Excepts from "Inn
Style"
Story by Mary Beth Marklein Architect: Jan Donelson
Photography by Franklin & Esther Schmidt
Click
On Photos To View
The Home
Featuredin This Article is a Custom Design. To Order our
Catalogue
Click Here
|
 There
are two creeks near Pat and Jack Wilson's place in Owensville,
Missouri, and it's the second one that cuts right through the
middle of their 135 acres of wooded hills and green
pastures. But while the creek divides the property, the
land represents the merging of two goals: owning a bed and
breakfast and living in a log home.
They called it Second Creek Farm,
and in some ways, the Wilsons had been working toward it for
most of their lives. . . Several years ago, the couple tested
their devotion to the log look when they applied a log veneer to
their stick-framed home in St. Louis. The Wilsons found
the perfect spot at a onetime farm with two ponds, situated
almost midway between St. Louis and Kansas City, and just a
short drive to wineries, antique stores, and other tourist
destinations. |
|
 |
The common area and
focal point is the great room, with its high vaulted ceiling and
a walk-around balcony on the second floor overlooking the
massive stone Rumford fireplace, similar to the one Thomas
Jefferson commissioned for his Monticello home. Though
logs remain the primary building material, Jan Donleson -
Hearthstone distributor & architect, wanted to carry
the stone look beyond the fireplace by injecting a series of
stone columns into the first floor. Pat thought a hint of
drywall would add an airiness to the ambiance. To meet the
various aesthetic and structural goals, Jan had to do some
creative engineering.
|
|
| First,
he suggested a timber frame for the great room to create the
spans he wanted for support. He also thought that the
first story should be framed conventionally, and the exterior
and interior walls finished with a log veneer. The veneer
served a dual purpose: First, it camouflaged the stick
frame; second, it eliminated settlement problems that might have
risen with full logs as they tried to settle. Finally, the
plans called for true log construction on the second floor -
essentially stacking a log home on tope of the first floor! |
|
 Downstairs,
the kitchen has an old-fashioned feel, but features contemporary
appliances. Early on, as the floorplan began to expand to
meet their requirements, Pat realized she had to give up her
visions of a snug little cabin. But she found a compromise
by creating a variety of gathering places in the common areas,
where guests could peruse the Wilsons' collection  of
old books, spend an afternoon playing poor on a reproduction
table or gather to comment on the myriad antiques and furnishing
the Wilsons have collected over the years. Today, Pat
says, "Some people come in and think it looks more Western
and rustic and some people come
in and say it's a cozy log house, so I guess I found the
balance."
|
|
|
