$4 Million Log Cabin In Texas

Property Porn Of The Week
Morgan Brennan
Apr. 12 2011
http://blogs.forbes.com/morganbrennan/2011/04/12/property-porn-of-the-week-east-texas-4-million-log-cabin/

Kirkland Kastle isn’t just another east Texas log cabin. It’s a huge, hard wood “work of art,” asserts Evan Matteson of the Matteson Group of Coldwell Banker Apex, Realtors. The Canton, Texas area mansion is constructed of a staggering 6,000 oak and cedar logs custom-milled by hand over the course of five years. It’s currently on the market for $4 million.

“You ever walk into a cedar closet and get that aroma? The home has a little bit of that even though the logs are sealed,” says Matteson, who is the property’s listing agent.

The three story wooden abode is comprised of 4,800 square feet of living space and another 9,800 square feet of covered porches. The master bedroom loft touts two master baths. The decadent kitchen boasts Viking commercial grade appliances, granite countertops and cabinets made of that sweet-smelling cedar wood. And there’s a sportsbar-inspired entertainment area with wet bar bedecked in retro neon beer signs.

Sitting on a private 12 acre lake, the 40 acre estate includes two bridges and a swimming pier with wooden diving board. The lake is so expansive, current owners Gerald and Kelly Kirkland have been known to take a jet ski or two out now and again. In true Texas shindig fashion, there’s a bandstand on the lake’s shore for live music concerts and the home itself is rigged with a state-of-the art sound system, ensuring everyone gets to hear the band. The grounds also tout a gazebo and a three bay barn.

Gerald Kirkland built his namesake “Kastle” himself, enlisting the seasonal help of four employees from the speaker box construction business that he owns as a day job. Where did Kirkland get all of these logs? He literally knocked on the doors of his neighbors within a 10 mile radius and asked if they had trees in need of disposal on their properties. He then chopped said trees down and hauled them back to 4377 Vz County Road 2602, where he handcut and treated them one at a time.

Then there’s the foundation. Kirkland spared no means in making sure this residential labor of love would be here to stay. The house has 50 belled piers. In other words 50 2×4 foot boxes were pushed down upwards of eight feet into bedrock and then filled with concrete. Between the concrete foundation and the 6,000 hard wood pieces, Kirkland Kastle will need no structural renovations for at least 200 years, explains Matteson. Thanks to the sheer size of the logs and the way they were treated, even a fire would struggle to catch ablaze let alone cause any real structural damage.

The luxe log cabin sits just outside of the town of Canton, about 50 minutes east of Dallas and 50 minutes southwest of Tyler. Matteson says the outrageous $4 million home, which has been on the market about a month, is already drumming up interest. He thinks it will ultimately sell to one of two types of buyers: either a buyer who see it as a business investment for hosting events or acting as a bed and breakfast, or the high-end home buyer who wants a remote getaway property that’s completely unique.

“I’ve seen many log homes before, they’re a dime a dozen out here, but this is more like your style of wood lodge in Alaska or Colorado that’s been there 100 years and will be another 100,” says Matteson. “There’s a permanence to this house that you don’t normally see with newer construction these days.