aAfter 25 years of living in a Northern Michigan city, Milt and Christine Kniss began planning their secluded country home in the woods. “I grew up in this area and lived on a farm and Milt grew in a small town in Michigan, so we both wanted to get back to our roots after living in town for many years,” says Christine. “Milt travels quite a bit so we wanted a home that would be our quiet retreat.”

They first selected land on a lake that was connected to a larger chain of lakes near their home. They found six isolated acres on a lake that had quiet waterways and plenty of woods to explore. “We took two and a half years clearing, burning and making the site perfect for the house,” says Milt.

The couple hadn’t settled on the type of home at that point. “Milt suggested that we go to Boyne City and look at the Town & Country Cedar Homes log home model, but I had been resisting since I wasn’t sure I wanted to have a log home,” says Christine. “The minute I walked into their models, I knew that this was what we had been looking for. The combination of log and Sheetrock was the right combination for us”

They selected the Mountain View floor plan from the Town

& Country plan book and cus-

tomized it to their tastes. They added and subtracted logs and wood wherever the home needed a bit of color or to break up the uniformity. The main room, however, got the royal wood treatment: soaring cathedral ceilings of tongue and groove pine, stacked white cedar logs for walls, and darkened knotty oak floors.

Three items on the Kniss’ wish list were full-length porches on the front and back, an open central space, and a sizable master bath. Further alterations included the addition of French doors between the dining room and great room, a couple more windows in the great room, the application color throughout

the home, and a covered porch.

Light is always an important consideration in a log home, and although this home has plenty of southern exposure in the rear, there is always a need for a bit more when the room is more than 500 square feet in size. As Christine was walking through the great room during construction, she realized the need for a few more windows. “I thought we should bring in a little more light, so I asked our project manager, Todd Shumaker, if we could add a window to the east and west wall.”

The double gable front (above) lowers the sightline for an inviting entrance. An arched window in the front door mimics the arched facia on the porch entrance. The Kniss’ dog Murray (right) keeps an eye on front yard for trespassing deer, turkey, and fox that often visit the property.

“The Knisses always had great suggestions,” says Shumaker. “It was very easy to add the windows at that stage and it made a big difference in the room.” Another change that was made along the way was the addition of a porch on the back of the breezeway. “Originally the porch went across the back from the master bedroom to the dining

Next to the front door are two birch-woven rocking chairs sitting on a cheery braided rug (right), ready for an afternoon read. A fishing creel hangs on the wall.