Into the Winter Wild
The scenery gets more beautiful and more rustic when you travel north up Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. As you wander through the region’s hardwood forests, you’ll walk under arbors of beech trees and sugar maples and white pines. You’ll encounter many animals, too, from graceful deer and loons to imposing moose and bear. But if you’re in the area around Gibson Lake, Neil and Nancy Krushcke’s home might be more difficult to spot — especially during a UP winter.
The remote property, reachable only by a logging track, sits 10 miles from a paved road and 40 minutes from the nearest town. It’s the very definition of remote. Built to be one with its wild surroundings, the home’s White Cedar exterior would blend in perfectly with a winter landscape if not for the soft interior lights and flickering fireplace flames that set the house aglow.
It’s because of this winter weather that the Krushcke’s property proved as difficult to build on as it was beautiful, but Town + Country Cedar Homes proved up to the task. Due to the region’s short building season, the three-bedroom, three-bathroom, 3,600-square-foot home required several phases of construction. Once winter weather set in, work was moved off site to our mill where the logs used to construct the home were hand-peeled, hand-scribed and prepared for delivery.
These logs are where the home gets the strength and protection it needs to survive and thrive in its remote surroundings. The exterior walls are constructed from kiln-dried, Northern White Cedar logs that offer natural moisture-, weather- and insect-resistance, and are coated with an antique gray finish for color and extra protection. Our unique post-and-sill construction creates an air-tight seal and offers R-24 insulation. This top-notch construction (with the help of three fireplaces, a wood stove, two electric generators, three propane tanks, and solar panels) keeps the Krushckes cozy and comfortable at home in the wild all year long.
Download the PDF to tour the home.
Take a look at the Town + Country floorplan that inspired the Krushcke’s home.
