Hearthstone Log and Timber Frame Homes: Article (Log Home Living

Log Home Living, August 2002
Story by Jason Peck
Photography by Harley Furguson

“A Perfect Season”
Football star secures winning home in the mountains of North Carolina

Successful college football coaches demand perfection. When Bill Curry -- former head coach at Georgia Tech, the University of Alabama, and the University of Kentucky -- and his wife Carolyn began building their mountaintop log home in North Carolina, the demand came from Carolyn rather than the coach. She drew up the game plan (designing the home's floorplan and the look) and called the plays (serving as her own general contractor).

Bill faced decidedly less stress. “I was in charge of the finances and transporting my resident searcher around to log home sites where she toured varous structures,” he says. “Then my role reverted to common laborer. I carried logs, painted, and helped with the landscaping.

“As a coach, people do what you tell them to do,” he adds, “but I was happy to take orders from her.”

Carolyn holds a doctorate in history and has a great interest in old construction. The Currys, high school sweethearts in the 1960's, had owned a log cabin in Kentucky that was on the national historic register.

When they were ready for a new log home, they knew exactly what they wanted. “We were looking for a log home company that used square logs and chinking for an authentic look,” Carolyn says.

After several months of research, a friend in Atlanta found the perfect home, according to Carolyn. “He called and said, 'It has your name written all over it,' because it looked like and old log home.”

That structure was built by Hearthstone in Dandridge, Tennessee. The Currys traveled throughout North Carolina and Kentucky to tour Hearthstone's log homes. “Hearthstone has that authentic look,” Carolyn says. “Our logs have a lot of knots on them. They're made to look aged.”

Chris Wood of Hearthstone was the architect for the custom design. “We just sat down and he started sketching,” Carolyn says. “He was wonderful -- I still have a personal relationship with him.”

The home turned out so well that Hearthstone added the floorplan to thier portfolio as a standard design, part of the Bob Timberlake Collection. The company teamed with renowned artist and log home aficionado Bob Timberlake to develop these designs, which offer the look and feel of 200-year-old cabins.

Their home's logs are eastern white pine that are dovetail notched and hand-hewn on the exterior and interior, but natural on the top and bottom, resulting in old-fashioned chinking joints ranging from 1 to 5 inches. The logs were WeatherAged™, Hearthstone's trademarked process. “We take a rounded silicon piece under high pressure and direct the firce against the wood,” says John Ricketson, Hearthstone's 25-year veteran project manager who worked with the Currys. “This removes a slight amount of the softwood and raises the grain.” Thus, the logs appear to have been outside for many years.

Because oil can promote mildew, the logs were treated with a water-based stain. It contains a fungicide, a preservative, and ultraviolet inhibitors to protect the logs from the sun. “Staining a house gives you an even color,” John says. “more so than when you allow it to weather naturally.”

The Curry's house is noteworthy because it is a hybrid: The great room is a timber frame -- a soaring system of interlocking posts and beams that supports the room's weight, allowing it to be more open -- that's attached to the main log house. (Hearthstone handles both log and timber frame construction.)

“A real old log home can be dark,” Carolyn says. “Modern construction allows you to incorporate the warmth of wood with the old style. With a timber frame, you can have the light and open feel. I wanted to bring the outside in and enjoy the mountain views.” With the great room's large windows and the home's location in the western tip of the state, the Curry's enjoy views of North Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee.

Attaching the timber frame to the log structure was challenging for Hearthstone. “Most log homes settle, but the timber frame does not settle,” John says.

Anticipating the amount of settlement is important to prevent leaks. “You might have to build the log roof at a slightly higher angle so that when it settles, it ends up at the right spot. It's an art rather than a science,” John says. Humidity and the type of soil can also affect the amount of settlement in a log home.

Another challenge was the home's location -- the top of a steep, winding road. The Cury's arranged for a local contractor to transfer the beams and logs from the large tractor-trailer to a smaller flatbed truck that could make it up the mountain more easily.

Carolyn served as her own general contractor and got the building permit. Lacking experience for a project of this magnitude, she hired Harold Tucker of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to consult. The veteran builder of 75 log homes made the trip every few weeks to help with the project.

After the foundation and subfloor were laid, Hearthstone's crew arrive with the logs, timbers, and a massive crane. “By the time they leave,” Carolyn says, “you have a log structure and a timber frame structure. It looks like a house minus the doors, winows, and roof.”

It can be a difficult process, Carolyn admits. “We had a very good crew; it took them a month for that portion,” she says.

Carolyn remembers how exciting this part of the project was. “The timber frame was the first part to go up. It looks like colonial times when they're raising it, and before you know it, it's a home,” she says. “It's a very interesting process.”

Carolyn the subcontracted an electrician, a plumber, and a carpenter. The 2,893-square-foot home took about a year to finish. Work began in the spring, and they moved in December with the exterior still unfinished -- Carolyn couldn't wait to celebrate the holidays in her new log home.

While the home was under construction, Bill and Carolyn lived in the property's guesthouse, 50 yards from the main house. The structure had been built several years before, and at only 800 square feet, it is almost an exact copy of Bob Timberlake's log guesthouse. It contains Bill's office -- one of his favorite spots.

“It is cozy and quiet,” he says. “It's very productive for me.”

Inside the home, Carolyn's pursuit for perfection is evident in the details. The Tennessee fieldstone hearth is dry stacked. “You don't see the mortar, and the stones are put together like a jigsaw puzzle.

“It looks old-fashioned,” she says. “I looked forever for someone to do dry stack.” She discovered Bobby Ledford of Hiawassee, Georgia, when she saw the perfect stonework on a bank. “ just had to find out who did it,” she says. “It's the historian in me.”

David Smith of Mara, Ohio, designed and built the cabinets in the kitchen and bathroom. The countertops are curly maple, a beautiful hardwood. The cabinets are antique white and distressed to look old and quaint.

“I wanted them to look like they came out of your grandmother's house,” she says.

The front door is mounted on a timber frame enclosure with fixed glass. “It's a nice effect for letting a lot of light in,” John says.

Guests love the home. “Our friends come to visit and they want to build here. We say we are colonizing the mountain,” she says with a laugh, because several of their friend have already purchased property nearby.

The Curry's believe they've found the ideal location for their log home. Bill, now a college football commentator, makes frequent trips to the Atlanta airport, which is just two hours away. And, this is just the right distance from the city for Carolyn, who likes being away from it all.

“You come into the woods and nature, and it's so restful,” she says.

In fact, everyone involved is especially ecstatic when it comes to the Curry's home. “It's at the top of my list, and I've been involved with a lot of homes,” John says.

Bill agrees: “I enjoy every part of it. It has great warmth and Carolyn's touch. She was able to design a lot of light and space combined with the old logs and all the modern conveniences. I never knew these kinds of places existed.”