Coventry Log Homes - Warm and Toasty in the Northeast: An Artisan Bread Maker builds his dream home

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Warm and Toasty in the Northeast: An Artisan Bread Maker builds his dream home

Bernie and his wife Polly had acquired a beautiful wooded lot in Northern New Hampshire, surrounded by hardwood and pines, granite ledge and lots of natural animal habitat supported by the abundance of berry bushes on the property, a log home only seemed fitting.

Bernie and Polly chose Coventry because of their location to the Marvin’s home. Bernie and Polly purchased a standard Fairfield , and from there, began the building process. Bernie decided to be his own general contractor managing and organizing the building project himself. Bernie then hired a builder, an electrical contractor, septic contractor and a design engineer for the lot and sewage.

Bernie's Commercial Bread Kitchen

All of the contractors were local and friends. Bernie and Polly made a few changes to the home: By removing one of the upstairs bedrooms and reducing the size of the bathroom, they opened the loft and gave Polly a functioning work space for her quilting and knitting. Bernie and Polly also incorporated a full walk-out basement into their log home design. In the basement they built a specialty kitchen and bakery to accommodate Bernie’s artisan bread business.

The house also incorporates wood from the lot. When they did the site work, Bernie had the harvested wood locally milled and used it for the floors, counters and trim around their home. Bernie and his friend then built a two-flue chimney using rocks dug up and washed from the property. It took Bernie three months to complete the chimney. “It was worth the hard work and draws rave reviews from friends and guests.” Bernie said.

Bernie's Hearth Using Handmade Bricks

To top off using the bounty from the lot, Bernie created a hearth in the living room for the wood stove by using handmade bricks that were unearthed from an old sugarhouse on the property they discovered while exploring with their grandson Alex. For an amateur Bernie feels the hearth came out really well and is one of his favorite parts of the house. Bernie’s other favorite part of the house is his kitchen, he says “It is kind of special.” Bernie and Polly had the counters milled out of heavy pine they cut from the property and left it live edge, where the bark shows through. The counters are extra-wide and designed for cooking lessons that Bernie plans to offer at his home. The cabinets are also made of pine, built locally in New Hampshire. “It just seemed fitting,” says Bernie “We knew they were going to more expensive but everything in the house was from New Hampshire wood, we just could not buy less expensive ones from China. It was completely worth it. They just look beautiful.”

Bernie and Pollys Home Kitchen

In building the house, the Marvins incorporated a three zone heating system and purchased a state-of-the-art, very efficient high-tech wood stove. “It is amazing,” says Bernie “We lived in a beautiful 1775 Farmhouse and while we loved our old home, this home holds and radiates the heat from the wood stove beautifully, only when it is really cold do we ever even need to turn one of the zones on. We just truly love the warmth all winter long.”

The Porch that Polly and Bernie's Birds, Deer and Bear Visit

The other great thing is the house has two bathrooms; A luxury the Marvins have never had, even while raising their two children. They just love it. Overall, just can’t believe what an amazing house you can have with just a $43,000 log home package, which includes two gabled dormers and a full shed dormer in the back.

The porch makes it ideal for the Marvins to enjoy some of their favorite pastimes, including bird and animal watching. There are several deer and a bear that visit regularly. The lot also offers seclusion and privacy so they can landscape, plant trees and flowers in a quite, peaceful setting.

The railings were made with wood from the lot

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