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Ohio Couple Turns 20 Year Dream Into A Reality

2006 Update

This article was originally published in 1998. Since then, the Ferguson's have enjoyed their home immensely. In their words:

"We have lived in our Log Home eleven years this August, 2006. Have added a number of things including a small green house, Hickory wide planked flooring to our great room, several pieces of furniture I made in our shop, a building to house my stained glass shop and lawn and garden equipment, about 4000 flowers including annuals and perennials, several grand children and lots of computerized equipment.

Life in a Log Home is still a delight to all of us. We have had 62 folks for Christmas Celebration complete with a live band. We seem to entertain a herd of white tailed deer numbering about 25 most of the time, folks still stop in front of the home or pull into our driveway to "Oggle" and have even had someone cup their hands to a bedroom door/window so they could see inside??????"

Was it Benjamin Franklin who said, "A job worth doing is worth doing well."? OR, "Necessity is the mother of invention."? Well if he did, then the Marion Ferguson Family of Beavercreek, OH has apparently taken the advice to heart. It seems they had a dream of one day living in and owning their own log home. Nowadays, dreaming of that perfect log home in the woods, with the family and friends all around being warmed by the big stone fireplace, seems to be more popular than ever. After twenty plus years of dreaming the dream, Marion and his wife, Denise, began to take action towards living it.

They were first going to build a conventional home, but after drawing several sets of plans without liking a one, and visiting several log homes during a vacation in 1993, they decided there was only one type of home they would be happy with. Now, any of you who know homes know also that any square footage over 2,000 is a good size home. Well, what would you say to 6,400 ft.² ? As Marion describes it, "I drew the plans within the next few weeks and from the original thought of about 2500 square feet the home grew like "Mopsy" to 6400 square feet including the garage and small wood shop." Even with the garage and shop, there's still 4,000 square feet of living space - a spacious home by any standards. The home even boasts a 1,000 square foot deck with a twelve foot, octagon shaped gazebo.

The Fergusons never found a kit home they were satisfied with, so, drawing upon his many years of construction experience building all types of structures, Marion decided to take on the task himself. For those of you who are only weekend home repair warriors, this is not a project to take on lightly.

"I drew the plans...and from the original thought of about 2500 square feet the home grew like "Mopsy" to 6400 square feet..."

With the help of family and good friends, the Fergusons began the arduous task of laying the milled logs in place. Marion devised jigs to cut the corners and end joints which aided the process, but it was still rather slow going. An additional challenge in constructing any log home is how to compensate for settling around the windows and doors. No matter how dry the logs are when you first get them, they'll always tend to experience additional drying and shrinkage. There are various methods for handling this matter, the most common of which seems to be to create a gap above each window and door frame to allow for the settling. However, since there are so many windows close together in their great room (above photo), Marion chose a more novel approach by encasing each window in a frame of timbers. The timbers bear the load of any settling, allowing the windows to sit without pressure in each frame.

The home is bolted with through bolts and the upper level and front wall are on screw jacks. This set-up allows Marion to lower the house as the logs settle and shrink. He certainly seems to have thought of everything in building this masterpiece. But, then again, isn't that always how it goes when you are doing it for yourself?

The Great Room boasts of massive timber trusses which are assembled with mortise and tenon joints with oak pegs. The trusses weigh 2500 pounds each! Notice the limestone in the fireplace (right). It took 15 tons of the limestone to complete it. The result is as beautiful as it is functional.


Moving on to the kitchen, the photo shows three sides of it. It features a built-in desk (on right of image), roll-out food storage, a built-in microwave cabinet, and a storage cabinet. Also note the range hood is of the same wood as the cabinets for a perfect match. Both the natural light and artificial light blend to give the kitchen that warm cozy log home feel.

Above the great room, and behind the fireplace is the loft which offers a cozy retreat to study or relax from the rest of the house. What more fitting of a place could you have to put a library? That's exactly what the Fergusons did. They can curl up with a good book on a cold winter day while the pockets of heated air drift their way upward to the loft. The view from up there also lends a feeling of warmth to the scene. From the natural looking handrails, to the light easing in through the spacious windows of the great room, it's a joy to gaze at. Or, as Marion would say, "Living in a Log Home is the epitome of human comfort. Your soul seems to relax and God certainly meant for Heaven to be such as this."

Last, but not least, we come to the master bedroom. And, what a room it is! It measures 28 feet by 16 feet and boasts of a 8 foot by 14 foot walk-in closet and a 14 foot by 14 foot bathroom. It seems as though you could move a small house into that room! Let's face it, though, if you were building your dream home, wouldn't you make it as comfortable and roomy as possible?

To sum it all up, building a log home yourself will surely have its rewards and pleasures. However, unless you can look beyond the maze of logs and dirt, you may want to consider spending the money and have someone do it for you. Marion Ferguson drew upon his years of expertise in construction to tackle this task himself. The result is a beautifully spacious home that is the envy of all who visit it.

You can read more about the construction of the Ferguson's home and view other photos by visiting their website at http://www.erinet.com/avw/. [LHNZ]