This Log Home is a Cool Getaway in New Mexico

Summers in El Paso, Texas, can be brutal and when you add surviving the rat race to the overwhelming heat, sometimes the only answer is to get away. The owners of this 3,950-square-foot home came to that very conclusion. That’s why they travel over the border and through the woods to their Cloudcroft, New Mexico, retreat every chance they get.
 
This four-bedroom, three-bathroom, T-shaped western-red-cedar refuge is a log lovers’ dream. The average log diameter is a massive 16 inches, but one’s eye naturally gravitates towards the unique diamond-notch corners. Some of the posts have flared ends and the diamond notching allows for a full-size flare of 24-30 inches. The look gives the homes a more rustic feel and makes it seem as if the structure was assembled with materials from the surrounding environment.
 
The owners’ unique choice of rock facing for the shed dormers adds texture and plays beautifully with the standing-seam metal roof. Robert Lockerby, president and CEO of Summit Log & Timber Homes, the log provider for this project, loves this combined materials approach. “It’s probably strange to hear coming from the log guy that ‘less log is more,’ but it’s true. Additional elements, such as stone and even stucco, accent the log. If the whole house is tongue-and-groove wood, it can be too much.”