The Escalante Gravitas is proud to announce being awarded Timber Home Living’s 4th Annual Top 5 Floor Plans Design Award. Our model, “The Escalante” is appearing in the March issue of Timber Home Living, which will be on newsstands February 10th. The original home is to be built in Snowmass, Colorado, using the latest in [...] Read More

For this Behind the Log Home Scenes post we will share a bit of advice from Rick Friesen of Caribou Creek Log Homes. This is part of a lengthy interview that you can read in its entirety on Log Cabin Directory. With permission, I have extracted some information that will be appropriate for many of [...] Read More

I am very excited to be working with a young couple in Boise on the design of their home using the Not So Big tenants of Design. This will be an urban infill project in the North End of Boise (our original residential district just North of Downtown). We have been touting Sarah Susanka’s books [...] Read More

The Oswego is a home we designed for a client in Loveland, Colorado. This gentleman gave the home to his wife as a surprise gift. It was our first covert design operation where we had to plan our meetings and our calls at select times to keep it all undercover. This is a basic getaway [...] Read More

Recently we created a gem of a home with Hand-Crafted Log Homes from Dublin, Virginia.  It holds 3,760 SF of traditional log home appeal, with 4 bedrooms, and 4 1/2 baths. The Madison is the quintessential log home plan with a few features that you don’t always see. A large Grand Entry with a double [...] Read More

The Fraser was designed for a dramatic site outside of Breckenridge, Colorado for Atrium Log Homes.  This design utilizes logs milled in Finland by Honka.  It contains 2306 SF on three levels, with 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 bathrooms, and a 2 car garage. Honka’s unique milling capabilities, and Atrium Log Homes building expertise were leveraged [...] Read More

Since Gravitas started over 7 years ago, we have worked with many clients located throughout North America as you can see by the map below.  Being located a continent away from many of our clients, site visits are often out of the question.  Typically, we only get to walk the site on less than 10% [...] Read More

This is an article our favorite engineer wrote about the importance of engineering your residential project. Professional engineering is recommended on all projects and more and more it is being required by many local jurisdictions or on the state level. All of our projects in California, Colorado, New Mexico, New York require the project be [...] Read More

There are quite a few myths about log homes that are circulating among folks who are already having enough problems with sorting log facts from fiction.  Here’s my take on one of the biggest myths in the log home industry – How to get the “final“  total price of a log home from a manufacturer.  Time [...] Read More

Often when we think of materials suppliers for building our homes, or even working on a DIY home improvement project, we instinctively include the big box home improvement store or regional contractor oriented building supplier. I have found a few sources locally that I want to suggest and bring to your attention. Some are specific to Boise, but the concepts are not, and chances are they can be found in your city with a quick search. Read More

With my last post, I wanted to give you some background on myself and my experience in the Log Home Industry.  I hope that if you have any questions at any time during this series, you’ll either leave comment or contact me. First things first – one of the most important things during the whole [...] Read More

  The following is a list of typical steps that owners go through when building their new home. This is also related to remodel projects. You may be able to skip or combine a step, but we have found these to be fairly standard. 1. What are you going to build So you have decided [...] Read More

I thought I’d take a few minutes and give you some idea as to how the log home industry works, from a couple of different “inside” industry positions.  First, a little background on myself.  I’ve got a B.S. in Forest Products – Wood Construction & Design from the University of Idaho (Go Vandals!).  After graduation, I [...] Read More

The Escalante was designed for the Roaring Fork Valley in Colorado.  It contains 4514 SF of mountain living in three levels, with 4 bedrooms, 4 1/2 bathrooms, a 2 car garage, and enlarged shop area. Capturing the amazing valley views was of prime importance with this home. Outdoor living was maximized with a large terrace [...] Read More

Five or six years ago we had the chance to design a beautiful rammed earth home for the foothills of Boise north of 24th Street. We went through an extensive design process with the client and developed a final design that you can see here (Rammed Earth Example). Early in the design development phase we [...] Read More

Here are a few homes located in Boise's North end built by Hale Development of Boise, Idaho. Read More

The Sages is one of our most popular plans to start sketching from.  It has many unique design elements, that lend themselves to living, entertaining, and enjoying the natural beauty of its surroundings.  This plan was honored by the 2007 Timber Home Living Floor Plan contest with a top floor plan nomination.  The variation rendered [...] Read More