PERSONALIZED PLANS
Story by Jay Uhlenbrauck
Photography by Roger Wade
Styling by Debra Grahl
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Trial and error is no way to build a log home. William and Linda Butin weren't willing to wait until their retirement home was built to see how it would turn out. They used a store-bought CAD program and a scale model to make sure their home would fit them--and their challenging site--like a glove.

In 1997, the couple bought a secluded lot in an exclusive Colorado gold community on the easter slope of the Rockies, 8,200 feet above sea level. They planned to build their retirement home there a year later. The only problem: they had to plan it from almost 6,000 miles away.

The Butins were living in Tokyo, where William was president for Shell Oil CO. Japan. They were up to the challenge of a long-distance design and as far as they were concerned, the sky was the limit When they returned to the States, handcrafted log producer Log Knowledge, Inc. helped the couple launch their dreams. The result is a log home that marries traditional American construction with Asian influences.

A Tale of Two Lots
Inspiration for the Butins' log home came from William's childhood visits to his uncle's Colorado log home. When William later inherited land from that same uncle, he planned to one day build a log home on the property. Until then, William and his sons used the property as a summer retreat when he was home from Japan. "I wanted to give my sons a taste of the Colorado life I had," William says. "We camped and spent time fishing and hiking."

When it cam time to build their log home, however, William and Linda couldn't pass up the opportunity to build less than 10 miles away in the Fox Acres Country Club.

"Bill is closer to his golfing this way and I'm a city girl so it suited me better to live in a community setting," Linda says.