Touring a Stunning Log Home Mansion

Imagine receiving the task of designing a dream log home. You have a riverfront property, access to the finest materials, and unbridled creative freedom to create something truly extraordinary. Well, that was the task set to the team that designed Elk River Manor, and today I'm excited to take you inside one of the most extraordinary log homes in the United States. I had the opportunity to speak with the man who designed this log home, Don Gessinger, so during this tour, which was made possible by listing agent Dave Maloney, I'll share what I learned about the design and build process. Built by Pioneer Log Homes, this project began in 2007. The homeowner had recently purchased two adjoining lots on either side of the Elk River, so the river actually runs through the middle of the property. The initial plan was to build a 6,000 square foot vacation residence, yet after talking to the team at Pioneer, the project more than doubled in size, and to elevate the challenge, the client wanted this log home completed in a matter of months. So while Don said that most design drafts require a minimum of six months, he finished the first draft of this one in just three days. When I first talked to designer Don Gessinger about his favorite aspects of this home, one of them was right here at the entry. His goal with the design was to create a dramatic entrance that invites you up to the front door, so he set the entrance of the home back from the porte-cachere so that all of the angles point inward, and that also allows space for this really dramatic walkway. Now the exterior set some pretty high expectations for the interior, but I don't think it disappoints. You see a lot of homes you walk into them and they really rely on decor to create that wow factor, but with this home, the logs themselves really take your breath away. As you open the front door, you're immediately greeted by the flared end of a western red cedar log that must be well over 50 inches in diameter. Don wanted to create a forest-like feel here in the foyer, so there are more posts than are structurally necessary. One of the challenges of building this log home was ensuring each room was built to scale. He explained that the client wanted each room to feel grand and spacious, but in doing so, you lose that sense of warmth and comfort. So Don's goal was to bring down the scale of the great room while still allowing it to have grand characteristics, so instead of dividing the room with walls, his solution to reduce the scale of the room was to add definition throughout the ceiling. Specifically, he used these staggered flared log ends which break up the great room into various sections without interrupting the flow. So you still have some impressive grand aspects like the vaulted ceiling and the soaring stone fireplace, but it still feels well proportioned and balanced. The property sits on 19.2 acres, which we've got about 15 acres on the other side of the river here. It borders the Route National Forest, so basically what you see in the distance there is all Route National Forest, over a million acres, all kinds of outdoor recreational opportunities out there, so that's fantastic. Now you might have noticed that the layout of this home is really long, and when I talked to the designer, this was actually intentional. The very first time the client met with the team from Pioneer to discuss this project, they were walking through various homes under construction when the client paused at one particular structure that had a 120 degree corner. He commented that the angle reminded him of the bend of the Elk River, which is why the current shape of this home mirrors the river's path, and many of the rooms in this home are a rectangular shape. He also wanted to have each room have a view of the river, and you'll notice that Don incorporated many windows into the design. I learned that post and beam designs provide more flexibility with window placement and size than a full log home. With a full log home, windows must be placed several feet from the corner, whereas with the post and beam design, they can place glass directly against the log post. So if you enjoy hosting large gatherings, you never have to worry about having too many cooks in the kitchen. The homeowners wanted a chef's kitchen, and they really went all out with two prep counters, two sinks, and even two dishwashers. There are also a handful of luxury touches like the triple pencil edge on the prep counters. This brown rainforest granite countertop and the tile patterns is also a theme that you'll see later in the tour. Now if you look at this kitchen, you might say, well where is the refrigerator? I don't see a lot of the appliances, and that's because they're hidden behind these beautiful cabinets. This area here was actually the current owner's one of their favorite places because you can get up in the morning, have your cup of coffee, you can just sit here and watch the river roll by. The windows also provide plenty of natural lighting and of course excellent views of the river. So from the great room, you have an entire wing of the house that's dedicated to the primary living space. There's office, a den, wet bar, and then the master suite. So let's take a look. So this area is the library slash den. I could definitely use this as the office for Rustic Insider. This is another place where you'll see two large windows overlooking the driveway, but remember that Don's goal was to have every room of the house have a view of the Elk River? Well he created a window pass between the study and the seating area to ensure that even the study had a view of the river. So here in the master bedroom, this is one of my favorite spaces and there are a few things that I want to highlight that it does really well. Remember the dilemma Don faced with the great room? Well the same thing happened here. The client wanted a grand bedroom with high ceilings and abundant space, though Don felt that a large open room would feel overwhelming and especially in a bedroom you want a sense of tranquility and protection. So we had to figure out a way to bring down the scale of the room while still allowing it to have an impressive flare. The first thing that he did was add a small fireplace. A fireplace is naturally an object of comfort and Don explained that it helped him break up the massive square footage of this bedroom and if you gaze upward you'll also see something unique in the roofing system. Here in the fireplace it has its own vaulted ceiling and then when you cross over here into the bedroom this also has a vaulted ceiling along with a beautiful log truss here. This complex system of log beams, trusses, valleys, and rafters allowed Don to create what he described as a nested feeling overhead and it doesn't end there. You'll see yet another log truss directly above the bed which features another one of Pioneer's signature log end flares. Having the roof system in view from other areas of the bedroom creates a protected and contained feeling throughout the space. In addition to creating a sense of wonder these logs also provide a sensation of strength overhead that reinforces that comforting feeling. Oh this is incredible. There's also a balcony off to the side. The stone you see on the exterior is moss rock that was hand selected from Colorado. And just when you think that you've seen everything there is to see in this home there's even more. Now this is probably one of the most unique showers that I've seen. It's actually a walk-in shower over here and the exact same walk-out shower over here. You'll also see that this space is really well lit with the gable windows above and then you have recessed lights on either side of the aisle. This bathroom also had the same brown rainforest granite countertops that you saw earlier in the kitchen along with that triple pencil edge and hammered copper sinks. Wow I just I feel speechless when I come up here. I feel that there's nothing I can say that can fully communicate just the scale and the character of these logs. I find many homes of this scale use luxury materials and trendy styles to impress visitors but these western red cedar logs create an organic beauty that captures the essence of the outdoors. So I appreciate the way Dawn and the team at Pioneer managed to capture the vibe of a cozy log home in a 15,000 square foot floor plan and they didn't overlook the details either. So as you come down we have one guest suite on this on this side. Your guests will not be wanting for enough space. Dawn added window bays not just to maximize the views of the Elk River but also to make the exterior facade more interesting. See Dawn knew that the footprint of this home should follow the river but that meant that the home would be a very long wall a 246 foot wall to be exact but he despised the idea of a flat plain 246 foot wall so to make the facade more interesting he added these window bays and dormers and these additions also create interesting lines on the interior of each room. I think if I were invited to stay overnight I would probably choose to stay in this room if I was given my option. That's the mountain circle wilderness area right outside the window here so in addition to being able to see the river coming in from the north you also have the beautiful view of the mountains which is what makes this my favorite of the guest suites. Now remember the breakfast nook from downstairs? Well this bedroom sits directly above it and similar to the dormers and window bays you saw earlier Dawn added this turret primarily to break up the riverside facade. There's also yet another suite above the garage which you can enter either through the garage or the mudroom. While it's referred to as a guest suite it's really an entire apartment complete with a kitchenette and two bedrooms. Now you could choose to go down the stairs but if you're not feeling it you can also use the elevator and here we are made it safely down to the lower floor. Welcome to the basement so off to the left you'll see the same turret from the breakfast nook above. It currently serves as additional living space though it was previously an exercise room which is why the accompanying bathroom is set up sort of like a locker room complete with a steam shower. To the other side is an office that also doubles as an excellent space for storing fly fishing equipment and there's also a mudroom with additional space for cleaning anything that you caught. Each part of this log home is really well compartmentalized and this hallway is a great transition that then welcomes you into the entertainment section of this home. So we have this large family room down here with a wet bar. I like the golden aspen leaf motif that they used in the tile because the aspen trees here in the area once you kind of get into September early October that all just turn this beautiful golden color. So this mosaic on the floor here they kind of laid this in in between the travertine just you know another one of those little touches. I came over one time and watched the Georgia was in the college championship. Owners are just maniacal Georgia bulldog fans so I had the good fortune of just hanging out here and watching the college championship football game. And then if your favorite team isn't winning you can just calm yourself off by going out to the river. That's right yeah we won't talk about what happened on that particular day. Off to the other side they added a pool table to this window bay area. So I think that it was really clever that they incorporated it in this room that also has these window bays so there's plenty of room to navigate because yes I think we know that when we're playing games things can get rowdy. That's right yeah they left plenty of room like you could I mean you could really picture having a serious pool competition going on here. Lastly down here on the on the walkout level is we have a whole another guest suite. This guest suite is directly below the master suite and therefore mirrors its design with a fireplace in a similar location. But because most guests visiting aren't going to need a massive walk-in closet they opted to make this nook behind the bed a walk-in shower. This shower is incredible not just because of the size but also again the level of detail here both on the walls as well as the floor. They carried over the rainforest marble into this giant soaking tub here yeah and just like the the main suite upstairs you have the two vanities very similar layout with the with the closets and desk there for in this case I think maybe more just get yeah more just getting ready for the day kind of thing. Awesome. You've seen the inspiration of the Elk River throughout the design of this home so this tour would not be complete without taking a walk outside. So welcome back to the great outdoors. There is just such a sense of serenity and peace out here I felt it upstairs and I feel it again down here. They opted for a stone patio as Don wanted the hardscaping to organically flow down into the river and by taking a minimalist approach to the patio here the facade of the home really makes a statement. When I asked Don about his reflections from this project he said it was both a great opportunity and a great responsibility given the homeowner's grand vision the exceptional piece of property and the available resources. Today Elk River Manor is a project that he's proud to have designed and I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to experience his vision and share it with the world. Well I hope you enjoyed this tour and got some great design ideas and if you want more log home tours like this be sure to subscribe to Rustic Insider where we bring you exclusive log home tours and experiences.