And a dream home it truly is. The original plans for the home did not even call for the Moeller log home to be finished yet. Dennis and Doris Moeller, however, knew when the universe was laying dreams down at their feet. When they found just the right location and just the right company to build the log home they knew they wanted, they accelerated their plans and got straight to work.
Tucked away in the pine-covered hills of the Ruidoso area, the Moellers’ log “cabin” looks more like a fantasy home you would find high up in a secluded niche of the Appalachian Mountains; golden-stained wood surrounded by lush forest and enough elevation and atmosphere to satisfy even the most dyed-in-the-wool woodsman or woodswoman. Enchanting is far too simplistic a word to describe the luxurious three-story (including basement) Engleman spruce structure. Awe-inspiring might be closer to the truth. At first sight I was utterly gobsmacked, as the British might say.
Hailing from Dallas, the Moellers met in 1978 and married a few months later. Both became avid RV’ers and traveled the country extensively, always on the lookout for places in or near national forests in which they might happily retire and settle in for quiet “together time” with family and friends.
“I was basically looking for two things – something that was above 5,000 feet in elevation, and something that had a lot of Ponderosa pine,” said Dennis. “We wanted elevation,” nodded Doris, “as well as four seasons, trees and good health care.”
In 1990, they started the sincere planning process for retiring in a log home. “We had little pieces of paper everywhere!” said Doris. “There were files and files of things we knew we wanted for our retirement home. Each time we would see something we loved, we would make notes or cut out pictures from magazines and put it all in the files. We were well prepared with what we wanted but the trick was trying to make everything we wanted work together!”
One thing the Moellers were adamant about, though, was the fact that they wanted a log home, a style of which they had grown increasingly fond over the years and the courses of many road trips. One of those RV excursions led to Ruidoso, and they quickly began to fall in love with the area.
Unexpectedly finding the perfect spot – 7,200 feet in elevation with tons of Ponderosa pine – in May of 1997, the Moellers recognized fate and jumped on the opportunity to whip out the paperwork for the home site of their dreams. Two weeks later, the Realtor called to let them know the land was theirs.
After that, life took on whirlwind motion for Dennis and Doris. They decided on a company in British Columbia called Original Log Homes to design and build the log package for them in 2003. They chose Engleman spruce logs, which are entirely white before processing and weathering, and most are roughly 12 to 14 inches in diameter (a few larger, a few smaller depending on placement). Part of the reason the Moellers chose Original Log Homes is their policy of using mostly fire and bug killed trees to handcraft their logs. Highly environmentally conscious, the company still ensures that only the highest quality logs make it to the homes they design. Each log was hand-finished, numbered, and assembled on site in British Columbia, then disassembled, loaded onto trucks and shipped to the Moellers’ building site to be reassembled.
With such large logs – remember, 12 to 14 inches in diameter, some running the whole length of the house – site preparation was a huge undertaking. They had to drill 700 feet down to find water to build their well. A log home requires a sturdier structure so it needs a sturdier foundation. The site is on the side of a steep hill (5 acres total with a 50 foot drop in elevation within the property) so 700 yards of dirt was removed from the hillside in order to create a solid structure for the basement. 225 yards of “continuous-pour” (no-seam) concrete was used to make the 14-foot high walls of the basement, and that was covered with a light veneer of cultured stone.
With the basement and foundation firmly in place, the assembly process was ready to begin but there was a “hitch in the get along”, so to speak.
“When the logs arrived,” said Dennis, “they were pure white. I was scared to touch them! I didn’t want to be the first one to make a cut on them. Soon though, I was chain sawing and chiseling everywhere, cutting all the holes for the wiring and electrical, the plumbing … everywhere there’s an electrical outlet or box, I cut all those out.”
From start to finish, only 41 hours elapsed from the time the logs came to Ruidoso and the time the Moeller home was erected, an amazing feat when you consider that, during that time, the crew was also drilling some of the electrical and wiring holes, and Doris was working tirelessly to feed and hydrate the whole crew.
The stone fireplaces required some preconsideration regarding placement and how to adjust for settling. They decided to build in “settling gaps” covered with trim boards, and affix the chimney directly to the roof so that they could more efficiently seal around it.
Settling gaps, actually, are placed throughout the house – above chimneys, over windows, and along the tops of doors – to allow the logs to settle naturally over time. All-thread bolts that go through the log stacks in 42 locations keep the logs tight during settling. Each of the 15 “settler jacks” placed throughout the house at the bases of certain logs can be adjusted to allow for settling. Since the home is built with Norwegian saddle notch corners, and each log is handcrafted to fit the log below, there is no need to fill or chink between logs. They fit flush with each other so there are no gaps in the joinings.
Once everything was in place, the process of treating the wood for our dry climate began. Coat after coat of UV retardants, stains, fungicides and insecticides are needed to keep wood safe, moisturized, and intact for years to come. It is a long and loving process that must cover every single exposed wooden surface, inside and out, including the decking. To own a log home in the Southwest, you must be willing to nurture and pamper without reservation. The Moellers’ home is just that – a labor of love.
The design of the interior was as important to them as the exterior, and they took great care in designing the right flow and look to make them feel at home. The entryway features a tiled combination of wood and granite, which was a challenge to work with (considering the different thicknesses of materials) but transitions beautifully into the granite-floored powder room.
Skylights are on a remote control system, and have rain sensors built in. All the windows and skylights are designed to utilize as much natural lighting as possible. There are 41 windows in the home. Some blinds are on remote controls and motorized as well.
The faux finish on the walls looks like weathered antique leather, and the look changes with the angle of the lighting. The artist used three colors and the work itself it totally unique. It cannot be replicated, and the Moellers consider it a work of art itself.
The kitchen features an ingenious two-chef gourmet styling with an S-shaped, enormous granite-topped island in the center. There are 11 major appliances in the kitchen, including a pop-up mixer and Dennis’ favorite: his beer drawer.
So was all this time and effort and research worth it? “I’m not the most patient person in the world,” said Dennis, “but yes, it was worth it. Very much worth it. I don’t think we’d change a thing. We love it the way it is.”
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