Meet Mike Copeland, father of Steve Copeland. Steve learned the butt and pass method from Skip a few years ago, and then he returned to Montana to build the Lucky Dog Lodge. Unfortunately Steve passed away just before the lodge was completed, and Mike, along with many of Steve's friends, stepped in to finish the house and open the lodge.
You can read a fascinating newspaper article about the lodge. It includes many of the details and construction stories that Mike and Steve are both proud of. You can also book the lodge for a Montana getaway or family vacation. Perhaps a romantic weekend at the Lucky Dog Lodge will finally convince your spouse to let you build a log home?
If you'd like to visit a "real" butt and pass log home before you decide to build the real thing, here's your opportunity. Contact Paul House at 406-580-3223 for reservations, or visit the Bozeman Cottage website.
(Click the photos for a larger view)
Mike says the lodge experienced no settling whatsoever after it was built. "Everyone thought we were crazy for not making the window and door openings extra-large to account for settling. In the end there was no settling and all of the windows and doors open and close just like the day they were installed."
For most log homes, builders must cut extra space above each window and door so that when the walls settle, the windows and doors don't get crushed from the weight of the logs. They also install keyways and screw jacks to allow for settling.
However, our butt and pass method does not settle like most log homes, and you do not need settling space, keyways or screw jacks.
The plaque reads, "Steve Copeland, 4-4-63 to 4-4-01, His Spirit Lives in the Mountains and Streams of Montana and in this Lodge," in both English and Japanese. Steve was a writer, photographer and fishing guide who spent much of his time in Japan. This monument was erected at the lodge by many of Steve's friends from Japan.
Believe it or not, the Lucky Dog Lodge was built around an existing home. Steve Copeland lived in the home while he built the lodge. When the log home shell was completed, he disassembled the old house and carried it out through the windows and doors of the log home!
We visited the lodge during winter, which is also the lodge's slow season. We'll try to get back in the summer when the landscape is in full bloom. :)
The home sits on a traditional continuous concrete foundation, but later Steve added river rock and mortar to the outside to make it look like a river rock foundation. Since the river rock is non-structural it is very easy to do. And as you can see, it looks great.
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