AUGUST 2019 | Log Home Living | (^71)
S
ome dreams are too strong to let go, and
that’s why Chuck Bailey never gave up on
his hope for a hideout in the woods.
“I lived at my parents’ cottage in Brown
County, Indiana, while attending Indiana Uni-
versity,” Chuck said. “After graduating in 1974,
I moved to North Carolina to begin my profes-
sional career, hoping that someday I would be
able to come back to this special place.”
Fast forward 33 years to 2007. After 31
years of marriage and having raised four chil-
dren, Chuck and his wife Terri were finally
empty nesters. Chuck was ready for country
living, and though Terri was reluctant, the
couple started exploring property suitable for
building. But in four years everything would
change for Chuck.
“When Terri died in August 2011 after bat-
tling cancer for nine years, it was time for me
to start a new chapter in my life,” Chuck said.
“Good friends cautioned me not to make
any changes to my life during the first year of
being a widower. Don’t sell your home, don’t
quit your job and don’t make any rash decisions.
That was good advice, but the desire to retire
to a log cabin in Brown County had long been
in the back of my mind. It was time to move on
my dream.”
Chuck’s proverbial stars began to align,
when he was offered the chance to buy 79 acres
of land, 74 of it hardwood forest.
The perfect building site was about 750
feet off the road – over a hill where it could
not be seen from the road and overlooking a
picturesque one-acre lake.
“I began researching log cabins in earnest,”
he recalled. “I checked out a lot of companies
online, ordered floor plan books and spent a
lot of evenings alone looking at plans. I wanted
something that had all of the living area on one
floor so I wouldn’t have to climb steps as I got
older, and enough space for the kids and grand-
kids to come and visit. I found a plan from
Honest Abe Log Homes that came close to fit-
ting what I was looking for, the Westport.”
Soon Chuck accepted an invitation to visit
a construction site from James Elkins, an Hon-
est Abe independent dealer with 50 years of
experience in building structures of all types,
dozens of them Honest Abe Log homes.
“Jim introduced himself and explained
that he was an Honest Abe dealer and a car-
penter,” Chuck said. “I was impressed that
his crew of four had seniority from 10 to 23
years. That is unheard of in construction. He
told me that if I wanted a beautiful home, he
could build it for me.”
Chuck hired Jim to build the pole barn dur-
ing the summer of 2013 as a test of the quality
of Jim’s work before hiring him to build a cabin.
Chuck was satisfied with Jim’s construction and
decided to move forward with the design of the
log cabin with him and Honest Abe.
“This project had started out to be a man
cave for me, as it was my dream to live in the
woods,” Chuck said. “On New Years Eve 2012,
I took Ann Garrison out on our first date.
On our second date during the first week of
SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
LEF T: The focal point of this
home is the 22-foot-tall dry-
stack fireplace created by a
friend of the Baileys who is a
local stonemason.
RIGHT: Chuck and Ann
Bailey’s home in the forest
by a private lake in Brown
County, Indiana, is a 12-inch
D log with a dovetail finish, a
green metal roof, a covered
front porch and a full walkout
basement. The Baileys chose
the Honest Abe Westport
Plan, which was modified to
meet their dream concept.
brent
(Brent)
#1