Macon Magazine, May 1998
"A Log Cabin Getaway"

By his own admission, there are primitive longings in Gary Hutcheson's leftover boyhood soul. But the avid sportsman thought he'd tamed his hankering for the wilderness - or at least provided a place for his son to hunt - when he purchased 102 acres in Monroe County about two years ago. "Then I went crazy and built this place," he said. "This place" is a humble description of Stone Oak Farms, the Hutcheson family's log cabin getaway only 18 miles from their permanent home in Macon. 

     Located literally off the beaten path - down a long, winding country road - the 1,500 square foot cabin satisfies Hutcheson's pioneer spirit and provides a quiet place to relax alone or entertain a crowd. "I wanted a place away from the traffic," Hutcheson said of the hideaway he and his wife, Brenda, built about 18 months ago. "When you get up here, you've got all the modern conveniences, but you can't hear a car."

Indeed, the weekend retreat boasts a pleasing mixture of postmodern practicality and timeless rusticity. Manufactured and assembled on site by Hearthstone Log Homes, the cabin was finished by Tommy Gibson Builders in Macon. Outside, a jaunty red tin roof beckons visitors off the country trail and into the meadow for a closer look. Near the front door, a stuffed coyote stands sentinel on the rocking chair front porch. Indoors, much of the two-bedroom, two-bath cabin's pastoral charm comes from its rough-hewn, knotty pine interior walls and ceiling, heart pine floors, and hand-laid stone fireplace in the living room.

High tech features are present, but don't compromise the cabin's agrarian appeal. Central heating and air conditioning? Yes. A telephone? Certainly. There's even a satellite dish. But don't look for such contemporary amenities as sheet rock here. Rather, interior log walls chinked with mortar compliment the home's woodsy atmosphere. Construction details aside, what makes the cabin so appealing are the primitive decorating touches the Hutchesons chose for their getaway home. Brenda Hutchesons particularly enjoyed decorating the house, whose open floor plan belies its size. "This was his think until we got to the decorating state," she said. "I just had a ball decorating it."

In keeping with the cabin's woodland setting, the interior furnishings are simple. In the dining room, family and friends cozy up to a wooden table with bench seats during meals. Overhead light in the dining room comes from a wagon-wheel chandelier similar to the one hanging over the wooden staircase. As a whimsical touch, Brenda Hutcheson chose bullhead-shaped pulls for the kitchen cabinets. The fully equipped kitchen includes a stove, refrigerator, dishwasher, and microwave.

For the living room, the Hutchesons chose a leather sofa and chair placed atop a Navajo-style rug. Knickknacks are limited to a few family photographs and mounted wildlife, including two deer flanking the fireplace, a bobcat, a raccoon, numerous fish, and a duck. Hutcheson wryly admits that he purchased most of the stuffed animals adorning the front room. He landed the duck and some of the stuffed fish on previous sporting trips, however.

Upstairs, a cozy master bedroom and adjacent sleeping loft can accommodate several overnight guests. All of the beds in the cabin, including bunk beds in the loft and twin beds in the downstairs bedroom, were made to match by a furniture crafter in Atlanta. Brenda Hutcheson intentionally left the cabin's windows bare to further the sense of spaciousness. A cathedral ceiling and dormer window in the living room lend a similar effect. "I wanted to keep (the decor) simple," she said. "There's a fine line and I didn't want to make it country." . . .

Hutcheson grew up in Macon, but began his love of the outdoors while visiting family in Adrian, Georgia, a country town about 30 miles east of Dublin. Now, walking the creek behind his own weekend home reminds him of the North Georgia woods, and offers a quiet respite from the hectic, everyday world. "I've always had a love for this primitive look," he said. "There's a little Abe Lincoln in me."