Ed and Susan Abel
A Montana Retreat

Sure, you could move out West and not build a log home, but Ed and Susan Abel don’t recommend it. “If you’re going to be in Montana,” insists Ed, “you have to have a log home.” Not that the lifelong Pennsylvanians know exactly how they ended up in Big Sky country in the first place. “I just started feeling like I wanted to have a ranch,” recalls Ed, “and something went off in me. It was almost like a calling.” The couple’s answer to that call? A gorgeous 3,200-square-foot, three-bedroom, three-and-a-half-bath pine log home complete with locally crafted furnishings and sweeping views of their 11,000-acre mountainside property. But since “mountainside” isn’t exactly synonymous with “easy access,” the Abels’ builder, Bill Pelc, had to get creative when it came to making the couple’s home a reality. “It was such a remote location,” recalls Bill, who owns Montana-based Big Sky Log Construction with his wife, Kathleen. “We would pull concrete trucks up to the job site with bulldozers. It was a tough site.” Not to mention off the grid. Nearly a dozen miles from the interstate, up an old logging road in Gold Creek, Ed and Susan’s property didn’t have electricity or running water. “Construction was all done on solar panels, a backup generator and batteries,” says Bill. “And we had to dig a well in the middle of nowhere. It was very unique.” Yet the six-month building process was remarkably hassle-free. “It was professionally handled—I know a little bit about this because I’ve been in the construction business my whole life,” says Ed. “We had an excellent builder and an excellent manufacturer, and there just weren’t any problems.” Instead, there was a real sense of success: After years of Internet research, log-company comparing and unabashed dreaming, Ed and Susan’s home turned out just as they’d envisioned it when they first approached Vermont-based manufacturer Real Log Homes with their plans. “It was tremendously successful,” says Susan of the process, which left her and Ed with a not-too-big, perfect-for-the-windswept-landscape home they reside in several months each year. Even better, it was a blast. “Being in the business, I can’t ever say that I had a lot of fun building a project,” says Ed. “But in the case of building our log home, it was one of the most enjoyable experiences I’ve ever had.” And to think, it all started with a feeling. Small Space, Big Impact Log homes are always big on looks, but they’re not necessarily big on space. But with a little creativity—and some forethought—modestly sized homes can have as much stately grandeur as their cavernous counterparts. What’s the secret? Think color, windows and wide-open spaces. “Don’t use a log stain that’s too dark,” advises Bill Pelc, owner of Montana-based Big Sky Log Construction. “And use good windows with good views. That way, you can bring the outdoors in and not be confined by the walls of the home.” In fact, don’t be afraid to eliminate some walls altogether. It’ll make a not-so-huge floorplan feel much more spacious. “We wanted the openness and feel of a large home,” says Susan Abel, whose 3,200-square-foot log home boasts large windows, honey stain and few partitions. “And yet we still retained the quaint feeling of a little log house.”