A couple of weeks ago two of our instructors had the pleasure of meeting up with Larry Kapin (above), who built this beautiful log home in Carnation, Washington after taking our class.
Despite the fact that Larry was busy packing and getting ready to move to China, he graciously took the time to show us around his home, swap construction stories and generally be a great host.
Larry estimated that he had spent approximately $40,000 (US) building this house (including everything -- well, septic, plumbing, wiring, permits, and of course the finished house itself), and another $60,000 on his 5 acres of land. Since he is getting ready to sell the house he had it appraised. The appraisal came in at a whopping $490,000, which Larry says will be helping to fund his retirement -- and some other dreams. If you are interested in buying well-built log homes in Washington drop us an e-mail and we'll get you in touch with Mr. Kapin.
Congratulations on a job well done Larry! We're going to miss you when you're in China, so be sure and send us a postcard!
Larry's 38'x38' log home has a unique single purlin design, as you can see in these photos. Using a single purlin enabled him to increase the square footage of his home enough to serve his needs. At the same time, skipping a symmetrical second purlin saved him both time and money.
Check out this beautiful, flowing balcony above the side door. Larry simply extended two of his girders out the side wall for support.
Larry made this stunning door all by himself out of rough-cut lumber, and then used a special woodworking tool to give it a distressed surface. The result is remarkable when you visit the home.
Here you can see how the light switches turned out.
Larry also handcrafted this beautiful staircase from half-logs. He did all of the work himself.
High ceilings keep you cooler in the summer because the heat rises. Having a ceiling fan helps warm the whole house in the winter. Larry also installed several skylights to make the home extra-bright.
One of the bathrooms was so beautiful we couldn't stop taking pictures of it.
And here's our favorite part -- the secret room! Larry built this bookcase to hide the entrance to the third-floor loft.
At the moment the loft is used for storage and also as an extra bedroom on occasion. That's instructor Ellsworth poking his head up to admire the room.
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