Books: Designing With Wood

Log Home: Light Touch

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In the breakfast room and adjoining kitchen, wrought-iron elements, lacquered wood and ceramic tile provide a light, bright change of pace.

The greatest challenge in building a home with tree trunks cut right from the land is to maintain the integrity of log home construction, while ensuring that the extensive use of logs does not make the home seem unbearably heavy.

Florida designer Louis Shuster, summoned north to work wonders with truckloads of unfinished lodgepole pine logs and 'chinking,' the grouting material used between the logs, escaped that overly woody pitfall by various inventive solutions.

He used a natural taupey-beige stain for interior logs. Randomly laid planks of red oak for the floors and various custom furnishings made of red oak veneer plywood were pickled a hue intentionally lighter than the log walls.

Also lightening the look, as well as heightening its drama, are terracotta, river rock, weathered iron and ceramic tile. "It's ironic," says Shuster, "but since it is a given that every wall, window frame and door is wood, the choice of materials other than wood is one of the most important aspects in designing a log house!"

To avoid future maintenance where wood finishes, area carpets were specified in strategic places where traffic patterns on wood surfaces are greatest.

All exterior log railings and Honduras mahogany decks were stripped, sanded, pressure-cleaned and sealed to protect against rain, snow and chilly northern temperatures and the chinking was also sealed.

Only the logs themselves, following the staining process, - special sealants were used on most - were left untouched, so they could weather naturally and thereby retain the traditional look of an old log home.

After log home manufacturer Alpine provided his client with rudimentary architectural plans and logs but not windows, doors, fireplace specifications or plumbing and electrical, Louis Shuster had his work cut out for him. The finish color for the logs as well as the chinking had to be selected.

The tremendous use of wood, which includes log walls, oak floors and cedar ceilings, is integrated with Mexican terra-cotta floors and river rock on the two-sided fireplace and the base of the bar.

To alleviate an overly woody look, the designer used custom iron details on door straps, sconces and even a mirror that he created from rebars left after construction.

LOUIS SHUSTER

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