Log gazebos are features which some of the larger handcrafted log homes possess. The use of an octagonal room enhances the floor plan and allows for more design features for both the exterior and interior of the home. Log gazebos are built from the post and beam style or a square timber frame.

Bitterroot Log Home Plan with Log Gazebos

Here we have the Bitterroot log home design (compliments of 3D Visual Studios). This plan has a post and beam dining area and a second post and beam octagonal covered porch. The multi-sided feel is carried though to the daylight basement. The wrap around porch also follows the ’round’ feeling.

To build the octagonal rooms the round post and beam style is employed in this design. Inside the cathedral ceiling is preserved, instead of a flat ceiling. A scissor truss is used to support the log gazebo and tie it together from the top. Two rows of stacked logs are employed between the vertical posts.

Log gazebos can also be two story. In this case they are considered “Turrets”, just like the ancient Medieval castles of long ago. A post and beam log gazebo can be built into a handcrafted log home, round post and beam home, square timber frame, or even a milled log home. The design above is a handcrafted stacked log home with a post and beam roof system and post and beam gazebo areas.

The apex of log gazebos are seen in the full round handcrafted log homes or round post and beam homes. Usually a round log home actually has anywhere from 8 to 12 sides. The post and beam work carries the weight of the structure. If a stacked log appearance is desired then the stacked logs are usually mortised into the vertical posts.

Uses for log gazebos in luxury log home plans include: dining rooms, music room, studios, breakfast nook, library, or even a master bedroom suite. The larger the diameter the more space the interior allows for. Any room where you desire walls of light, a surrounding view, or just a little different feel, the octagonal rooms work so well.

One caution when adding a log gazebo room to your log or timber home, is be sure to include enough sides. One log home had only three sizes to the octagonal room. From the outside it looked very anemic and did not accomplish the outstanding design element that it could have been for the log home.

Cowboy Log Homes