By Hayley M. Abernathy
Photography by Luca Pandolfi
Maryland natives Nancy and Scott Graeves already owned a large log lake home in the charming mountain town of Oakland when they found their dream two-acre lot on the other end of Deep Creek Lake. From their home base in Brookville, Maryland, two-and-a-half hours away, the couple loved escaping to the state’s largest lake, where friends and family often joined them. So, despite the fact that they loved their log home, the Graeves simply couldn’t pass up the lovely lakefront lot upon which they could build what they really wanted. “We’re in the mountains,” Scott explains, “so to find a flat lakefront — a cove lot — we were very lucky.”
So began their process of designing their dream vacation home. At first, Scott and Nancy commissioned local designer Doug Storck of DCL Design Studio to draw initial floor plans for another log home. “Scott liked the mass of the logs and Nancy liked the character and warmth the wood gave to the home,” recalls Doug. However, while on a regular stroll through their neighborhood, the Graeves became intrigued by a home under construction clad in an unfamiliar building material.
In investigating the new build, the Graeves met Steve Richards of Deep Creek Timber Frame, an independent representative of Woodhouse, The Timber Frame Company. Steve graciously gave them a tour, introducing Nancy and Scott to the world of timber framing, as well as the log-like siding system that initially caught their eye. Immediately, the couple decided they also wanted a timber frame clad in Old Kentucky Logs – concrete logs cast from molds of real, antique logs, and installed with a grout-like material to look like chinking.
“We didn’t look any further,” says Nancy. The couple was thrilled to have found a no-maintenance exterior alternative to logs which would still allow for character-rich wood as a major interior feature. “Although a timber frame was a shift in ideology,” reflects Doug, “it gave both [Scott and Nancy] what they were looking for. The mass of the timbers and the ability to accent the house with wood finishes.”
With a new direction, the Graeves began working with the Woodhouse team to adapt and develop Doug’s drawings for timber framing. Based largely on the footprint of their previous home (with the addition of a shuffleboard room), their 8,922-square-foot plan includes five beds with en suite bathrooms, two-and-a-half additional bathrooms, double two-car garages, a bunk room, a double loft, dedicated office space for Scott, a walkout basement and a gym. “We wanted it to be big for entertaining,” explains Nancy.
Nancy, a self-taught interior decorator, had a clear vision for the colors and finishes of the home from the start. Don Downs, Southeast regional project manager at Woodhouse, recalls when Scott and Nancy sat down with the Woodhouse design team: “Nancy brought with her a throw pillow that was a certain color, and she said, ‘Okay, I’m going to design this house around this pillow.’ So that made it fun.” The scheme: black and white throughout, offset by plenty of natural light and natural wood — with absolutely no red tones in the wood.
To fit this palette, the Graeves chose white oak for all timbers, inside and out. Furthermore, Nancy wanted no drywall in the house, so all interior walls are white nickel-gap planks. Since the slight pinkish-orange tones of the pine tongue-and-groove ceiling boards included with their Woodhouse package didn’t fit the vision, builder Joe Dixon suggested a thin coat of whitewash on the ceiling planks. Nancy loves the unexpected side effect: “It pops the timber out more,” she says.
Finally, after almost two years from the initial design to completion, Nancy and Scott moved into their dream house on Father’s Day in 2022. They spend about half of their time at Deep Creek Lake, and as a result, Nancy’s got a piece of advice for other homeowners considering diving in: “Go for it!”
Home Details
Square Footage: 8,922
Bedrooms: 5
Baths: 7 Full, 1 half
Designer/Timber Framer: Woodhouse, The Timber Frame Company
