When Randy Giles moved to Tennessee in 1981, he fell hard for the weathered charms of the old log cabins that dot the rolling Appalachian foothills around the town of Dandridge. He canvassed the area for the perfect spot to build his own log home, one, which would blend seamlessly with the town’s historic hand-hewn structures.
After interviewing local folks whose log homes he admired and asking them for recommendations Randy arranged to meet the the owner of Hearthstone, who had founded the business years before while doing restoration work on historic log homes. Giles eventually settled on a 80-acre forested lakeside track. Randy liked the product so well, he became president of the company in 1982, and bought the business two years later.
To make his modern jetted tub in the master bathroom blend seamlessly with the home’s ambiance, Randy encased it with irregular, handmade bricks, purposely leaving the joints rough and unfinished. The hickory cabinets in the bathrooms and kitchen are all-handmade and feature hand-forged iron hinges. Randy’s favorite aspect of the fireplace, thouvh is its warmth.
In the kitchen, Randy selected limestone tile that had been tumbled in a cement mixer with gravel and sand to give it an aged appearance. Matching granite accents are embedded within a mammoth, antique cast-iron wheel, which sits atop a cedar stump harvested from Randy’s property to form the one-of-a-kind kitchen table, made by Hearthstone.
The second floor, which is home to the laundry room, two bathrooms, three bedrooms and a balcony with two computer workstations, is the domain of Randy’s children. A favorite feature is the cedar tree in the boy’s bedroom. “When I cleared the land for the house, the kids cried because I had to cut down the cedar tree that they climbed in,” Randy says. “The only way I could quiet them down was to tell them I would put it in their bedroom inside the house, “ he continues. “Now, that tree is the ladder to their play loft.”
