Of all of the luxury log home plans featured here on Cowboy Log Homes, there are some which are my personal favorites. The use of certain log home features make these plans more unique and distinguished compared to their rivals. So take a short walk with me through some of our log home plans and let me show them to you through a log home builder’s eyes.

Log Home Feature # 1

Prow log fronts- this is the feature where the front of the home comes out in a V shape. One of our larger floor plans with this feature is the Idaho log home plan. The prow on this plan is 24 feet wide and steps out seven or eight feet from the foot print of the home. This large prow allows the viewer to look out of the home to the sides.

No prow would be complete without large trapezoid windows. This combination of prow and windows is found on the “view side” of the log home plan. Very seldom do preliminary drawings have a ‘front and rear’. Instead the focus is on making each side of the home so lovely that any  of them could be the front. In the log home world most companies prefer to use view side and entry side, or view side elevation and front side elevation. A prow is not a cheap addition to a plan, but when you are building a million dollar log home then cost is not the only focus.

Idaho Log Home Plan

Log Home Feature #2

Log Gazebos- this is where a multi-sided post and beam section is incorporated into the plan. It is easy to imagine a log gazebo adorning the yard, but how could it be tied into a floor plan? The answer is– very simply! Log gazebos can be two stories tall, serve as a master bedroom suite, act as a dining room, or be part of a great room. These octagonal shaped rooms provide a break in the straight walls of a plan. In one custom log home plan the two story gazebo served as housing for the spiral staircase.

Notice the Nevada City log home plan below. The five sided gazebo is added to the side of the great room. Here it is used as a dining room. It adds more living space to the great room area. When a five sided room is added to a log home the octagonal section is built from post and beam work and tied into the log wall.

Nevada City First Floor Plan with Gazebo Dining Room

Log Home Feature #3

Master Suites– that are fit for the master. By the time many of our homeowners build their log cabin kit here in Montana or in other parts of the country they are at retirement or pre-retirement age. To them the great room and kitchen is very important, but the master suite is also of utmost concern. The ‘sweetening up’ of this honey of a set of rooms is the way the owner pampers themselves. For years they may have owned a home that was very functional for their family, but now it is time for them to spoil themselves. Having a master suite that is somewhat separate from the general living space of the home adds privacy. To have a place to retreat from company, sit and sew or absorb a favorite book, and just be cozy is a thrust of luxury log home floor plans.

Master suites need to be designed specifically for the owners. One of my favorite suites has a separate sitting room added, two separate walk in closets, two large vanities, and a private balcony.

One other way that a master suite was made unique within a smaller luxury log cabin plan is the Montana. In this home the master suite is located on the end of the home. The open loft area was limited to only over the hallway and bedrooms number 2 and 3. Then the master suite ceiling opened up to the peak height of 22 feet. This dramatic ceiling was enhanced with skylights and cedar ceilings and walls.

Cathedral Ceiling in Montana Plan Master Suite

Log Home Feature #4

Wrap around porches- like a mansion. Wrap around porches add so much to the plan. They provide a place for sitting, visiting, outdoor cooking, and even outdoor kitchens. For invalids the porches also provide a way to get outside without stepping down onto the ground. Some  luxury log homes that we designed for a customer in Ten Sleep Wyoming had to have all wrap around porches so that the matriarch of the family could ride her battery powered scooter around the home. Though this added 1500 square feet or more to the plan, the wrap around porches made that home.

Log Home Feature #5

Exterior balconies- for the romantic. From the point of view of usefulness, a balcony is not very usable space. From the perspective of loveliness, balconies add much to a home. Balconies can be added to the dormers on each side of the center section of a log home. An upper balcony can be added on one side of the home to provide some exterior private space for the master suite.

Any home can be built large and rambling, but unless the homeowner invests in some of these more expensive upgrades the log home will always lack quality and charm that sets it apart from others. Luxury log home plans do not have to have all five of these features, but depending on the overall square footage I believe that at least some of these should be added to the home. This is the type of homes that have become signature for us over the years.

Cowboy Log Homes