Here's Mike Vowels -- builder extraordinaire. Mike took our class in the late 1970's and began building in the early 1980's.
Unfortunately before the project was finished Mike was involved in a skiing accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down, and for the most part abandoned the house project while he recovered and focused on other more pressing issues.
Eventually he returned to the log home project and continued building it up to what you see today, with LOTS of help from friends and subcontractors. Mike says that finishing his home was therapeutic -- helping to close a chapter from his life before the accident -- and opening a new chapter at the same time.
Today Mike is an accessibility advisor and is he is currently spearheading a fund raising campaign to support and coordinate major home improvements intended to better the life of a 29 year old army tank commander returned from Iraq, a quadriplegic. You can read the Seattle times article about the project, or visit Mike's website to make a donation.
Mike lives in this beautiful log home with his wife Karen, son Cole (almost 7) and daughter Alexandra, 9. When Mike's log home was completed, it was so beautiful that it was included in the book, Hands-On Log Homes by Cindy and Art Thiede.
Originally the house began as a 25x25' square with two full stories plus a loft. In the loft Mike's plan included two huge shed dormers (one on each side of the house) to add useable space upstairs. Shed dormers are easier to build than "traditional" dormers, and cost less because they do not alter any planes in your roof, creating hips and valleys that require more work to cover later.
After the accident, Mike decided to add a stick-frame addition and a detached garage, both built with accessible features in mind.
Adding the stick-frame addition gave Mike more useable square footage on the first floor of the home.
Below, you can see Mike's front door. It's stunningly beautiful but it was very inexpensive. It's made from a standard exterior door covered with a sheet of brass that has been chemically treated to give it a nice finish. Oversized hardware completes the look.
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