..... What we can do for Boot Ranch:
Hello Mr. Perry. My name is Randy Giles and I’m the owner of Hearthstone, Inc., one of the oldest and most established log and timber frame manufacturing companies in the country. At the suggestion of Charles Travis, we’ve thrown together this little web page to try to boil down some things about Hearthstone that might be of most interest to you. We’ve done it in a hurry without the “artists”; it isn’t as polished as the rest of our website, so I hope you’ll understand that. I apologize for the length. As we got into the project, it was hard to keep it short.
BELOW, YOU WILL FIND THESE THINGS:
- My written introduction to Hearthstone.
- Some solid modeling we’ve already done on the log and timber frame structures that Charles has developed into the Overlook Cabin concept, including a concept for three options, each provided by Hearthstone..
- Some information about a project that is delivering now and is close to you in Atlanta.
- A list of people we’ve worked for in the Atlanta area. It’s a pretty good name-dropping list, but my real hope is that you might know some of them so you can get an unbiased judgment of our work.
- Various projects that we think might be relevant to the Overlook concept.
It’s fortunate that you are based out of Atlanta. We’re based near Knoxville and we’ve done many projects in the Atlanta area that we can show you. A few of the bigger names: Ritz Carlton, Arthur Blank and Bill Curry. I can put you in touch with some of them, and probably even set up a meeting, especially with Bill, if you’d like to get third party input on our capabilities. Disclaimer: we don’t actually know Mr. Blank personally; all our work for him has been through contractors. It’s especially note-worthy that we have done multiple projects with a lot of these customers. Lots of times log or timber frame home manufacturers don’t get second shots.
Timing is good if you’d like to see a pretty interesting new timber frame project going up just east of Atlanta at the Ritz Carlton’s Reynold’s Plantation, where we’ve done several projects. That residence starts going up just before Thanksgiving and we could meet you there, or take you there, any time after Thanksgiving.
Also, Knoxville is only about 3.5 driving hours from Atanta if you’d like to visit. We’re actually in Dandridge, 30 miles East of Knoxville. There is a good general aviation airport in Morristown (MOR) about 30 minutes away. If you’d like, you could spend a night at my guest house, which is similar to some of the cabins that Charles has proposed for the Overlook Cabins portfolio.
Even though we are located in Knoxville, we’ve done a lot of work in Texas over the years, and work all over the country, and as far away as Japan.
A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HEARTHSTONE'S CULTURE AND CAPABILITIES:
Of course, you can tell us what you want, then we can cut logs and timbers and put them on your job sites. But, we can do far more than that. We can be your go-to people for all things log and timber. We are people you can count on, and we will bring creativity and flexibility (of style and product). We can be essentially an “annexed division” for any project anywhere at Boot Ranch, starting with the Overlook Cabins. We have 40 years (and thousands of projects) of experience and almost all employees have been here more than 15 years. We know what we’re doing and it is highly likely that we can not only execute your vision, but also contribute ideas as well.
Hearthstone has a unique corporate culture and capability: we think at the level of the “craftsman’s bench”, but we deliver at the level of a larger company. By large, I mean in our small and specialized world. We are a small company, but in our world, there seems to be only tiny craftsman, some doing great work, or there are larger companies doing ho-hum (or worse) work. We can deliver an average sized house per week in these belt-tightened times, and double that as, if, and when necessary. There are a few other companies that can do that volume. But, they lack a culture of product passion and creativity.
For 40 years, we have been driven by the artistic, craftsman, historical, visionary, creative side of our industry. But we have also developed the ability to deliver quantity and confidence without losing the soul and quality of that craftsman’s bench. There is nobody else in the world with as much quality and diverse experience in both log and timber frame construction as Hearthstone.
What we do best is to make someone’s creative vision come true. We might massage it, or we might totally create it from the tiniest of seeds, or we might execute it directly and unaltered from Charles Travis’ pen. But, most of all: we make things happen in synergy with our customers’ vision and passion.
If you want a partner with the ability to be passionate and creative, yet equally capable of delivering reality out of vision, plus a wide variety and flexibility of style and product, we would be very hard to beat.
If you want someone to pamper and deliver just a couple of projects per year, we can do that too, and do a great job; it just would not take full advantage of our strengths. If you want someone to put wood parts on your sites at the lowest price per part, we probably are not that company, although we do intend to price very aggressively to get your business. I love the Hill Country and we want to do more business in Texas.
We can do your gatehouse, we could have done your club house, or anything in between. And, we can do it with a level of your confidence that will free you to be creative, visionary ... and it will also free you to focus on other things while we take care of the heavy timber and logs. We free Charles to design just about anything he can come up with and then take care of the detail work. We are a strategic marketing annex - not just a parts supplier.
That’s easily said, but if you want something tangible to back up those words, check out our money-back guarantee. To my knowledge, you can’t find anything like it in the housing business (or many other businesses) in any corner of the world.
OVERLOOK CABIN SOLID MODELING:
Charles shared with us his Overlook Cabins design work. If you get a chance to spend any time on our website (www.hearthstonehomes.com), you will see that his reference imagery, design elements, and standard designs are exactly what we do.
He designed a standard “Cabin” as well as a cottage and several outbuildings. We can do all of them, and it is what we've been doing for 40 years.
We took the standard Cabin elevations and floor plans, and did the solid modeling in our CAD/CAM software as you can see below. In his Overlook presentation, Charles showed a stone farmhouse as a standard with a log home alternative. In our discussions with Charles, he also mentioned the possibility of a barn-board sided home as a third option.
We incorporated Charles' idea about that barn board option in the models below. Since we have the flexibility of doing various types of log homes as well as timber frames, we designed a timber frame that provides the structure (visible to the inside) of both the stone and the barn-board model. That allows us to provide spectacular log or timber frame structures for any of those three options.
Standard Log Cabin:
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A natural partnership at work here: Mr. Perry has an overarching vision for Boot Ranch and Overlook cabins; Charles did the creative warm and fuzzy; we did the back-room detail work. Each element in our drawing is true-solid-modeled and ready to export to the timber cutting machinery. Though these are small cabins, every joint and cut deserves CAD/CAM quality. Though these are simple cabins, you can imagine a hopelessly complicated tangle of timbers and logs in a more complex design. Our specialized timber-CAD software from Switzerland and our specialized timber cutting machinery from Germany do not know if it’s a cabin or a castle. Complex multi-story, compound cuts, true mortise and tenon joinery - or a simple cut off - our systems are unfazed. |
The modeled structure looks sterile and "CAD/CAM" doesn't sound very seductive, but the final product is warm, restorative, romantic and historical. The logs are hand-hewn with a foot adze to make that antique look. They have the dovetail corners and chinking between the logs - just like the ones the German settlers built. While the wall logs are sawn and hewn flat on the inside and outside faces, they still have the natural, irregular shape on the top and bottom from the trees they came from. There's no straight line where the chinking is, and there is no straight edge from which to make cuts, joinery, holes, etc. That's not so easy to do. In the model, however, you just see straight lines. |
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Stone Timber Frame:
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Once again, you see Charles’ concept become structural reality. A timber frame house with a stone facade. ... with beautiful exposed posts and beams, just as they were built in the Black Forest, then later as German Hill Country architecture. We’ve prepared this timber frame CAD/CAM model to match Charles’ floor plan and elevation. You can see how the timber frame would be covered by the stone facade. In actuality, there is a third layer to the structure: the timber frame structure is wrapped in an envelope, then the stone becomes the facade. The envelope is yet another opportunity for quality and innovation. There are several options with very high energy efficiency, including aerated autoclaved concrete, structural insulated panels, or conventional stud framing with sprayed polyurethane foam. Hearthstone can provide the entire shell - erected on site at the Ranch. |
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Barn Sided Cabin:
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Try not to laugh too hard at the shack photo. Look at how beautiful those aged boards look, and notice the same look on the old buildings the next time you’re in Luckenbach. Charles suggested a third option for exterior finish. We think the boards on this old shack would be a beautiful look. It might be a tough job to come up with enough actual antique board. We could put together some ideas on some new wide-board alternatives, as options to actual antique boards, and maybe sandblast & pressure-borate them (techniques we already do). The same timber frame model would provide structure and a spectacular interior. If we do the frame envelope right, we could apply the boards without batten strips, which I think would look better ... i.e. like the shack boards. |
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NEW DELIVERY TO RITZ CARLTON’S REYNOLDS PLANTATION:
See this project going up in the Atlanta area now.
We have an interesting home being erected now (before and after Thanksgiving) in the Ritz Carlton Reynolds Plantation development east of Atlanta. It’s a timber frame residence of approximately 7,000 square feet featuring some really massive cypress timbers that have been kiln dried and sandblasted to make them look weather aged. Below, you see some production CAD work about the project.
| Customer: | Fallon (Full PDF plans) | |
| Contractor: | Calvert and White | |
| Location: | Reynolds Plantation |
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THE FREEDOM TO IMAGINE AND DESIGN:
CAD/CAM sounds ugly. But, oh what freedom it gives us to create very un-ugly projects. In the designer’s and the customer’s mind, visions and creativity dance the night away. Then, come morning, somehow we have to make those dreams and visions happen. Hearthstone worked with hand tools and did wonderful timber frame structures for about 15 years. But, volume was impossible without compromising joint complexity or craftsmanship. Also, flexibility was very tough. We always had to do as many projects as possible with the same size timbers, same joinery, etc. Then, after 15 years of attending German machinery shows and watching timber machining systems evolve, we bet everything on a full-blown CAD/CAM process. If we hadn’t, we probably wouldn’t be here today.
Now, we search eagerly for difficult projects, rather than pull our hair out searching for simpler work. People get into routines they don’t want to change. If they’re used to cutting dovetails on logs, they don’t want to do mortise-and-tenon joints in timber frames. Our machines don’t care what we throw at them, and they don’t yearn for the good old days, and they don’t cringe when some crazy customer dreams up something that we’ve never done before. At least ... that’s accurate to some degree. The truth is that we still pull out a lot of hair. But we’re much better at pulling it out than we used to be. To understand Hearthstone’s culture, it’s important to understand that we bet the company on computerization and mechanization not to save money, nor to build high-tech stuff. We did it so that we could do very un-tech feeling and very creative projects, with a dramatically increased flexibility of products and design. At Hearthstone, creativity and visions drive the machinery instead of the other way around. That’s uncommon. And, it matters.
Below is just one routine illustration of the complexity, flexibility, and multiple technologies that we simply couldn’t do (in any volume) before CAD/CAM. In these drawings, you see a huge wooden hub that required a 20” x 20” x 6’ piece of oak just to get started. There is a hub because there are so many timber elements coming together in one place that they couldn’t be joined to each other, so they’re all joined to the hub.
At other companies, this probably would have been done by terminating all the timber into a big steel hub of some sort with a bunch of visible steel plates. But, that’s just plain ugly. We made the hub of oak. We cut the complex, compound joinery to attach that tangle of timbers to the hub. Then, where the engineer would allow us, we put true mortise-and-tenon joinery with wooden pegs. Where the engineer got feathers on his legs, we put steel connections. But, they are “blind” connections. They require a lot more precision than external plates. The wood-to-wood complex cuts are done properly, there is no visibile steel, and the engineer rests more easily at night. Everybody wins.
But you have to have resources (huge oak parts, engineers who understand timber). You have to know what you’re doing (40 years of experience, more custom, complex CAD/CAM timber and log buildings than anyone in the world, and an experienced roster from one end of the company to the other). And, you have to have partners all pulling together (Customer, Developer, Architect, Engineer, Contractor, Hearthstone). If you have that, you can make people’s jaw drop - both from a creative/aesthetic perspective and from a technological perspective. Cost? Cost is always an issue. But with Hearthstone, you'll get more "jaw drop" factor per dollar than from any other company.
White Project. Oklahoma:
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ATLANTA PROJECTS AND CUSTOMERS:
We’ve done so many fun projects for great customers in Georgia that even an all star list would be a long one.
That said, below is a list of some people in Atlanta that we’ve done work for. Perhaps you know one of them. All of them should know us, with the exception of Arthur Blank. We did several commercial projects for him, through his contractors, and, according to his wishes, we don’t publish to the general public that we’ve worked for him. Out of courtesy for their privacy, I’d appreciate it if you wanted to talk to one of the people on this list, you let us notify them first. Of course, if one of them is your good friend, feel free.
Of all these customers, Bill Curry (head football coach at Georgia State and previously at Georgia Tech, Alabama, and Kentucky) is the one that I know well personally. He built two of our homes. One of them is a guest house and is a perfect example of the Overlook Cabins project. I’m sure I could arrange a meeting or lunch with Bill and me if you’d like to talk to him ... or a private call if you want an unvarnished opinion. But, Bill doesn’t varnish opinions! So there’s nothing to worry about there.
ATLANTA CUSTOMERS:
| T. Marshall Hahn, CEO, Georgia Pacific: vacation log home in Virginia. | John Bell, musician, Widespread Panic: log cabin near Lake Burton |
| Quill Healey, President, Sedgewich James Insurance: custom log home at Big Canoe | Bill Calton, Plumb Creek Corporation: 2 homes and cabin, Gilmer County |
| Charles Loudermilk, President, Aaron's Rent to Own: Pavilion at hunting property in Wilkinson County. | Mike Smith, Baker Donelson, Home at Cuscowilla on Lake Oconee |
| Jim Strickland, VP, Norfolk Southern: Log home, Lake Lanier. | David Aldridge, River Forest Development (Forsysth): 3 homes. |
| Scott Overcarsh, senior management Chick-Fil-A: home and cabin, Lake Oconee | Sumter Bradwell, prominent builder: various projects |
| Roy Richards, CEO, Southwire Corporation: home at farm, Gilmer County. | Roger Neuenschwander, President, TVSA Architects: timber frame at Lake Burton |
| Wayne McAmis, President, Southwire Corporation: home at Lake Wedowee, AL | A.J. Land, developer: log home in Fulton County |
| Lee Richards, VP, Southwire Corporation: home in Carroll County | George Montgomery, developer: log home in Dahlonega |
Here’s a couple of photos of Bill Curry's homes. The smaller one is his guest house. An interesting feature of his larger home is that it combines log portions with timber frame portions. There are technical issues to consider when building these hybrids, but this capability would be essential for complete freedom of design.
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ARTHUR BLANK'S MAUSOLEUM PROJECT:
Notice, once again, how Mr. Blank's architect did the creative work and we made it happen.
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RITZ CARLTON AT REYNOLDS PLANTATION:
Here’s a couple photos of one of the several projects we’ve done for Ritz. We didn’t get the first timber frame project because we were underbid. We got the rest ... enough said!
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OVERLOOK CABIN-TYPE PROJECTS:
Here’s a sampling of cabins and other structures that reflect the ideas Charles has shown us about the Overlook project:
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Details...Details...Details:
The above home was retrofitted with an example of design details we often come up with. This house started out with conventionally trimmed and finished windows. Then, we took them out and actually timber framed the window opening, swapping the ho-hum of conventional-home-look of the normal window casing with a stunning project-making feature.
MOUNTAIN AIR PROJECT:
Mountain Air is a country club, golf course, fly-in community and development near Burnsville, NC. We helped them with a project that is somewhat similar to the Boot Ranch revival. They had some undeveloped parts of their property that they wanted to devote to cabins at a price point below much of the existing property. But, they wanted to do that in a stylish compatible way without devaluing the larger properties, and they were able to utilize some steeper, rougher land.
We helped them develop several standard cabins that they could sell at a fixed turn-key price. I think they were pretty successful at it and built 6-8 of them. But, it was different from Boot Ranch in that Mountain Air was already substantially developed. I don’t want to offend them, so it might be better not to repeat it, but the last we heard, they tried to bring some modular cabins in at an even lower price point, and I don’t think it worked too well. Once again ... enough said.
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TECHNICAL SUPERIORITY:
Hearthstone has many systems and technical capabilities that few companies have. Probably no company has as much experience in all the log and timber types and technology as Hearthstone.
I’ve already mentioned many strengths we have. Here’s a short list of other technical things that many companies can not do:
- Thorough understanding, and accommodation, of shrinking and settling.
- Borate pressure treating as appropriate (borates are non-toxic preservatives).
- Vacuum and radio frequency specialty kilns that dry big timbers.
- FSC certification. FSC is a tough accreditation that guarantees that wood products come from responsible growing, harvesting, transporting, and processing of trees.
- Close relationships with top German and Swiss machinery and engineering firms
- Close relationships with countless vendors, engineers, and experts in the industry
- AIA/CES Certified - Continuing Education programs
- World-wide erection services
COME VISIT US:
Below, you’ll see a photo of my personal home here in Dandridge and a link to a Log Home Living magazine article about me and my home. You’ll also see a photo of my guest house, where I lived for many years. It’s very similar to the Overlook Cabins, and you are welcome to stay there.
If you’ve made it this far, thanks very much for that much of your time and consideration. This has become a much longer presentation than I intended, but as I got into it, I felt more and more strongly that we could really be an asset to you at Boot Ranch.
Please don’t hesitate to call, or send a message to us through Charles. We visit Texas often, and would love to set up an office there. So, we can be there when you want us. We can be in Atlanta on short notice, and we’d like to show you the project going up at Reynolds Plantation. And, I’d love to have you visit our facilities, our team, and my home here in Dandridge.
Thanks again,
Randy Giles, owner. 865-368-5162. randy.giles@me.com
www.hearthstonehomes.com
My personal home in Log Home Living magazine: (click on the photo to go to the story)
Giles Guest House:
