DIY Network

Allow me to introduce Darlene Branim, CEO of Barna Log Homes. She has graciously taken the time to note all the suggestions made by bloggers that were woven into the San Jacinto floor plan:

NEW San Jacinto images below!

Hello Everyone! Here’s a list of the modifications so far:

• Bathtub inserted into one of the upstairs bathrooms. We were able to make this work with out changing the size of the dormer which allowed us to keep the home symmetrical on the road elevation and without losing any closet space. Although a little tight, we were able to get a full size bathtub/shower combo in the room with the water closet and a pedestal sink. It worked out very nicely.

• Since many people thought the out door living space off the master bedroom was going to be an outdoor kitchen instead of an owner’s private porch, we moved the porch to the lake side of the home coming off the great room and closer to the kitchen and dining room.
• We then changed the fireplace to a dual fireplace (indoor and outdoor) on the log wall thus allowing for a full view of the lake for the new outdoor living area.
• Because we needed to change access to the new outdoor living space, we made the fixed glass units on each side of the fireplace to operable swinger doors.
• Now that we no longer needed a side entrance from the master bedroom to the private porch, we moved the two windows to the side wall of the master bedroom and added a double door to the deck/porch side of the master bedroom for access and to match the dining room wing.
• Bloggers wanted to see more glass in the fireplace gable end of the home so we added fixed trapezoid on each side of the fireplace to allow more natural light and to open up a view of the lake from the loft upstairs.
• For a little variety, we added garden window at the kitchen sink.
• Most everyone wanted to see a larger pantry and laundry room, so we replaced the home office with the laundry room and made the old laundry closet into a nice size pantry.
• Although not requested by the bloggers, we added a small arch window to the rear foyer wing and changed the window size from a single to a double to match the master bath wing. This really made things look balanced from the road elevation.

The original design was to have a detached two car garage connecting to the home with a breezeway at the rear foyer wing; however, the lot size just would not accommodate the length of the overall structure, so we planned for the driveway to be moved to the other side of the home (Master Bedroom side) and we have changed the home from a crawl space foundation to a full size walk-out basement. Now the garage will be in the basement of the home underneath the master bedroom.

The stairs are stacked so we have access from the basement coming up into the great room just outside the dining/kitchen wall. We would have normally flipped the master bedroom and kitchen wings, however with this particular design and since we have load bearing points instead of load bearing walls, we could not flip these wings as the staircase would then be in the way in the basement preventing us from driving into the garage as we now must do.

I believe that we have a very nice open flowing floor plan focusing on the lake with great entertainment and outdoor living spaces, yet accommodating a very narrow lot and working with the natural lay of the land so we do not disturb or take away from the beauty of the lot and the adjoining lots.

This has been fun and educational and I look forward to continuing to work with the bloggers as we design and build this house together.

Darlene Branim, CEO
Barna Log Homes

Left Elevation
Road Side Elevation
Right Elevation
Lakeside Elevation
1st Floor
2nd Floor

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