DBRK, tell me about your beautiful home!

[EPOJoe]

OK, so it's slightly off topic..
I was looking at your beautiful bikes when I saw a shot of your equally beautiful home. I've been long contemplating building a log cabin style home and I'm just now approaching the point where this could become a reality. The problem is, after just a cursory investigation, I've been stupefied with an enormous range of options including full logs, half logs, pre-processed logs, square logs, round logs, log look exterior on modern frame walls and on and on…
Since you've had such obvious success in erecting such a beautiful structure, I was wondering if you had some thoughts you could share on the choices you made, as well as any possible pitfalls that you narrowly (or otherwise) avoided. I realize that this subject could probably fill a book, so if you'd rather just publish a soft cover on the subject, I'd be glad to advance order a copy, as long as you can keep the cover price under $24.99.
:)
Oh, bike related subject matter; I think my Legend would look wonderful hanging over the mantle in a log cabin home.
:rolleyes:

[Blastinbob]

Ask him about the bugs ! :D

[dbrk]

Thanks so much for the kind words, though I think this is a bit off Forum topic-wise. This house contains at least four Serottas, so maybe talking a bit about the house is okay...I will also make this as bike-content filled as possible, so the first thing to know is that I found the house already built while I was out on a bike ride. It is about 15 miles east of our earlier home on Canandaigua Lake, tucked between Honeyoe and Canandaigua Lakes, near the road that takes you to the famous wineries of Naples, just south of us: I saw a sign that led up a remote road, followed it to another sign, to a dirt road, then to the end of this dirt drive, nearly half a mile long...at this point I had little hope as to what would be at its end. Once I saw the house even from the outside I rode directly home, called the real estate agent and placed a bid (the asking price) within 36 hours. It was amazing, as if I had found what I always wanted. I wasn't letting this one get away.

This is a log and timber frame built in 1994 as the "dream house" of a couple with grown up kids. It was for sale because they had decided to divorce under especially acrimonious circumstances. The husband who was responsible for building was completely out of the picture, so gathering information about the build was difficult. They went out of the way to do the initial work correctly but now, at 10 years, we are sprucing things up a bit (plumbing, lighting, little things).

The key to this sort of house is obviously the right builder. The beams on the inside are so massive I can't imagine the poor trees that gave themselves for this structure. A few things to note. (1) There are no sub-floors between the second and first floors so the house is a bit "loud". Could this have been different? Log homes are loud if you use area rugs, pine floors, keep the place wood-like. This is something to notice. Spread things out to keep the noise in different sorts of wings. (2) Though the house is insulated, it could have been better insulated (winter here is a bear!). Be sure to get a good fireplace. Had I designed the house I might have tried to put it in the middle and built round the central hearth. As it is, it's on the southeast side. Build for the southern exposure, that was a very good idea! (3) Because we live in the woods there are cluster flies that come as a seasonal plague. Yes, Bob remembers my description. It was Biblical-like in magnitude the first time because we were caught unawares. All of a sudden, outta' nowhere, we have flies. Regular looking houseflies but zillions of them. I called an exterminator and in three days they were gone. I await the genetic implications and other health risks but so long as the stuff doesn't effect bicycles, I'm okay with it. Apparently the cluster flies get in the wood work so you have to spray inside and out. Yuck. Other issues don't have anything to do with it being a log home (the well water has to be softened, the driveway has to be plowed (YIKES!), there are a few acres of grass to cut, and the basement could be larger for bikes...well, actually, my wife doesn't care so long as they don't spill upstairs (I am hoarding barn space too...). One more thing: keep as much open space inside as you can. Wood walls and beams and floors sort of invite this spacious interior look.

As has been noted before on this august Forum, I have a near-unabomber-like need for seclusion so this arrangement suits me well. The two wrap-around porches are a really wonderful feature of the house, as is the walk-out basement that is always dry and dank-free. We have bunnies living under the porch, a feral cat in the barn, and more fox, deer, pheasant, raptors, and all-around critters than you can shake 15 acres of woods at...so the house sorta' fits in with the landscape.

Once you get down the dirt driveway and off the dirt road you are in the middle of the empty, wide-shouldered roads of the rolling Finger Lakes countryside. The long winters keep the population down but it's also sort of a well-kept secret because it's a bit far out here to westsern NY, people from NYC, Boston, Chicago, and other places go elsewhere. Who would drive all the way to near-Rochester to holiday? HA! Makes for good riding those empty roads!

We'll do another Tour de Finger Lakes this year, I hope. There are bikes here this year that weren't here last year that I think will be of interest, and some fine local riding.

JB the Painter called me last night to say that my CSi is nearly done. This is the white/red bike that I had made last year. I had it modified (Curt Goodrich took off the ht extension and built a fork with a Pacenti crown, one that swoops lower in the bend too), so JB is painting it on the model (moreorless) of the mink/silver Raleighs of the 70s.
He asked for details, I left the whole thing up to him. There's an RB-2 with him too, which should come back looking like a pumpkin X0-1 of the same era: love those old Bstones...

Thanks again for the kind words.
dbrk

[Kevan]

The TdFL event of last August, supported by our gracious host dbrk, opened thine eyes to what has to be the Northeast's cycling mecca.

While the summer roads ride like butta, certainly the winters there don't.

[Jollymon]

dbrk,

After reading this post, I checked your pictures and I agree...from what I can see. Would you be willing to post a couple of shots of just the house? That is a beautiful place.

[Blastinbob]

Jollymon, here is a link to some of DBRK's house photos that are posted on the fan clubs site :http://www.bikefanclub.com/gallery/showgallery.php?ppuser=30&cat=500

[EPOJoe]

A fated encounter, cycling on a lonely road, leads to the house of your dreams...
That sounds so much better than having to build from scratch. ;)
Thanks for the reply. :)
Joe

[dbrk]

I want to thank everyone for the very kind words, most gracious of you all. I do hope more Serottapals will come visit us here. I promise a fine ride around the phalanges, a tour de basement, and a bowl of curry to all.

Particularly nice to see that the photos from the Tour de Finger Lakes last Labor Day weekend are still around the bikefanclub gallery. It is a very sweet memory: Kevan and Sandy...uhhh...not Sandy but Kevan _said_ it was Sandy...Russ, Animal, Ahneida, Thom...a fine crew of wonderful people. Now if we can get hybridbellbasket in from Down Under and a few others from Places Abroad we will have an even better time!

I'll post some house pictures when there are bikes to show. JB will have the CSi back when I return from Costa Rica in about ten days. I'm not quite sure how he's painted it, so that should be interesting! More soon then!

dbrk