The April 1997 flood that inundated
Grand Forks, Minnesota destroyed Pamela and David Kvidt's
historic 1937 French Eclectics-style, two-story home
and some of its much-loved antiques. Finding themselves
suddenly homeless and living with Pamela's parents
in their home on a nearby lake forced the Kvidt's to
think about building another home.
"We had bought the lot next
to my parents three years earlier," recalls
Pamela, "but we didn't know what we were going
to do with it."
The flood changed all that. David
says that they were planning to build on the lot that
summer, but the flood set them back a year. Pamela
recalls it differently. She thinks the flood forced
them into taking action with their plans to build.
Out of that tragedy, however, came a new life-a cottage-style
log home with Arts & Crafts flourishes-and the
realization of David's dream to own a log home.
A friend's collection of decades old
log home magazines triggered the idea for the log home's
style.
"We came across a photograph
of a log home with lots of peaks and a cottage feel
in an old 1984 log home magazine," says Pamela, "and
that was our inspiration."
One of the things the Kvidts salvaged
from their flooded Grand Forks home was its magnificent
cherry door. "It's an arched door with leaded
glass window lights and that big chunky hardware you
see on those old doors," explains Pamela.
"Basically," adds David,
partner of Lunseth Plumbing & Heating in Grand
Forks, "we designed our entry around that door,
because we wanted something from our lost home."
The Kvidts found their log home manufacturer
in an odd way. "We were on our way back from viewing
another company's log home on the lake when we saw
a sign for Northwoods Log Homes, Inc. of Laporte, Minnesota," recalls
David. The couple took a chance and drove up to Laporte.
What they saw at Northwoods Log Homes pleased them
greatly.
"We like the texture of their
logs," says Pamela. "We have two small children
and the other company's logs were rough. Northwoods
mills their logs so they are smooth to the touch."
"It's a small, family-run business," adds
David, "and they are very personable and easy
to deal with."
Bryan Kerby-whose father, Ray Kerby,
and his grandfather, Burgess Bach, started Northwoods
Log Homes in the early 1960s-became the salesperson
and provided initial sales design input for the Kvidts
before designer Dick Lyons stepped in. The Kvidts showed
Lyons their sketch and the magazine photographs that
had been their inspiration. Northwoods Log Homes was
able to modify a preliminary design that the Kvidts
had worked on with Melby Construction Company, a local
architectural firm that had never built a log home
before. It was one that was easy for Melby to follow
because of the unique design system that Ray Kerby
and Dick Lyons developed, allowing them to precut every
bit of log work that goes into their homes.
David recalls the care Northwoods
took in instructing the general contractor, Brad Lizakowski
of Lizard Construction in Thief River Falls. "Northwoods
had a guy out there assisting at the start. They engineer
every log, and number them all, like a Lincoln Log
set. They're very detailed."
"We are a three-generation log
home business," explains Bryan Kerby, "and
we've been precutting log homes for over 40 years.
Every bolt hole, every spline cut (for door and window
jams), every cut in the log work is done in our shop
from detailed drawings. The logs are then labeled and
numbered for construction on site, according to the
blueprints we have drawn up."
With this unique system, says Bryan,
who was one of two Northwoods employees who offered
on-site supervision during the construction process,
there is no need to be on site with a chainsaw.
"Even with no experience in log
home building," says Bryan, "they were able
to do a wonderful job by using our complete blueprints,
which start with the foundation and proceed all the
way up to the roof truss. We also produce a 60-page
manual that further explains the process."
The Kvidt's design presented a unique
structural challenge for Northwoods Log Homes with
regard to the second-story log construction. "Normally,
we use post and rail construction on anything above
an 8-foot wall," says Bryan. "With the Kvidt's
home, we got into areas that were anywhere from 30
to 44 courses of logs high."
Pamela says they purposefully waited
until November to begin construction, to allow the
red pine (also known as Norway pine) logs to age further.
"We thought we'd be dealing with
settling for years," admits David, "but the
house was engineered to allow for it. The carpenters
and cabinetmakers all knew what to do about it."
"You can hear creaks every once
in a while," says Pamela, "but it hasn't
affected the trim work or the doors, because they left
a space of an inch and a half around them to account
for the settling." "So far so good," says
David.
When it came to designing the interior
of the 2,300-square-foot log home, the Kvidt's turned
to local talent. Delrea Schefter of Ethan Allen of
Fargo, N.D., had a hand in the design, as did Julie
McWalter of Carpet Connection Plus of East Grand Forks,
who did the flooring and tile work.
"We had a lot of trusty workers," says
David, "including the cabinetmaker Dave Breidenbach,
who really did some amazing things with the cherry
wood cabinets, doors and trim." To give the impression
that all the cabinets were built right into the logs,
Breidenbach scribed them all, including the fireplace
mantle.
"We're used to living in small,
cramped spaces," remarks Pamela, "because
we've lived in so many old homes, but Dave put cabinets
in little areas where you'd never think to put things."
What started as David's dream log
home has, after three years, grown to be the home of
his family's dreams as well. "Our children also
love it," says Pamela. "In the summer we're
on the lake, in the winter we skate and snowmobile." Even
some of the antiques from their flood-destroyed Grand
Forks home have made their way into the Arts and Crafts
cottage design.
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