Our Work: Exteriors, Interiors, and more...
“Vision – Our objective is to understand the personal vision of our clients and to transform concepts into finely crafted reality.”
Whether your dream is a home, a lodge, an addition or a sauna, a John DeVries creation will welcome you time and again with golden warmth, solid beauty and endless charm.
Below you will find a sampling of exterior designs of our beautiful handcrafted log homes.
“Architecture is space structured to serve man and to move him.” – Etienne Gaboury
Custom Log Houses
Renowned for our personal service and quality craftsmanship, we give you the exclusive attention you need to design and build a log home just the way you want it. The personal lifestyles of you and your family determine the interior design and layout of your home.
Handcrafted log homes are a pleasure to behold, both inside and out.
The following photographs of our interior rooms are just a few examples of the fine workmanship you will see in your new John DeVries log home.
Our Handcrafted log walls are offered in:
Full-length Scandinavian scribe: naturally round logs are surfaced by hand using a drawknife and hand fitted along their entire length using the Scandinavian Full-Scribe method. Joinery between logs is sealed using a P-shaped foam gasket. Logs are joined at intersecting corners using a sculpted saddle notch, round notch, or double-scribed/housed round notch.
Dovetail: Logs are typically hand-hewn or rough-sawn on two sides and hand fitted at intersecting corners using a traditional dovetailed connection. Lateral joints between logs are sealed using backer foam and chinking. Chinking material is similar in texture to traditional stone mortar but retains flexibility and resiliency, allowing the log walls to shrink.
Piece-on-Piece: Canada's oldest log building style combines timber framing with exterior log walls. This style starts with a heavy post and beam frame. Logs, either round or hewn on two sides, are installed between posts. Lateral joints between logs can be scribed and coped in the Scandinavian tradition or sealed with a small line of chinking. When chinking is used, this system is settling-free.
The crafting of structures using massive timber is a passion for the seasoned veterans at John Devries Log & Timber Homes. Timber Framing has always been a part of our repertoire. Frames are hand cut from fresh-sawn pine or Douglas fir timbers or from reclaimed material. Traditional mortise and tenon joinery is one of our passions and is executed with extreme precision. We also incorporate hidden hardware connections when required as a cost control measure or when dictated by engineering. This is done without compromising a timber frame's intrinsic aesthetic appeal.
Hand hewing timbers or log walls is a way to embellish the texture of a frame or log shell. Using traditional hand tools and methods, timber surfaces are worked to give either a traditional broad axe or adzed finish. The result is an authentic texture that brings a rustic appeal to the project. Timbers reclaimed from century-old structures can also be incorporated into a frame. Either re-sawn or left in their original hand-hewn state these timbers have a deep, rich patina.
“Considerations – Our thoughts and actions always accommodate our colleagues, professionals and tradespeople, mutually involved in our clients' projects”
The warmth, strength, and charm of massive timber finds a natural home in many commercial applications. The logistics of incorporating log or timber in such projects is always a welcomed challenge.
