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Although many of the log homes I have designed have been built in the Ely-Winton area, many can be found in other states across the country. Why is that? One reason is that our area draws a lot of visitors from all over the country and the world, and some of them decide they want a log home and hire one of our local log construction firms to build it. Another reason relates to the way log building is often done.Typically, the log shell is entirely constructed here in a "building yard". Then the logs are all marked, the building is carefully taken apart, and the logs are loaded on trucks so they can be hauled to the final construction site. Once the logs are on the truck, it doesn't really matter how far away the site is -- some sites are only a few miles away from the yard while others are several states away. There are log homes I have worked on in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa, Maryland, North Dakota, Montana and Colorado. A few have even been constructed in Ontario, Canada.
Most of the log homes I have designed and provided working drawings for have been built by contractors, although a few have been owner-built. Usually the owner builders have previously attended some log building school, one of which is in our area....
Great Lakes School of Log BuildingOver several years in the past, I was also involved in several large commercial projects for Cabela's which bills itself as the World's Foremost Outfitter. They have built several huge retail stores around the country which incorporate extensive exterior and interior log work into their otherwise mostly steel and concrete structures. The log building contractor I've worked the most with has gotten the contracts for the log work for all of these projects. My role has been to provide all of the required shop drawings which show the details of how the logs will be attached to one another and to the steel and concrete. I have not only produced these drawings, but have also been involved in the structural and aesthetic design of some of the logwork.
1350 Snowshoe Trail, Sand Lake,
Isabella, MN 55607If you are interested in visiting the Cabela's web site, you will see photographs of their stores, and a few of these show some of the logwork.
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