Seth and Lovie Sellers chose the Clayton Plan, a custom design that was a collaboration between an Honest Abe customer and Honest Abe’s design department. The Sellers further customized it to meet their own needs for building their own home near Red Boiling Springs, Tennessee.
The seven-room home has 796 square feet on the main floor with a full basement of the same footage. Situated on the main floor are the master bedroom and bath, a kitchen/living room combination and a laundry/pantry,
The upstairs has 748 square feet with two bedrooms and a full bath. Full-length covered porches on the front and back expand the living space by another 536 square feet.
The couple chose Honest Abe’s Genesis log, an 8×12 square log that evokes the feeling of early Appalachian homesteads. The logs are dovetailed, and the home is topped with a conventional roof covered in metal.
Honest Abe interviewed the Sellers about their home, which they moved into in 2018.
Honest Abe: What drew you to the area where you built the home?
Lovie: Having lived away from our extended family for nearly a decade, we decided to move to be near grandparents and family. We have been married 21 years. We have lived in various places over those years. We have two boys, whom we homeschool. Our boys are the fifth generation in our family to live on this farm. We try to help out as much as we can with operations and general upkeep.
Honest Abe: Why did you choose a log home over a conventional home?
Seth: We have both always enjoyed log homes. When we moved back to Tennessee and build on the family farm, we wanted something that would fit the look and feel of the area. It was the perfect opportunity to have the log home we always envisioned.
Honest Abe: With a “million” choices, how did you settle on the final design?
Lovie: There are only a million choice if you don’t know what you like. We found that we really liked a lot of the same things with few major differences. We both liked the square logs, he wanted the bigger 8×12, and I was fine with that. We like the same style and when I said I didn’t care for dormers, he was fine with that.
Honest Abe: Were there any design choices you made to accommodate specific pieces of furniture, collectibles or personal hobbies, etc.
Lovie: We have an antique bed that is just over 6’ tall. It was important that there would be wall space for it to be placed.
Honest Abe: How did you like working with your Honest Abe Sales Rep?
Sellers: Ethan Birdwell was fantastic to work with through the whole process!! He was super helpful and tirelessly patient with our questions and changes and needs.
Honest Abe: What was good about your design and building experience?
Seth: From initial contact to design to completed dry in, everyone went above and beyond to do an excellent job.
Honest Abe: What could be better?
Sellers: We would have gone ahead with the heavy timber roofing.
Honest Abe: Would you do this again?
Sellers: Most likely.
Honest Abe: How was your construction experience?
Sellers: The dry in crew from Honest Abe did a great job, they were precise and quick.
Honest Abe: Why did you choose Honest Abe Log Homes?
Sellers: We love the reputation of the company and the faith of the family that runs it. The two things that impressed me most about Honest Abe’s folks are how their faith in God pushes them to do excellent work, provide good products, help others and be examples to the world and how all of the employees know about all of the parts of the business.
Interview by Claudia Johnson, Honest Abe Log Homes Director of Marketing.
