Nov.-Dec. 2015
A Christmas Visit Free Bath Design Webinar Client Becomes Dealer 2016 Events Announced Christmas Home Tour Dec. 12 Honest Abe Wins National Awards
Our People Nov.-Dec. 2015
In this issue... Ed White is retiring in December as Direct Sales Representative at the Cookeville Honest Abe Sales Model after 13 years. He says he’s enjoyed watching customers’ homes evolve from a plan in their minds to a set of construction plans to the actual construction and the move in. His reward has been in having customers become friends along the way.
A Christmas Visit (Tour), p. 4 Client Becomes Dealer, p. 10 National Awards for HA, p. 11 Bathroom Webinar, p. 12 Cooking with Lodge Recipe, p. 13
Honest Abe Living editing, design and layout by Claudia Johnson, Director of Marketing
Honest Abe’s Marketing and Design Teams were honored with 2016 Jerry Rouleau awards from the NAHB Building Systems Council. Read more about the awards on page 11.
Connect with Honest Abe Facebook – Like us on our Facebook fan page and join the growing community. Pinterest – Make your board more beautiful by pinning Honest Abe pictures. Google+ – Join the Honest Abe circle for photos, news, ideas and more. Twitter – Articles, resources, photo galleries and log home news, all shared here first.
Wayne & Cindy Parent are Honest Abe homeowners who opened Virginia Mountain Log Homes after a positive experience building their own log home. Read their story on page 10. HonestAbe.com
YouTube – Watch and learn about log and timber frame homes on our YouTube station. LinkedIn – Follow company and log home industry news on our LinkedIn company profile page. 2
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For photos, floor plans and much more visit
www.honestabe.com Find Honest Abe Living articles, stunning photography and more information at the Honest Abe Log Homes blog and news room. www.honestabe.com/blog Honest Abe Living Nov.-Dec. 2015
From the President’s Desk by Josh Beasley, President, Honest Abe Log Homes Held on Saturdays, the free event begins at 9 a.m. and includes light morning refreshments and free lunch. Required registration is now open online at www.honestabe.com/events/ for the 2016 dates, Jan. 23, April 30, July 16 or Sept. 17, or by calling 800-231-3695. July is National Log Cabin Month, and Honest Abe Log Homes’ Direct Sales Centers in Tennessee and its Independent Dealerships across the country celebrate with special events. Check www.honestabe.com/events/ and follow Honest Abe on Facebook, Google+ and Twitter for updates about home tours, open houses, construction site visits, log raisings, home shows, demonstrations and more. Attending a Log and Timber Home Show is the perfect opportunity to get started planning a dream home. That’s why Honest Abe Log Homes is a sponsor of these informative shows, hosts a booth and is a participant in the accompanying Log Home University held throughout the year in various U.S. locations. Some of the exciting things to do at a Log & Timber Home Show might include obtaining price estimates on a dream home, viewing hundreds of floor plan ideas, finding land for sale, purchasing interesting décor or meeting editors from Log Home Living, Timber Home Living and Cabin Home Living. For information and registration visit www.thelogandtimberhomeshow.com. Keep informed about opportunities to indulge the passion for log and timber homes by registering at honestabe.com/request-info.
Honest Abe Events Inform, Inspire Honest Abe Log Homes wants to inform and inspire anyone who’s looking to build a log or timber frame home. That’s why events and activities are planned throughout the year to give wood home enthusiasts the chance to learn more about products, plans and procedures as well as visit a variety of types of wood homes. On Saturday, Dec. 12, Honest Abe invites the public to a free Christmas Log Home Tour featuring three homes in the Tennessee Cumberland Plateau region. The tour begins at 10 a.m. at the Honest Abe Crossville Model Home Center where guests may tour the 2,900square-foot D-log Cambridge, Honest Abe’s newest floor plan. After refreshments, visitors will proceed to the Wilson House, a 4,100-square-foot round-log home on 20 rural acres dedicated to an appreciation for nature. The final stop is the 1,600-square-foot square-log Clayton Cabin built to capture the style and spirit of early Tennessee pioneers. Get more information at www.honestabe.com/christmas-log-home-tour or by calling 800-886-4864. On four separate occasions in 2016 Honest Abe hosts Log Raising and Manufacturing Tours at its National Headquarters in Moss, Tenn., during which members of the company build a small structure, showing and describing the process of building an Honest Abe home.
Log Raising Honest Abe Log Homes National Headquarters Moss, Tenn. Jan. 23, 2016 9 a.m.-12 p.m. HonestAbe.com
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Climate controlled building. Lunch served. Tour of kiln & mill. Families welcome. Limited seating. Reservations required. FREE event. Register online at www.honestabe.com or call 800-231-3695
Honest Abe Living Nov.-Dec. 2015
A Christmas
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Honest Abe Living Nov.-Dec. 2015
Visit
Christmas Log Home Tour On Saturday, Dec. 12, Honest Abe Log Homes and two Honest Abe homeowners invite the public for a Christmas visit. The 2015 Christmas Log Home Tour features three homes in the Tennessee Cumberland Plateau region. It begins at 10 a.m. at the Honest Abe Crossville Model Home Center, 448 Crabtree Road, Crossville, Tenn., where free tickets and refreshments will be available before beginning the tour. For detailed information visit www.honestabe.com/christmas-loghome-tour or call 800-886-4864.
Clayton Cabin Pictured on the cover of this issue of Honest Abe Living, the Clayton cabin, one of three stops of the Christmas Log Home Tour, was custom designed, manufactured and built by Honest Abe Log Homes in a creative collaboration with the homeowners, who conceived of a cabin that captured the simplicity, beauty and spirit of early Tennessee log homes. Honest Abe’s Genesis 6” x 12” square log style provided a v-groove allowing for a 1” interior optional chink line, which combined with the exposed ceiling beams and variegated wideplank hardwood flooring, created the historic interior the homeowners imagined (left). To maintain the ambience of an early Tennessee cabin, the only overhead lighting is by candle. Read about the Clayton Cabin at www.honestabe.com/back-in-time. HonestAbe.com
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Honest Abe Living Nov.-Dec. 2015
Wilson Home Situated on a 20-acre rural property between Crossville and Cookeville, the Wilson Home is a 4,100-square-foot, twostory house made of 8” round Eastern white pine logs and customized from Honest Abe’s Bellewood plan. The home design as well as their decorating choices reflect the homeowners’ love of the outdoors and appreciation for nature. The homeowners welcome visitors for one of three stops on the Honest Abe Christmas Log Home Tour.
One of the homeowners’ favorite pieces is the handcrafted dining table (above) made of walnut tree trunks for legs with polished walnut planks on top. The arched windows in the great room (right) were one of the main design requirements. Taxidermists with displays in museums and major retailers nationwide, the homeowners chose a two-story fireplace of desert-toned Centurion stone for their bison mount. For a photo gallery of the home, a drone video of the property’s ponds and other outdoor features and stories published about the home in national magazines, visit www.honestabe.com/project/wilson. HonestAbe.com
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Honest Abe Living Nov.-Dec. 2015
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Honest Abe Living Nov.-Dec. 2015
The Cambridge The Christmas Log Home Tour begins w i t h re f res h m ent s at Cro s s v i l l e’s magnificent new model, a 2,900-squarefoot, two-story home surrounded by 1,700 feet of porches. Built from Honest Abe Log Homes’ most recent floor plan, the Cambridge, the house embodies the spirit of a new generation of wood homeowners. Incorporating both log and timber frame elements, the exterior of the Cambr idge combines traditional ly dovetailed Eastern White Pine 8" x 12" DLogs with elements of the Craftsman style, including rock pylons, double wooden po rc h po st s an d e x po s ed t r u s s es underneath a wide front gable.
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Honest Abe Living Nov.-Dec. 2015
The open plan of the 1,864-squarefoot first floor, complete with a seethrough fireplace as a centerpiece of the dining, living and kitchen areas, invites conversation and celebration. Double patio doors open onto an expansive covered porch with a wood-burning fireplace, extending the downstairs living space. The great room staircase leads to a 956-square-foot second floor. Instead of a typical loft, the landing creates an open room soaked in light from vaulted ceilings and warmed by a second-story fireplace. To learn more about the Cambridge, visit www.honestabe.com/cambridgemodel-home.
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Honest Abe Living Nov.-Dec. 2015
Honest Abe Independent Dealers Wayne and Cindy Parent, like many Honest Abe dealers, live in the log home they use as a model. The Parents opened Virginia Mountain Log Homes in their Roseland, Va., home in 2014 with a desire to help other log home lovers navigate the process from dream through design to construction and completion. “We believe the warmth and beauty of a log home cannot be matched by any other type of conventional construction,” Wayne said. “Living in a log home was a long-time goal of ours, and it has been a great experience since we moved into our Honest Abe log home in 2012.” Situated on the east side of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the Parent home is an Honest Abe modified Highlander floor plan with a full-length porch, wrap-around deck, full basement and two-car garage. “We wanted a light airy atmosphere in our dream home, and the almost full glass on the front of our home has achieved that for us,” Cindy said.” The Parents said they found their selection of Honest Abe Log Homes to design and produce their logs to be the key to the success of their project. “Honest Abe is a nationally recognized company that has been continuously producing log homes for 35 years,” Parent said. “Honest Abe has focused on quality while improving their process continuously for the entire period. We chose Honest Abe after several years of research, including visits to model homes and actual constructions in progress. We know we made a sound decision to go with Honest Abe.” Wayne said that the experience he and Cindy had with Honest Abe led them to become dealers, and they have enjoyed helping customers over the past year. “There are a number of things we do to help our customers make the necessary decisions to achieve their log home dream,” Wayne said. “We help them make sense of the multitude of floor plans, log designs and materials available today. We work with the customer and the design team at Honest Abe to convert a vision to a set of plans.” The Parents welcome visitors to their home, which is always available to tour by appointment and is open for public touring several times each year. “When someone tours our home, we give insights into how we achieved our dream,” Cindy said. “We know that people contemplating building a log home have many questions because we did. We are confident we can provide answers to them.” Visit www.virginiamountainloghomes.com or call 571- 477-5045 for more information. HonestAbe.com
Virginia Mountain Dream Leads to Home Dealership by Claudia Johnson Honest Abe Log Homes
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Honest Abe Living Nov.-Dec. 2015
Honest Abe Receives National Awards Honest Abe Log Homes has received three national awards as part of the 2016 Jerry Rouleau Awards for Excellence in Marketing and Home Design presented by the National Association of Home Builders, Building Systems Councils. “Winners of this year’s awards did a phenomenal job of showcasing the best marketing and home designs in the building systems industry,” said 2015 Builders Building Systems Councils chairman, Dan Mitchell. “Systems-built technology is the building of the future, and these awards represent what is possible for potential systems-built home owners.” Honest Abe is a 36-year-old manufacturer of log and timber frame homes headquartered in Moss, Tenn., with sales centers in Moss, Crossville, Murfreesboro and Cookeville and Michael Hix won top honors in Excellence in Home independent dealers nationwide. Design in the category of Outstanding Model Log Homes The company was first place winner for Excellence in Home Sales Center for creation of the Cambridge. Design in the category of Outstanding Model Log Home Sales Center for its Cambridge home plan designed for the company’s Crossville Sales Center. Designer of the Cambridge was Michael Hix, a 13-year veteran of the Honest Abe design team. “Michael was given the challenge of creating a building that would incorporate the elements customers want to see when they are in the decision-making process into a floor plan that could stand alone as a home without feeling like a model or showroom,” said Josh Beasley, President of Honest Abe Log Homes. Additionally, Honest Abe was first place winner in the category of Excellence in Marketing by a manufacturer for its website design and execution. Beasley conceptualized the company’s new website, www.honestabe.com, to be easy to navigate on both mobile devices and desktop computers and to provide informative and inspiring materials. Director of Marketing Claudia Johnson further developed Beasley’s innovative design, creating new content and building pages. Together, the pair created a truly customer-centric site. Josh Beasley conceived of the Recognized as an entry of distinction for Excellence in new website's design, with Marketing in the manufacturer’s print advertising u p d a t e d m e s s a g i n g a n d category was Honest Abe’s national advertising presentation developed and xecuted by Beasely and campaign, “Forever Looks Better from Here,” eClaudia Johnson. conceived of by Johnson. “Mike and Claudia create excellent work, so it is great to see individual accomplishment recognized in this setting,” Beasley said of the national awards. Beasley explained that intensely competitive annual Jerry Rouleau Awards for Excellence are judged by an independent panel of industry experts. “Winning these awards is motivating for Honest Abe as a whole,” Beasley said. “We Forever Looks Better From work as a collaborative family and team, so when someone is rewarded like this the Here is Honest Abe's national success is shared, since most everyone has contributed at some level.” print advertising campaign For more information about Honest Abe visit www.honestabe.com or call created by Claudia Johnson. 800-231-3695. HonestAbe.com
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Honest Abe Living Nov.-Dec. 2015
Beautiful Baths: Designing for Form, Function and Forever Register for Free Webinar Hosted by the Editor of Log Home Living Honest Abe's log and timber home customers have discovered that there's no reason a bathroom can't be both functional and beautiful. However, designing a bathroom, whether it's a luxurious master bath, an accommodating guest bathroom or a convenient powder room, does take forethought and planning. There are practical issues to consider like how placement of fixtures and outlets impact or may be determined by positioning of stud walls, plumbing pipes and electrical wires. Issues like noise, ventilation, lighting, drainage and fixture and mirror height must be considered in the design. For most customers, their Honest Abe home is the home they've always wanted, and they plan to live in it forever. That means growing older in the home, so the need to design at least one bathroom that will remain attractive yet serve them if their mobility or other faculties becomes impaired is of prime importance. Of equal importance to practical considerations is how aesthetically pleasing the space is to the homeowner and visitors. With hundreds of options for walls, floors, fixtures, appointments, lighting, windows and decor, there are possibilities for any taste or budget. Join Donna Peak, Editor of Log Home Living, and members of Honest Abe's team on Thursday, Dec. 3, at 7 p.m. CST, for a free webinar on planning arguably the most important room in the house. Click here to register for Beautiful Baths: Designing for Form, Function and Forever.
Holidays look better from here
www.honestabe.com Manufacturers of custom designed log and timber frame
forever homes since 1979.
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Honest Abe Living Nov.-Dec. 2015
Maple Coconut Oatmeal Pie 1 c. sweetened flaked coconut 3/4 c. old-fashioned rolled oats 1/2 c. granulated sugar 1/2 c. firmly packed brown sugar 1/2 c. (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted 3/4 c. pure maple syrup 2 large eggs, beaten 3/4 c. whole or 2% milk 1 (10”) piecrust rolled out and fitted into a 10” cast iron camp Dutch oven 1. In a large bowl mix coconut, oats, both sugars, butter, syrup, eggs and milk. 2. Pour filling into piecrust in the Dutch oven. Put the lid on the oven. Set the Dutch oven on 8 coals and set 15 coals on the lid. Bake for 15 min. 3. Reduce the interior temperature by removing 3 coals from the lid. Continue to bake until the center is just set, 30-40 min. 4. If you used parchment straps and a disk, let the pie cool for 10-15 min. before holding the strips and lifting the pie onto a serving dish. Or, let the pie cool completely in the Dutch oven before slicing. Piecrust These directions are for lining the Dutch oven with the piecrust, but as an alternative, you can use a 10” pie plate and set that down inside a 12” Dutch oven to bake. 3 c. all-purpose flour 1 tsp. sugar 1 large egg
1 tsp. salt 1 c. vegetable shortening Milk as needed
1. In a large bowl, sift the dry ingredients together. Add the shortening and cut in with a pastry blender until the pieces are about the size of peas. Place the egg in a measuring c., beat with a fork, then add enough milk to make 1/2 c. and stir to mix. Slowly add to the flour mixture. Stir with a fork until thoroughly mixed and the dough holds together. Roll the dough into a ball and cover with plastic wrap. Chill for 30 min. 2. Roll the ball out between 2 well-floured pieces of parchment paper into a 12” circle. Line a 10” cast iron Dutch oven with two strips of parchment paper placed in an X and a parchment paper circle cut to fit the bottom of the oven. Transfer the piecrust to the Dutch oven and smooth the dough over the bottom and about 2” up the side of the oven. Crimp the edge of the dough by pinching it between your thumb and index finger. Chill until ready to fill. Makes a 9” pie.
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With 200 recipes curated from Lodge's network of chefs and fans, Cast Iron Nation boasts a diverse array of recipes, stories and spectacular photography. Get it at www.lodgemfg.com.
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Honest Abe Living Nov.-Dec. 2015
Forever looks better from here
www.honestabe.com
800-231-3695 Manufacturers of custom designed log and timber frame
forever homes since 1979.