Log & Timber Home Living magazine is the ultimate guide to log, timber and hybrid homes. Expect expert advice on everything from floor plan design to materials and maintenance, as well as inspiring home tours, decorating ideas and more!
The world is full of fabulous private residences. So what makes a house an Artisan Home? Since we launched this special edition in autumn 2024, it’s a question we’ve received a lot. There are several key criteria. It starts with thoughtful design—exteriors that enhance the property on which the home sits; rooms that are planned with purpose, enriching the quality of life for those who live there. Next it must be genuine, meaning its primary building materials are comprised of wood, stone, metal and other natural elements that are displayed with aplomb. Then, like alchemy, these two components must be combined and executed by the skilled hands of talented craftspeople who understand they’re doing more than building a house—they’re creating a legacy. The last ingredient is the hardest to accomplish:…
Follow along the edge of the Wisconsin River, and you’ll find no shortage of luxury estates to tempt the eye. Standing stark against the shoreline, little is left to the imagination. But there is one home that takes a more subtle approach. Nestled on a bluff behind a grove of trees, this home is virtually invisible from the water—an impressive feat for the timber frame masterpiece comprising six bedrooms and nine bathrooms within 17,000 square feet of living space. The obscured setting—a deliberate choice that, at once, embraces the luxury of privacy and creates a sense of discovery—is reinforced at the entrance to the property, where a rambling drive through parklike grounds leads to the expansive home. With its mass of timber, stone and glass, plus a turret or two,…
When tasked with the design for a new custom family home perched above the quintessential Rocky Mountain town of Whitefish, Tate Interiors and Payne Cole Designs weren’t asked to channel the humble homesteads of the region or twirl up a scheme for a grand lodge. From the start, the brief was about balance. “Our client had a vision that they entrusted us to fulfill: an authentic Montana mountain home that embraces its region and history while capitalizing on all the great modern capabilities of today’s market,” explains Eric Payne, co-founder of Payne Cole Designs, the architecture firm behind the design. The result is a nearly 8,000-square-foot retreat, christened “Beargrass Lodge,” which boasts Whitefish’s local ski slopes and Glacier National Park as a backdrop. The getaway is situated in the prestigious…
Moody. Dramatic. Warm and inviting.Lots of glass, lots of angles and varied rooflines.Like a high-end hotel. This was the directive his clients had cast when architect Kevin Richardson of Timber Forge Design began the drawings for this four-bedroom, three-and-a-half bathroom, 6,000-square-foot home. In a style Kevin refers to as “mountain blend,” this northwestern Montana home integrates the traditional elements of luxury mountain architecture in contemporary, unexpected and visually impactful ways. “Orientation was key for this design,” Kevin recalls. “The site had a very specific view line they wanted to capture.” To give every major room in the house that shot of the Salish Mountains in the distance, a lineal design with varying heights took shape. An abundance of south-facing windows allows plenty of daylight even during Montana’s dark winters. However,…
Interior design motifs come in and out of vogue with unsurprising regularity. In recent decades, the rise and decline of countless styles—from the clean simplicity of mid-century Scandinavian to the ubiquitous modern farmhouse to the maximalist flair of grandmillennial—underscores design’s ever-shifting nature. Some styles linger longer than others, but fads inevitably fade, giving way to the next. That’s why many are reluctant to label the look making subtle waves in the home sphere a “trend” at all. This aesthetic—coming in on cat’s feet and aptly dubbed “quiet luxury”—appears to be less a fleeting style moment and more of a here-to-stay design philosophy. Signaling a shift from defining looks of the past, quiet luxury dives beyond display and into a visceral realm that speaks to humanity’s deepest desires — authenticity, connection…
It started out small. Thirty years ago, before the homeowners’ Wausau, Wisconsin, residence was the massive mansion it is today, it was a single-story farmhouse wrapped in an 8-foot-deep covered porch. Over time, they finished the basement, added a primary bedroom suite and incorporated other small upgrades here and there. But when you reach a high level of success in business, as this couple did, that ambitious appetite isn’t contained to your career. Now, family members jokingly refer to their once humble ranch as the “Winchester” home, referencing the seemingly endless additions, twists and turns of the famous San Jose landmark. “Six or seven years ago we started doing major additions,” says the owner. “We added an exercise room, a theater and a dining room large enough for either of…
