Four generations of the Huntley family had experienced log cabin living in their turn-of-the century log cottage, complete with fieldstone fireplace and rustic chinked wood. Their lovely old cabin sat along the sleepy shores of Douglas Lake in Northern Michigan.  Built locally of Northern White Cedar, it had gracefully endured nearly 100 years of hot summers and frozen winters.  The hand hewn logs and the local stone fireplace welcomed the family back year after year.  The Huntley cabin had witnessed weddings and honeymoons, births and deaths, and had all but become a member of the family until its tragic loss in a fire in 2006.  The family was devastated.  Janet Huntley, when  first walking through the ashy remains, knew in her heart that the spirit of their wonderful family cabin could never be recaptured.  In her mind’s eye, she could still see the rough hewn logs where the draw knives had whittled away the protrusions and branches,  and the notches where the axes had hewn out the logs over 100 years ago. Janet explains “It was an emotional time and Town & Country Cedar Homes really made the impossible happen for me.”

          The Huntley’s then had to endure the painful process of deciding what to build in place of their beloved cabin. “In our heart of hearts, only another log cabin would do,” claimed Janet, “However, I quickly saw that what was typically being offered did not match up to what was lost.”  When friends and neighbors heard what had happened, one company was mentioned time and again  — Town and Country Cedar Homes.  Within weeks of the fire, Janet Huntley visited the Town & Country Cedar Home models in Petoskey. Standing in front of the soaring expanse of glass and the massive stone fireplace in the great room, she thought “I WANT this; I REALLY want this.”  Soon after, Design Manager Scott Paquette showed  Janet how Town & Country could replace her lost log cabin with real hand-hewn log walls with chinking both inside and out, duplicating the original cabin’s style. Mrs. Huntley that was it.

          Town & Country developed plans to raise a new log cabin on the same site of the first Huntley cabin. After Janet Huntley’s thorough sifting of the ashes for beloved trinkets and knick-knacks, Todd Shumaker, Project Manager, organized the final demolition and removal of the remainder of the old cabin. In its place, Town & Country built a crawl space foundation for the new Huntley cabin, which features a chinked log design of approximately 1200 sq. ft., including one bedroom and bath down. A loft bunk room with half bath overlook the great room room and compact dining/kitchen area.

           “Over the course of the fall and winter, Mike Babcock (Babcock Log Crafters and preferred subcontractor for Town & Country Cedar Homes)  hand notched and fitted the half logs both inside and out so skillfully that the old cabin seemed to be rising up before my eyes.” Janet excitedly explains. The stonemason helped by personally going through the pile of rocks left over from the demolition of the original fireplace, carefully selecting some of the most beautiful rocks to incorporate into the new hearth. Todd  Shumaker, and Construction Coordinator, Kathy Hartmann, helped every step of the way, crafting elegant solutions to construction issues as they arose. They assisted the subcontractors in incorporating natural stones from the shore of Douglas Lake to make the cabin as closely as possible to the original home. Mrs. Huntley was glad that Town & Country could ‘just hold my hand when the process seemed a bit daunting.’ 

          Now, just over a year later, a new cabin preserves some of the old memories while providing a foundation for new ones.  Janet Huntley is thankful to the Town & Country team for getting her through this emotional process.  She was very happy that Town & Country was able to incorporate pieces of her old cabin, including several old doors that were in the boathouse at the time of the fire, as well as stones from the original fireplace, into her new home.  In fact, one of her guests took one look at the new fireplace and its large blue keystone with a white stripe, and happily exclaimed,  “I remember that stone from your OLD fireplace!" And she was right—it had been in the old one.

Janet Huntley, describing her experience in her new log cabin, states “ And when I came up to spend my first weekend, I knew that I was finally home.  Although the new cabin differs in many respects from its predecessor, with the addition of state-of-the-art windows and 21st century technology, it nonetheless has managed to capture the spirit of the original.  As I ran my hands over the logs on the living room wall, I could feel the bumps and knots and draw knife marks that had added so much character to the old cabin.  The logs themselves were dense and wide, just like the logs that had been available in the early 1900's when it had been built.  So it is that against all odds, Town and Country has managed to give me back what I feared had been lost.....a wonderful log cabin in the woods.”  Welcome Home, Mrs. Huntley, Welcome Home!

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