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Danny and Paula Settle
Out of the Blue
Danny and Paula Settle's dream of living in a log home moved to the fast track in 2002 when,
out of nowhere, a man walked into Danny's car-restoration shop in the Bay Area and offered
to buy the business from him. Thirty days later, the Settles were closing on the sale and
planning for their new home, nearly 10 years ahead of schedule.
That's not to say that the couple wasn't prepared for the major life change.
In fact, Danny and Paula had purchased 10 acres of land the previous year in
Grass Valley, California, nestled in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada.
And then there's the two decades Paula spent gathering information,
which led to a draft of a floorplan. 'I started tearing pictures out of
magazines and made a rough sketch on graph paper of how we wanted the house,
right down to the size of the bathrooms and the kind of doors,' Paula says.
That was just the beginning, though. Danny took several years to clear trees
from the property, landscaping and building a wooden fence around the acreage-even
adding a vineyard. The only thing left was to find a builder who could keep up
with the hands-on couple. The Settles ultimately chose Ken and Jaye Payton,
owners of Golden State Log Homes Inc. in Colfax, California. 'We wanted to
work with someone local,' Paula says. 'If you live in a town, you keep money in the town.'
Paula and Danny presented their design to the Paytons, who helped them choose
8-inch pine logs with mortise-and-tenon corners. One of the Settles' biggest
requirements was to create an accessible home for their adult daughter, who is in a
wheelchair and visits her parents frequently. As such, the only stairs on the property
lead from the back of the home to the pool, and hallways are wide enough for wheelchair
navigation in the three-bedroom, 3,600-square-foot structure.
Even though Ken and Jaye have been building log homes since 1981,
they found a unique client in the Settles. For starters, Paula and Danny didn't want drywall
in the house, so interior walls were finished with tongue-and-groove pine. The couple
also wanted vaulted ceilings with exposed log rafters, and for their great room fireplace,
they were looking for something more than the standard wooden mantel. 'We ordered this massive
log for the fireplace, and when we saw it, we thought, 'Oh, no,' Jaye says. 'But when
we installed it, it looked outstanding. The Settles were the first ones who got us to
put something other than small logs over fireplaces.'
Add distressed black kitchen cabinetry and Victorian antiques to
accessorize every room, and the result is the incarnation of 20 years worth
of planning: a home that incorporates new ideas while staying true to the traditional log-home appeal.
Home Details:
Square footage: 3,600
Log dealer and builder: Golden State Log Homes Inc.
Log producer: Real Log Homes
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