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When the time came for Watson and Frances Pugh to build their new
log home, they didn't spend much time fretting over the location
or the design. They simply moved up the road from their old
log home and kept the same basic plan.
The home is located in the mountains of
western North Carolina, about an hour's drive from Asheville. Living in Raleigh, the Pughs began visiting the area in the early
1970s in their motor home. They came upon a campground they
liked run by Paul and Carol Shaw. They revisited the place
many times over the years and became good friends with the Shaws.
In 1981, the Shaws signed on as builder-dealers
for Alta Log Homes. The Pughs became interested in this
style of home and visited Alta's headquarters in New York's
Catskills to watch the logs being milled and to look at different
floor plans. Eventually, the Shaws decided to give up the
campground, so the Pughs bought 2 1/2 acres from them, installed a
pad for their motor home and erected a storage building that
served as a cookery so they didn't have to prepare meals in the
confined motor-home galley. They added an open deck and a
covered deck to spend even more time outdoors and entertain
visitors.
Realizing how much they cherished their visits to the location and
with the Shaws, the Pughs bought another piece of property from
them and decided to build a log home that they could stay in
during vacations and which the Shaws could use as a sales model.
They chose Alta's Lexington plan.
After their children were grown, the Pughs realized they
wanted a log house just for the two of them. On their land
farther up the mountain, at an elevation of about 3,200 feet,
about 75 feet from their cookery, they built another Lexington.
Working with Carol, who coordinated the design with Alta, they
modified the plan to give them more room, ending up with about
4,000 square feet on two levels with a basement.
"We wanted a bigger master bedroom, so we added a wing, then
balanced that with another wing, where we put the dining room so
it wouldn't take any space away from our living room," Frances
says. "We designed the loft with two bedrooms and a bath
for company to stay."
The main level has the living room,
dining room, kitchen and master bedroom. The Pughs also
added plenty of porch and deck space because they enjoy outdoor
entertaining. They wanted to have the house sit up high on
the property, but the land fell away too steeply, so they built a
big retaining wall around the back, a project that Frances refers
to as "the great wall of China."
The
layout resulted in a large basement , which is open on three
sides. That's where the Pughs put a bedroom and a bath, a
laundry room, a computer room, a big room that they use for
exercising and another room where Watson bakes bread.
The logs are Alta's Frontier profile, 7 by 7 inches, which
are milled flat inside and out with a subtle curve at the top and
bottom. Their species is northern white pine.
Paul built the home, completing it four years ago.
After their new home was built, the Pughs sold their previous one.
Coincidentally, the buyer was the Shaw's oldest daughter.
When the Pughs moved in, they took advantage of their
proximity to North Carolina's furniture makers and bought mostly
new pieces, including many from Bob Timberlake. The couple's
daughter-in-law Suzanne, who is a professional decorator, led the
way on several shopping expeditions, pointing out pieces that
would be appropriate for the scale of the rooms and the color of
the logs. Frances also selected the windows, interior walls,
kitchen cabinets and floor tile, and specified the size and shape
of the fireplace.
The Pughs are delighted with their new home. Since
Watson retired this winter after practicing medicine in Raleigh
for 50 years, the couple is looking forward to spending more time
there. "We love going there whenever we can," Frances says.
"It doesn't matter what time of year, it's always beautiful in the
mountains."
The Pughs don't anticipate moving there fulltime, however, at
least not for a while. Frances operates a successful
business in Raleigh breeding Morgan horses. They have a
third, lakeside home in Virginia, and still enjoy traveling in
their motor home to other destinations.
But the log home has a special place in
their lives because of their love for the location.
Frances believes that what makes their home special is that it was
built on friendship. Paul, she says "put his heart and soul into
our house. He hand-sanded all the logs and did everything
the way he knew I wanted it."
Earlier this year, Watson learned that it might
be more than a coincidence that he was attracted to log homes.
While researching his family genealogy, he found that his
forebears moved to North Carolina from Albemarle County, Virginia,
and settled in a log home near where he and Frances built theirs.
Log homes may be in their blood, but with their second log home,
the Pughs have certainly advanced the tradition a giant step.
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