72 |^ Log Home Living^ |^ AUGUST^2019
TOP: The view from the dining room
includes the dry-stack fireplace, kitchen
with island for eating or food prep and
the entrance hall.ABOVE:The Baileys enjoy the outdoors
from a screened porch that opens
onto a deck. The home was designed
and manufactured by Honest Abe
Log Homes and built by Honest Abe
independent dealer and contractor
Jim Elkins.SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTIONJanuary 2013, I brought her to the farm.
There was 8 inches of snow on the
ground. It looked like a Christmas card. I
thought when she saw how far out in the
woods this is, she might do a 180-degree
change. Not so. She loved what she saw.”
In 2013 Chuck and Ann made a trip
to Honest Abe’s headquarters in Tennes-
see, visiting all four Honest Abe models,
examining the quality of manufacturing
and continuing to gather ideas. They
modified the Westport plan and added
a laundry room/mudroom between the
home and the two-car garage.
They chose a 12-inch D log with a
dovetail finish and chose a green metal
roof, a covered front porch and a full
walkout basement.
“Ann and I were married on Dec. 6,
2013 – soon after construction began,”
Chuck said. “It seemed like we spent
every Friday date night at Lowe’s, Men-
ard’s or Home Depot picking out light-
ing fixtures, plumbing fixtures, show-ers and bathtubs, cabinets, countertops,
fireplace inserts, stone for the fireplace,
stain, roofing colors, interior doors,
acoustical tile, carpeting, vinyl flooring,
door knobs, insulation, stone flooring,
shower doors and a hot tub. What am I
leaving out?”
The Baileys made several trips out
of state to find accessories for the cab-
in. The interior doors, rocking chairs
and coat rack came from Amish crafts-
men in Ohio.
The porch swings, gliders and ex-
terior rocking chairs came from Gatlin-
burg, Tennessee. Ann crafted a copper
sink for the half bath from a used wine
barrel that the couple found in Wyo-
ming. The Bailey-name log at the end of
the driveway came from a chainsaw art-
ist in Trenton, Missouri.
Between the two of them, Ann and
Chuck have seven children and 17 grand-
children, so family visits had to be con-
sidered in the design.