Four Pines Farm, LLC               Featured Article
51122 Ball Road                                      published September 22, 2002
Dowagiac, MI  49047
Toll-Free: 866-267-4229
Email: fourpinesfarm@aol.com

Building a dream -- a log at a time
Dowagiac couple travels to British Columbia to find their perfect home.

By:  KELLY L. MANN
H-P Correspondent

DOWAGIAC -- It's taken nearly a decade, but for D.B. "Brad" Miller and his wife, Kristine Stover, a dream is coming true.

On Sept. 9, three semi tractor-trailers originating from more than 2,000 miles away in Lone Butte, British Columbia, arrived at the couple's property on Ball Road. The trucks carried precious cargo -- hand-crafted logs, artfully designed and destined to become the couple's 5,000-square-foot log home. Just 25 hours after the trucks arrived, the log portion of their home stood complete.

"It was marvelous," said Miller, 66. "They were finished with the log portion by 2:30 p.m. Wednesday. Now we're anxious to see it done." "We've been dreaming about this for so long," said Stover, 47. Miller and Stover began researching log homes about 10 years ago. They devoured books on the topic and attended numerous seminars and home shows.

"The more we found out, the more confused we got," Stover said. "It's been a learning process. Everyone says something different."

"Most builders use spruce. Some use pine," said Miller. "Some say air-dried logs are best. Others tell you something else.

When Miller, a lifelong businessman, retired in June, he and Stover moved back to Michigan after spending eight years in Connecticut.

"I promised Kris that when I retired, I would bring her home," he said.

Stover was born and raised on a West Michigan farm. Miller was born in the Fox River Valley in Wisconsin but moved here in 1972.

"This area has always really appealed to us," Stover said. "We should have bought property before we left."

The couple knew their dream home needed the perfect site, but they had a hard time finding it. They spent nearly three years traveling between Michigan and Connecticut and racking up hundreds of miles on rental cars canvassing the tri-county area for land. Finally, the couple decided to place a want ad.

The answer came in the form of 53 acres of the old Ball farm in Cass County, near Glenwood. The couple bought it in January 1999 and named it Four Pines Farm. Once the construction frenzy is over, Miller plans to spend his retirement farming.

"I've wanted to farm all my life," Miller said. He plans to raise cattle and grow alfalfa.

Stover, a certified Master Gardener, plans to landscape their yard with native grasses and wildflowers.

"I will have to drive a tractor occasionally," she said. "Growing up on a farm, it's in my blood."

With the perfect site found, and plans for farming in the works, the couple began concentrating on their home. In February 2001, they stumbled across a home show in Syracuse, N.Y., featuring homes built by Pacific Log Homes Ltd. in Lone Butte, 250 miles north of Vancouver.

Impressed with what they saw, in July 2001 they headed for the company's 30-acre site in the middle of the Canadian wilderness.

"Lone Butte wasn't even on the map," Miller said.

In that out-of-the-way destination, Miller and Stover discovered the log home of their dreams.

The company uses full-length spruce or pine logs that are hand peeled for a truly rustic authentic look. Miller and Stover chose pine logs, for the unique character of the wood's knots and coloring.The logs are air-dried for a year before being hand-crafted for a fit so tight, no chinking between the logs is required.

With amazing finesse, an artisan uses a Swedish cope to hand scribe the logs. The first log is laid flat. Then another is positioned over it. The worker uses the Swedish cope, which resembles a protractor of sorts, to trace the contour of the bottom log onto the top log. Then the top log is removed and skillfully cut and shaved for a perfect fit, Miller said. A wedge is also cut into the bottom of the log and that space is filled with insulation during construction.

"There are no joints because they use full logs, and they fit so tight, no chinking is required," he said. The end result is incredible energy efficiency -- all year round.

This entire process takes place on site in Lone Butte. The home is constructed over an eight-week period, then disassembled. Each log is numbered and loaded onto a trailer for delivery.

Miller and Stover traveled to Pacific Log Homes in June to watch the last third of the construction process on their home. The company uses giant, 82-foot cranes to lift and position the logs.   With that kind of reach, as many as 10 homes can be built at the same time, Miller said.

With the main construction complete and the house finally taking shape at Four Pines Farm, Miller and Stover can appreciate all their years of research and the year they spent working on the design plans for this home. The one-story home will have cathedral ceilings and a finished walk-out level with three sets of French doors that open out to a deep-water pond.

"We excavated 22,000 cubic yards of dirt for the pond," Miller said. "It's lined with blue clay and will hold 1 million gallons of water. It's aerated with a windmill, and we'll stock it with bluegill," he said.

He built the windmill from a kit and gathered six other men to help him raise the 20-foot tall structure. "It was like a giant Erector Set," Miller said. "I've never seen so many nuts and bolts in my life."

The walk-out level is comprised of a guest suite, an office library area, and a sports-media room. The sports-media room and the office library each will have a stone fireplace.

The main living space on the first floor consists of a great room with a fireplace, the master suite, which will also have a fireplace, and the kitchen and dining room. Between the great room and the dining room is an arch that was cut by hand with a chainsaw.

"Mike (who cut the arch) is really like an artist with a brush," Stover said. "It is beautiful. We watched him cut the arch in June when we were there. It was so incredible, and he was such a craftsman, we asked him to sign it," she said. In addition to the arch, he also made a bench for the mudroom.

Miller and Stover asked all those from Pacific Log Homes who worked on their house to sign the bench. Once the work in Dowagiac is done, the local contractors also will sign it.

With seemingly every detail considered in the plans for their home, the couple also incorporated some cunning finishing touches, including a "sun tube" for the walk-out level. This new-fangled contraption, basically a pipe lined with reflective material, directs sunlight from a geo-dome on the roof into the office library. Outside finishing touches include two eight-foot hitching posts that will stand outside the barn, and a half-ton log picnic table made as a showpiece for the construction process.

"This is our final home," Stover said. "We wanted it to be perfect."

Making it perfect meant spending an entire year working with an architect from Pacific Log Homes.

"Our house is a bit different than most," Stover said. "The wings sweep forward rather than back for a view of the pond.  Plus we added all the French doors and the glass," she said. "It is vital to work with an architect who has experience in log homes."

With all the searching and planning paying off, Miller and Stover hope the inside of their home will be finished in February, depending on the weather. Currently the roof and windows are being finished. In the meantime, Miller plans to spread the word about Pacific Log Homes.

"I was so impressed with this company, the integrity of their people and the quality of their work," he said.

Miller is now going to represent the company at home shows all across the Midwest.

"I can save people years of time and frustration," he said.

He said he hopes the 10 years he and Stover invested in researching, designing and building their log home will benefit others who are building a dream of their own.

Susan Lorenz
Features Editor
The Herald-Palladium
(616) 429-2400 ext. 210
Toll free in Michigan: (800) 356-4262

created: October 17, 2002