“It’s What You’ve Always Wanted”www.honestabe.com

Honest Abe Monthly April 2011

April 2011

Who doesn’t dream about a luxu-rious log home down by the lake?

The answer is almost nobody, but few are able to make that dream become a reality. It took almost three decades for it to happen, but through patience, preparation and precise planning, Robert and Diana Carlisle were able to realize their dream.

The result is a 2,900 square-foot home good enough to be featured in “Country’s Best Log Homes” (CBLH) magazine, brought about by Honest Abe Log Homes through independent dealer Robert Sims of Log Woodcrafts, lo-cated just across the state border in Cleveland, Missouri.

“I met the Carlisles five years before they built, when they visited another home under construc-tion,” said Sims. “They had checked out other companies but found that the Honest Abe package included higher quality, a best price guarantee and an experienced dealer/builder.

“They started blueprints years before they planned to build, and found that their patience allowed them to build a perfect home that was highly energy-efficient,” Sims said.

The Carlisles’ patience and plan-

ning in building their home is a case study. The newlyweds inher-ited 80 acres from Robert’s par-ents way back in 1976, and knew they would someday have a home on part of it. There was no lake on the land then, but 14 years later, the Carlisles took care of that. They built a three-acre lake as the first step of bringing their dream home to reality.

A couple of years later, they planted fruit trees, and lined what would later be their driveway with maples. The groundwork (literally) was laid for their home, but it was still about 15 years before ground was broken and Sims and Hon-est Abe became a major player in the project. True to their nature, the interim was not wasted: “They

collected materials to furnish and decorate the home before it was ever built,” Sims recalls. The preparation and forethought didn’t end there. “Cedar trees

over a foot in diameter were harvested years in advance to be stripped and cured before being used as support post for the ridge beam in the ceiling, and as posts for the rail system,” Sims said. Robert, as part of the 2,000 hours the couple personally spent

on the home, cut the trees from the property and hand-hewed them at the job site, he told the CBLH.

After meeting with Sims, a very experienced log home builder, the Carlisles broke ground in 2007. All the dreaming, preparation, and planning for the home had encompassed three decades, but construction was much quicker. Work started in the spring, and

the couple moved into their home in the fall.

Great viewsThe Carlisles chose Honest Abe’s

Patience, Preparation, Planning: Carlisles realize dream home

“It’s What You’ve Always Wanted”www.honestabe.com

Honest Abe Monthly April 20118x8 (custom-milled) round log for their two-story home, complete with three dormers in the front, porches front and back, a finished basement, and a two-car garage. It is a feast for the eyes inside and out, and has views of the tree-lined lake from all three levels. A small dock on the lake is literally just a few dozen steps away from the back door.

The inside decor has a definite

Western feel, with a vast collection of wood and wrought-iron pieces carefully collected by the Carlisles during their “waiting period.”

“The home was definitely built around what we had rather than the other way around,” Robert told CBLH in the 8-page feature story. The living room is quite stunning, with a high, vaulted ceiling, domi-nated by a fireplace and antler chandelier.

Not only is the home a visual feast with great views in a time of ris-ing energy costs, it’s been quite friendly on the Carlisles’ pocket-book.

“Robert called me up after the first winter and said ‘Bob you may not believe this, but my furnace only fired up six times all winter,’” Sims said. “That gorgeous fireplace was designed with its backside ex-posed to the garage to avoid heat

April 2011loss, and it has really served them well.”

Also helping with energy costs are the windows, supplied by Honest Abe. “Robert and Di-ana chose our Jeld-Wen metal-clad windows for high energy efficiency, and trimmed out each window with our cedar trim package,” said Sims.

“It came together just like we planned,” Robert said in the CBLH story. “Building a log home is a fun project, and it shouldn’t be rushed.”

“Robert and Diana did such a fantastic job of planning things and making it all come together,” Sims said. “They may have put more thought into their home than anyone I

have every worked with. They made our job a lot easier, and I know they are thrilled with the results. It was a pleasure for me and Honest Abe to work with them.”

Article By: Kevin Donaldson

Editors Note: Honest Abe Indepen-dent Dealer Robert Sims contributed to this story, and information from the September 2009 Country’s Best Log Homes article was also used.

Photography By: James Ray Spahn

April 2011

The term, Hand-Hewn, refers to a technique of using an adz (a type of ax or cutting tool with the blade at a right angle to the handle) to rough-trim the surface of logs. In pioneer times, the adz was used to square logs for home construction, which gave each log a unique hand-crafted appearance. Many modern log home owners like the Hand-Hewn look and ask their log home company to prepare their milled logs in this way. There are 2 methods in which this can be done. The first is by using a machine that mechani-cally hues the sides, and the second is by using the above mentioned tool, the adz.

Although the first method is much faster and re-quires less labor, the machine tends to give an artificial look due to the consistent pattern it creates, therefore, it doesn’t have the look and feel of the original hand hewn logs. Although most companies have gone with the use of machinery, Honest Abe’s process is done manually by a very skilled craftsman through the use of the the second method of using an adz. This eliminates patterns left by machinery,

and gives our hand hewn log homes a unique one of a kind product, resembling the original Appala-chian homes of times past. Although more labor and time intensive, customer satisfaction and an authen-tic Appalachian look that takes you back in time are very important at Honest Abe Log Homes. Hewing can be applied to a number of materials, including both interior and exterior of the logs, beams, girders and exposed roof rafters.

Click here to see more about hand hewing on our YouTube channel!

Article By: Greg Watson & Ed White: - Honest Abe Log Homes Sales - Cookeville, Tennessee

Authentic Appalachian: The art of hand hewing

April 2011

MatthewsHome “Dried-In”

Customer: Gail MatthewsSold By: Dan Smith (Murfreesboro Model)Dry-in Crew: Isenberg Log Homes Builders, Inc

“A very well organized crew, doing excellent work!Answered many questions and gave

great advice. I hate to see them leave.”

Joe Isenberg and crew began construction on Gail Mat-thews house February 14th, 2011. In three short weeks (March 4th), they had the home dried in. With the house running just short of 1500 square feet, it wasn’t very big, but it was just right for Gail.

At Honest Abe, our slogan is phrased “It’s what you’ve always wanted.” That is exactly what we strive to achieve, from the design process all the way to the constructionof the home. Gail knew exactly what she wanted, and in no time at all helped us convey that dream on paper. Gail’s house is a 28’ x 48’ one-story, with a 12’ x 12’ bump out on the side. It houses three bedrooms, two baths, and has a full-length porch on the front.

The profile of her choice was our Round-Round Log, and she opted for a combination of scissor and regulartrusses for her roof. Using conventional trusses are economical but also aid in quick construction. Scissor trusses allow an owner to have vaulted areas through the home while maintaining much of the economical benefit.

Mrs. Matthews home is nestled out in the woods in a location that seems to require a log cabin. Honest Abe is happy we were able to help fill that requirement.

Article By: Josh Watson: - Construction Coordi-nator for Honest Abe Log Homes

“It’s What You’ve Always Wanted”www.honestabe.com

Honest Abe Monthly April 2011

Home of the Month: GibsonThe Gibson is a new floor plan from Honest Abe Log Homes and will be included in our new catalog due in May of this year. While it’s drawn as a timber frame home, it can also be built using any of our log systems. The home is a great design for retirees or vacationers, as it contains everything needed on the first floor, with the added benefit of a second bed, bath, and loft on the second floor. The living room is open to the vaulted ceiling which features our Heavy Timber Roof system with exposed rafters. The master bed, bath and, space

for utilities is all located on the first floor for conve-nience. All of this is achieved within 1,590 square feet.

April 2011

Chicken & Spinach Lasagnawith parmesan white sauce

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground chicken or turkey1 medium onion, chopped2 cloves garlic, mincedSalt and pepper to taste1-1/4 cups cottage cheese1 - 10 oz. package frozen chopped spin-

ach, thawed, well drained and squeezed dry

1/2 cup vegetable shortening1/2 cup all-purpose flour1 - 14.5 oz. can chicken broth1-1/2 cups milk, divided3/4 tsp. nutmeg1 cup grated Parmesan cheese1 8 or 9 oz. box oven ready lasagna

noodles2-1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9” x 13” baking pan with cooking spray; set aside.

Spray a large skillet with cooking spray. Over medium heat, add chicken or turkey, onion and garlic. Saute about 10 minutes, stirring and crumbling the chicken, until onion is tender. Remove from heat. Stir in spin-ach and cottage cheese, season with salt and pepper. Mix well and set aside.

In a medium saucepan, melt shortening. Add flour, cook and stir for 2 minutes. Slowly poor in broth and 1 cup milk, bring to boil, whisking constantly. When thickened, remove from hear. Stir in nutmeg, Parmesan, salt and pepper to taste. Add up to 1/2 cup of remaining milk as needed to thin.

Place 1/2 cup sauce in the bottom of prepared pan. Cover with a layer of lasagna noodles. Pour 1/4 of the remaining sauce over the noodles. Top with 1/4 of the mozzarella and 1/3 of the chicken mixture. Continue layering the noodles, sauce and chicken until you end with a 4th layer of noodles. Top this with remaining sauce and cheese. Cover with a double layer of foil and bake for 40 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 15 minutes, or until golden brown and bubbly. Let stand for 15 minutes before slicing.

Enjoy!

Recipe By: Melissa Copas: - Design & Drafting - Honest Abe Log Homes