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Easy Does It

A three-car garage provides plenty of parking plus room for owner Norm Cook’s tools and equipment. The 640-square-foot loft above includes a fun bunk room for the grandkids.

38 | Log Home Living | MARCH 2018

Easy Does It

As Seen In

East-coasters have a long tradition of heading “to the shore” for a little R&R. This eastern Pennsylvania couple’s vision of

that vacation just happens to be a little bit different.

story by Chris Wood | photography by Joseph Hilliard

MARCH 2018 | Log Home Living | 39


“It didn’t take long to figure out that the shore wasn’t for us,” recalls Kim. “We don’t like crowds or traffic. We’re much more cab-

in-by-the-lake kind of people.” A subsequent trip to Lake Wallenpaupack, where Norm vacationed as a child, sealed the deal for the

couple. The third largest lake in Pennsylvania, Wallenpaupack has more than 52 miles of shoreline. The Cooks quickly found a real estate agent and got to work selecting a site for their home.

The area is so peaceful and quiet, it just cried out for a log home, and that’s exactly what Kim had in mind. “At first, Norm thought I was kidding about getting a log home, because at heart I’m such a girly-girl, but I’ve always been obsessed with cabins,” Kim explains. “The look of them has always fascinated me, from the warmth of the wood to how they go together and feel when you walk inside. That feeling has always been something I’ve loved.”

After purchasing lakeside property and demolishing an existing (but mostly decrepit)

W hen it came time for their getaway home, Kim

and Norm Cook had some sudden, and serendipi-

tous, second thoughts. As the owners of Cook

Drilling, the couple had been up and down the

mid-Atlantic coast, working on construction projects at notable

properties including the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Temple

University and even the Statue of Liberty. So naturally their impulse

was to do as other eastern Pennsylvanians have done for genera-

tions: head for the shore.

A custom door highlights the interior of the grand entryway, where a full 30-foot white pine log is used as a

beam. An antler chandelier sets the tone for the traditional log lodge

decor of this home.


The stacked-stone wood-burning fireplace provides

plenty of radiant warmth to supplement the three separate

forced-air HVAC systems that efficiently heat the home

during winter months.

The great room is the centralized meeting space in the Cooks’ home, as well as an arena to showcase the 12-inch milled log walls and 30-foot logs used as posts and beams.

“Log homes have always fascinated me,

from the warmth of the wood to how they

feel when you walk inside. That feeling

has always been some-thing I’ve loved,” says

owner Kim Cook.{

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single family home, the Cooks approached Honesdale, Pennsylvania-based Estemerwalt Log Homes for design and construction con-sultation. “I remember Norm called me up one Friday out of the blue, and we coordinated a tour of half a dozen houses,” says Estemerwalt consultant Jack Mundy. “We ultimately took one of our existing plans and modified it with a second master suite upstairs, an extra bed-room and an office, and finished it off with

the big bunk room over the garage. They can sleep an army.”

Indeed, the final 6,240-square-foot log lodge was specifically designed to accom-modate a full complement of six sons and daughters and all of the grandchildren and great-grandchildren, too. Kim was adamant about an unobstructed, expansive view to the lakeshore, so she customized the design to incorporate a wall of windows across the rear

TOP: Expansive outdoor decks provide great gathering and entertaining spaces with pristine views of Lake Wallenpaupack framed by the abundant trees on the property.

OPPOSITE: Trophies and mounted taxi-dermy are from Cook family hunters, past and present, while floor to ceiling Jeld-Wen windows were specified by Kim Cook to provide an unobstructed lake view.

Kim designed the kitchen’s custom cabinetry, which was then constructed by her father. The granite pattern

that tops the counters was chosen specifically to complement the grain in those cabinets. Both the apron-front sink and backsplash above the stove boast wildlife

reliefs, carrying on the animal-theme of the home.


1: A 280-square-foot gantry connects the two upstairs living areas and shows off the double-stacked and long-beam eastern white pine log construction.

2: Fieldstone pillars anchor the down-stairs bar located off of the game room. Gnarled wood was foraged by the build-er while on a hunting trip and then cus-tom crafted to complete the bar top.

3: Although the grand great room fire-place is wood burning, the homeowners opted for the ease and convenience of a direct-vent gas fireplace in the down-stairs den, offering a perfect place to plan the next hunting trip.

OPPOSITE: After originally consider-ing a beach house at the Jersey Shore, the Cooks opted for scenery and seclu-sion, along with the perks of waterfront property on Lake Wallenpaupack in northeastern Pennsylvania.

elevation. Where financial investments were made in the fenestration, the Cooks were able to save money by having Kim’s father design and construct all of the home’s cabinetry.

In fact, Kim comes from a family of build-ers, and was hands on during design and con-struction. The result is a classic take on the traditional log home, with a 12-inch-diameter milled-log profile, exposed pine cabinetry and flooring and plenty of taxidermy from the family’s years of hunting in the Appalachians and Poconos. “Hands on and detail-oriented is Kim all right, but the Cooks were anything but demanding clients,” says Jack. “They came in to meet our team and our owner and were the nicest, easiest people to work with. That’s generally the way we operate. The whole proj-ect could have been a handshake deal.”

Not to mention that the Cooks got their easy-going home on their version of the “shore,” complete with a new boat and a couple of jet skis. But without the crowds.

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Copyright © 2018 Cruz Bay Publishing, Inc., Boulder, CO. This publication may not be reproduced, either in whole or part,

in any form without written permission from the publisher.


Square Footage: 6,240

Bedrooms: 3 (+ bunk room) Bathrooms: 4 full, 1 half

Log Provider: Estemerwalt Log Homes

UPPER LEVEL

OPEN TO BELOW

OPEN TO BELOW

MASTER BEDROOM

2

DEN

LND.

BEDROOM

LANDING

BUNK ROOM

M.BATH

MAIN LEVEL(LOWER LEVEL NOT SHOWN)

LND.

PAN.

DECK DECK

GARAGE

COVERED PORCH

KITCHEN

DININGROOM

FOYER

MASTER BEDROOM

GREATROOM

PORCH

W.I.C.

M.BATH

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