Last week, I headed up to aptly named Blue Ridge, Georgia for my first visit to this scenic town in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Along the way,I noticed a bilboard for a log cabin company that had a model home just off the highway. I stopped at the model on the way back home. I'm very glad that I did and I highly recommend visiting a model cabin for design ideas.
The model turned out to be a larger version of the type of log cabin layout that I was interested in building. In fact, except for the rear of the cabin, it was near perfect. There were features that I hadn't seen before that I found very attractive.
The log cabin had three finished floors (including the basement) with a great room overlooking the rear of the property. The two features that I found particularly attractive were:
1. The outside featured a wraparound porch that was covered by the roof. The roof coverage helps to protect the exterior wood from the elements as well as provides shade.
2. The second floor had a loft that was converted into an office and also led to an optional gabled porch on the front of the cabin. Besides providing more space and another second floor view, it made the front of the cabin look much more attractive.
The rear roof featured another gable that extended well beyond the outside of the wall. There was also a fireplace in the middle of the rear great room wall. Since my property has such a great view of the mountains from the back, I would rather eliminate the fireplace and maximize the window views. The extended gable would also be shortened coniderably. When it's between protecting the logs and an uncumbered view, I'll deal with the more frequent maintenance.
The point of this article is that the design of your dream log cabin won't be found in a brochure. I especially recommend the visual approach. Go look at a number of cabins before deciding on your final layout.
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