Like most people ready to take the log home plunge, my wife, Becky, and I had a vision of what we wanted in our minds’ eye, and went on the hunt to find it. This part of the process is one of the most exciting. It’s kind of like going on a treasure hunt. But as fun as it is, it’s also a bit frustrating when you can’t find exactly what you’re looking for — at least not at first.
After looking through a number of issues of Log Home Living, we got real close. We found our first floor plan, “The McKay” from Hochstetler Milling, and we fell in love with it. Our wish list included an open common area, mudroom and a large pantry and angled island in the kitchen, which also included lots and lots of storage. The McKay had many of these qualities, but it wasn’t exactly right. We met Steve Lykins, the chief designer at the Loudounville, Ohio-based log home manufacturer, to discuss the modifications Becky and I wanted to make. While we were working on the changes with Steve, Becky happened upon a table filled with Hochstetler’s floor plans of other models. She started browsing through them and came across a plan — “The Orchard View” — that had the layout we were looking for. Immediately, we scrapped “The McKay” and told Steve “The Orchard View” was the one for us.
See also Finding Your Perfect Floorplan
The design is 2,817 square feet, with three bedrooms and three baths. Even though it was a better fit for our wish list, we still wanted to the plan to feel more like “ours,” so we asked for a few revisions, which Steve and Hochstetler were happy to accommodate. We moved several interior walls to create more storage and closet space, which was fairly easy to do, but a major change came to the front elevation. The middle dormer was eliminated and replaced with a peaked front porch roof. We created this peak using heavy timbers which added the “WOW” factor we were looking for.
Once the final set of plans were completed to our satisfaction and our local building inspector stamped them, we were ready to get estimates. Joseph Hochstetler, the lead sales consultant, and Steven, the chief estimator, both of Hochstetler Milling, developed a comprehensive Bill of Materials and quote. Our Bill of Materials consisted of most of the main building components to complete our home: logs, sub-flooring, windows, exterior doors, trim, decking, interior and exterior railings, timbers and stairs. Finally, after months of dreaming about our house and making changes to the design, we were ready to place our log home order. Now it’s getting real.
See also How To Read Log Home Floor Plans and Blueprints
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