.com


Grilled Chicken with Citrus Salad

“The Lodge Cast Iron Cookbook: A Treasury of Timeless, Delicious Recipes” - Oxmoor House. 2012

serves 2 to 4

1 jalapeno chile, sliced1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon olive oil4 skinned and boned chicken breastsSalt and freshly ground black pepper1 navel orange, sectioned and cut into 1/4-inch pieces1 small grapefruit, sectioned and cut into 1/4-inch pieces4 green onions, thinly sliced10 cherry tomatoes, seeded and dicedGrated zest of 1/2 orangeGrated zest of 1/2 lime1 jalapeno chile, minced4 handfuls mixed greens

1. Combine the jalapeno slices with 1/4 cup each of the lime juice and oil in a shallow bowl.

2. Rub the chicken with salt and pepper to taste and place in the jalapeno marinade, turning to coat both sides. Cover and refrigerate 30 minutes.

3. Combine the orange and grapefruit pieces, green onions, tomatoes, orange and lime zest, minced jalapeno, the remaining 1 tablespoon each lime juice and oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Set salsa aside.

4. Remove the chicken from the marinade; discard the marinade. Grease a 10-inch cast iron grill pan and heat over medium-high heat until hot. Add the chicken and cook 5 minutes on each side, until done. Remove the cooked chicken from the pan and let stand 5 minutes.

5. Divide the greens among 4 serving plates. Slice each chicken breast and place over the greens on each plate. Spoon the salsa over the top and serve immediately.

a cast iron memory

I love the south. I love the way we sit on porches and wave to whoever passes, whether we know them or not. And the way men wave to one another in their pickup trucks, raising their index finger without removing their hand from the steering wheel. And I love the way our mothers hand down recipes and their black-as-pitch cast iron skillets like they were passing down a country estate. The best recipes (“Simply the best, I tell you, darlin”) are passed along in a bit of a whisper while sitting on the front porch, like they contained “11 herbs and spices” otherwise kept in a vault. That’s how this recipe came to me and my wife, Ann, whispered between waves to strangers while sitting on a porch. It’s the best, darlin’. Trust me.

-- Wayne Gray


FLOOR PLAN OF THE MONTH: Joyce ResidenceThe Joyce family took two of

Honest Abe’s standard floor plans, the Westport and the Grandfield, and incorporated the two with their own ideas, to develop their final floor plan for this vacation home.

The family wanted an open feel that took advantage of their lake view, with easy access to the exterior. Since the home was designed for entertaining and enjoyment of its surroundings, accessing the deck, screened porch and balconies was

important to the couple.

For more information on the Joyce Residence, download the PDF available through the members area of Honest Abe Extra!

FLOOR PLAN:


Want More Great Plans?

Check out the floor plans section dedicated to log and timber home plans created by Honest Abe Log Home customers!

Honest Abe’s Customer Creations: Joyce Residence

Square Feet: 2,446

Bedrooms: 3Baths: 2.5

Screened Porch

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Honest Abe Monthly, September 2012