Building Log House Plans

¶ A log house building that will serve either summer camp or a country home.

Country Log Home Plan.
Exterior of log house, showing decorative use of the projecting ends of partition logs.

¶ So many people like log houses for summer homes that we give here a design that would harmonize with the most primitive surroundings. At the same time it is so carefully planned and so well constructed that it could be used as a regular house all the year round. While the lines of the building are simple to a degree, all the proportions are so calculated and the details of the construction so carefully observed that, with all this simplicity and freedom from pretense, there is no suggestion of bareness or crudity. It is essentially a log house for woodland life, and it looks just that; yet it is a warm, comfortable, roomy building perfectly drained and ventilated and, with proper construction, ought to last for many generations.

¶ As the first step towards securing good drainage and also saving the lower logs of the wall from decay, there is an excellent foundation built of stone or cement according to the material most easily and economically obtained, and this foundation is quite as high as it would be in any house built of the conventional materials in the conventional way. But as the appearance of such a foundation would spoil the whole effect of the house by separating it from the ground on which it stands, it is almost entirely concealed by terracing the soil up to the top of it and therefore to the level of the porch floors. The first log of the walls rest directly upon this foundation and is just far enough above the ground to prevent rotting. By this device perfect healthfulness is secured so far as good drainage is concerned, and at the same time the wide low house of logs appears to rest upon the ground in the most primitive way.

Log House Plans.

¶ The logs used in building should have the bark stripped off and then be stained to a dull grayish brown that approaches as closely as possible to the color of the bark that has been removed. This does away entirely with the danger of rotting, which is unavoidable when the bark is left on, and the stain removes the raw, glaring whiteness of the peeled logs and restores them to a color that harmonizes with their surroundings. The best logs for this purpose are from trees of the second growth, which are easily obtained almost anywhere. They should be from nine to twelve inches in diameter and should be carefully selected for their straightness and symmetry.

¶ The wide porches that extend all along both sides of the house afford plenty of room for outdoor living. As shown in the picture, one end of the porch at the front of the house is recessed to form a square dining porch, which opens into the kitchen and also into the big room. This is a combined living room and indoor dining room, to be used for the latter purpose only in chilly or stormy weather, if the house is meant for a summer camp.

Log House Living Room Interior.
View of living room, showing the log construction which separates the fireplace nook from the rest of the room, and also giving an idea of the effect to be obtained by the use of log partitions.

¶ The general effect of this room is in exact harmony with the exterior of the house. The door from the porch opens into an entry which on one side gives access to the two bedrooms at the front of the house and on the other leads by a wide opening into the main room. The walls and partitions are of logs and the ceiling is beamed with logs flattened on the upper side to support the floor above. The fireplace, like the chimney outside, is built of split stone, a material especially suited to this house, and is in a nook or recess that is formed, not by the shape of the room, but by the suggestion of a division made by the two logs placed one above the other across the ceiling logs, and the two posts that form the ends of the fireside seats.