Legacy Lodge

The Family Tree
As the Lodge began to take shape and the logs were being fitted, the most exciting element of the home was introduced, the Family Tree. It is the crowning adornment, and holds literal and symbolical meanining for us. The tree itself is located directly in the middle of the Great Hall and seem to support the entire home.

This tree (already uprooted by nature when found) is 1250 years old. "The events that have occurred in the world in that time can be counted as wonderful and horrible, and all the while this tree stood as a sentinel, observing the genius and foolishness of man. It witnessed the very beginnings of European cultures in Anglo-Saxon times, William the Conqueror and William the Silent. It watched as the Bubonic plague ravaged one third of European populations and Michelangelo and the Medici family participated in the Renaissance. Then the mass migration to the Americas and the wars and advances that occurred there. Then there was Hitler with his legions of young boys who became the harbingers of death to six million innocents. It witnessed the invention of most everything you see around you, including electricity and telescopes. And now it stands in strength, prepared to witness the smaller yet significant events to occur in Legacy Lodge.

It will take several years for the home to completely settle. Log posts supporting the building will be lowered 1/4 of an inch at a time until the settling process is complete...about 6 inches!!! During the construction it was evident why it took not only good craftsmanship but also a keen understanding of the settling process. The cell fiber of a tree is strongest standing up. Once you lay a tree down the wood cell begins to collapse, thus the settling.

The floors are made of a Hickory/Pecan mix. The walls and ceilings are a mix of cedar, aspen and poplar. The large chandeliers measure 10'x 10.The granite table in the kitchen was made from granite and legs and weighs 2,000 lbs.

A brief word on lodges
From the river rock fireplace to the very logs it is built of, this lodge follows a great American tradition. The lodges were created from the bounty around them - massive firs, cedars and pines, river and volcanic rock. They were built to match the grandeur of their surroundings. Building materials are authentic. "When completed, the lodges were beyond shelters; they were monuments to the wilds of the West and to the perseverance of the men and women who created " Great Lodges of the West, Barnes. 

"Through it all love remains" -- Inscription on the exterior entrance of the Lodge. The first time we heard this Collin Ray song we knew we had found the "theme song" for the Lodge.

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