Episode 2 | Log Chalet in Kansas | Amish Dream Homes

once I pull the helmet down its pull the trigger and go it's a little bit of dynamite your hands Alex is a character he's funny doctor that's show card he likes these pink well you guys have just been cooking today let's get to it he has a son that's so cool I might just take a little meth if you sit there for 10 minutes you have to buy it so Alex what do you think I have no words this is totally well in the mountains of northern Montana lives of family of Master Craftsmen LV Miller and his wife Rebecca have six children but this Amish family don't ride horse and buggy they use cellphones I grab like technology and power tools Himmler oops Elvie heads up one of the biggest cabin businesses in Montana his team handcraft one-of-a-kind log homes ship them to families across the country and fit out their interiors turning dreams into reality it's January and in Montana alvey's team is gearing up for the start of the cabin building season we've got a crew at hand feeling logged by the truckload a crew on the pad assembling home and crews out on site all across the state [Music] Elvie an interior designer abby have a busy few months ahead great I've just had a call from a man in Kansas about a new log home on a beautiful lake I'm excited to get going on this one swimming fireworks in the summer yeah what could be better my name is Alex Neil I live in rural southwest Kansas I am an orthopedic surgeon I'm Nico I'm my dad Alex's son I'm in eighth grade and I play video games and occasionally I go fishing with my dad and my uncle about a year ago I began to dream to get away from my place in town I found a lot here the old mills in Kansas when I was growing up I used to visit a log cabin with my family and those were some of the best memories of my childhood key features in this cabin that I envisioned would be lots of light big windows open access to the outside a loft a place to retreat and a garage that can accommodate a couple 1/2 ton trucks my ultimate goal is to have the cabin completed by the fourth of July and when of Nicholas's and my favorite activities is shooting off fireworks and watching them [Music] alvey's crew offer a one-stop-shop for clients like alex building and fitting out cabins along with our build team we work with the interior designer called Abby she helps transform the shells into nice warm cozy homes hi LV when she's finished with her designing they look amazing the interior design like having this interesting because you're working with such large scales so what we have to do is we have to make sure the furniture doesn't look too small compared to the massive logs that will be on the walls and the ceilings I'm LV I'm Alex nice to meet you so Alex tell me a little bit more about your lot it's on a late right it is right at the very bottom of the lake and from there and pretty much see the entire expanse of the law this is great and I have a dream of what my ideal log home is but I don't know is how that translates into reality I've got some plans are we prepared for you this is about you know close to 2,000 square feet [Music] Elvie has designed a cabin that will make the most of Alex's lakeside lock the 2,000 square feet will be spread for two floors a large deck will wrap around the house which will be great on long summer evenings double doors will lead into the open-plan living space which will have a high cathedral like ceiling up the stairs there will be a lot with master bed and bath the wide bank of windows will have great views of the lake from the landing and let lots of light into the living space the kitchen will be at the back of the house and along with the second bedroom for Alex's son the main entrance will lead out to a double garage across the road but building this luxurious lakeside home in time for the fourth of July fireworks is going to be a massive challenge for LV and Abbey this is really great I can see how this begins to capture with everything we've been speaking about okay well we got some work let's do this thing it's gonna be beautiful and meeting with Alex was amazing he's a lot of fun big challenges to get his house ready for the fourth of July [Music] at L DS yard in northern Montana the build crew is starting work on Alex's dream Oh with only four months into the 4th of July deadline the team has to work fast it'll take 250 trees to build this house firstly come out of the forest with the bark and then the bark is taken off milled on the mill and then the boys who can get those chainsaws fired up and ready to go hey Joseph oh you wanna come down let's talk about Alex plants Oh my nephew Joseph is in charge of the pad he'll also be the foreman on site in Kansas we draw on the garage separate across the road 30 by 30 garage looking forward to go elby's crew must cut all the logs for Alex's cabin two sons and piece the walls and roof together to check everything fits this will be the corner of Alex's garage [Music] [Music] that's how we make notches [Applause] all the logs are numbered and the cabin is dismantled so they can be trucked to Alex's lakeside law in Kansas but before LV and his crew head off to reassemble the cabin they have to prepare for their annual auction every May we have a community auction and part of the proceeds go to our school our whole family's been involved for years my second son jaylen has recently begun making benches and tables and I'm quite proud of him he's getting really good at it can we turn it over and see it that's neat whoa yeah it turned out pretty good jaylen does remind me of myself at his age I would make things out of wood that thick slab is whatever you like there's definitely some negatives about Jalen but they also probably come from me the nut doesn't fall very far from the tree [Music] it's a good piece good job here's your part of the puzzle we finished preparing the logs for Alex's cabin and today we're loading them on the trucks it's a big house so we hope it'll all go on probably gonna go right here right where her feet are here I'm thinking Joe the trucker he's a character yeah he's used to have a wild man he really cares about the house and getting the logs to the customers site safely so nothing falls off so so in good hands so here comes a fun part is to stick your head in here and hopefully don't come this way and crush you [Music] Blagh homes throw a lot of straps check check check always check straps it's so important to have it tape because you don't want to end up killing somebody you know their dream no reason I'm delivering somebody's dream hole crushed already that's the sound you want to hear that's tight wait is it all going to fit on these two trucks I think it is it's gonna be tight you guys get this job going it's 1,500 miles from LG's yard in Montana to Alex's lon Joe will pass the northern edge of Yellowstone National Park through Wyoming Nebraska and south into Kansas if all goes to plan they should be there in three days [Music] I still with the logs on their way alex is visiting Abby's design workshop and store in Bozeman Montana we open the design workshop about a year ago building the home can be really stressful what we like to do is just make it fun as a guy the essentials are where's the refrigerator and where can you put your dirty clothes our goal with Alex's cabin is to have it be a little more refined and not to be the cliche log cabin when you're doing these large-scale homes stuff just shrinks and that's like a sectional over here it seems large and scale but when you put it your logs that's beautiful it has depth to it so it's comfortable but then it also it is that I might just curl up in it take a little bit you might need sash is great but if you sit there for 10 minutes you have to buy it you know that right yeah I do now Abby has drawn up a design for the inside of Alex's cabin she knows that space management is important for such an open-plan living space she will use a 4-top table with a week so it can expand into a six top when alex has company two club chairs will be able to enjoy the view of the lake or face a wood stove in the corner a coffee table and soap but where shades will allow Alex to kick his feet up and relax artwork will hang on the log walls throughout the cabin and in the master bed there is enough space for both the seating area as well as a king bed two nightstands and a dresser oh wow that's beautiful Thanks you also said you had a collection of rugs yeah it's eclectic did you pick those up in travels no these were our change okay myself oh my goodness well what we'll do is we'll keep a sofa really neutral so then your rugs can basically be the artwork that would be brilliant I love that that gives me goose up I love that kind of stuff often times people find it a challenge to try to bring in people's personal items I actually think it brings a lot of personality and that's what makes the design let's go check out some pieces on the floor this piece right here is a warming lamp for an oil rig that's beautiful in a scientist industrial it's like you just realist it but something like this would be really cool in your living room too or no the scale of your logs this wouldn't look that big at Merrill small light fixtures are gonna look like little pimples I'm stoked to work with Alex I think he's up for anything which [Music] it's 46 degrees and the clouds are turning dirt gray and blue you got to be a little bit crazy to do this job that's why I got my lucky fingernail I used to have a lucky necklace that broke so then I started having bad luck and my woman painted my thumbnail now it's my lucky thumbnail that good luck ever since we're running from a storm right now it's probably about 40 minutes behind us with Alex's logs in transit LV is having one final meal with his family before he sets off for Kansas breakfast is ready mornings are sometimes a little hectic and it gets busy and a little bit of a madhouse sometimes we gotta get some good food in our system because we thought built some more log cabins today it's definitely not like we have every morning organized schedule it's not the way it is around here there are two Lister boys jae-won i-17 and dry is 19 the family is 14 and then marina is 12 and Danna and Victoria are six and four my dad builds the best log cabins let's finish eating you I'm heading off to Kansas to build another log hole [Music] I'm on my way to Alex's lot in Kansas it's gonna be tight because he wants to sing done by the fourth of July but the location is awesome the lake trees everywhere and it's kind of a valley a lot of birds you hear all the time the Wild West I don't know it's not very wild anymore the log house fits in here very well you can see with the positioning of the cabin the Sun will pour right into those big windows you can see out across the lake and the deck is gonna be a great place to sit out in the summer [Music] the team is very fast the Joseph Miller my nephew he's in charge of the building process here the job foreman Benjamin and pernil are brothers and they've been with us since 2000 then there's my son jaylen so it's good to have big families help with the work today we're starting to the subfloor the framing the porch decks and once the logs arrive things really get going your Vic Tanny this is terribly exciting and pretty stoked this right here would be a typical site you got trees over the road like this and you've really got to be wary of the trees coming down Joe is gonna be very careful not to damage any of the logs or his truck well I haven't seen any little branches yet so so far we're good that sound you're hearing is true go brushing up against tenez and that will begin the next phase of the adventure if it's possible I'd like to try to offload them the lodge myself and the loader alright sure this should be interesting when somebody says I've never ran a machine before you can almost expect anything he's gonna be really ginger where he's gonna be just a ramrod alex is a character he's a professional he's a doctor but it's one thing to take a knife to someone on an operating table it's another set of skills completely to drive a forklift I guess it's every guy's dream to operate heavy equipment little vampires or not Oh whatever button that is any no good and as you've seen that log there that's what we call not being ginger you got it this is great adventure I mean how many times you get to unload two semi tractor-trailer loads tons of lumber in a single day could be worse I thought I only got scared plays so Oh nineteen to go [Laughter] [Music] this place is awesome it's the water here the creeks coming in and your house looking out over it it's absolutely amazing I'm just in awe of it to meet Alex and the lot is real special I think coming down here it's very relaxing to him and we want to make sure he's not a stressed out doctor cutting these people up and stuff it'll be a great place to bring my son as well yeah I can't wait create memories absolutely hopefully somebody some grandkids right yeah there you go yeah absolutely wouldn't it be amazing her God give this man some grandkids in the right time yeah in Kansas the crane arrives to help LG's team a symbol Alex's cabin alex has a pretty big cabin here and the crane is charged by the hour so we have to work pretty fast right here first log it's always fun to set the first log from that point everything goes faster our logs are all numbered in rows 1 2 3 4 as we stack them up and then ABC as we go around horizontally so it's a very simple system the second row is where we drill all our holes for our electrical outlets so then later when it's all covered up and the walls are up we can cut in and hit that hole and run the wire after Row 2 we start really moving the first day is always a big day and it's exciting to get the cabin started [Music] back in Montana Abbie is visiting a local craftsman to design a chandelier for Alex's dining room hey happy garden I need to talk to you about a project I hired for a couple years now and he can make the most simple things into the most interesting things I've ever seen so hopefully we'll be able to put together a great light fixture for Alex what do we got I got a couple old wheels back here I got some old metal ones I think the wood would be good cause it'd be a little softer than just doing all metal you know IRA is incredible he works a lot with found objects that's where I get a lot of my inspiration from it's just all this waste that people just throw in the dump and make something nice [Music] let's let's take it out and look at it a lot of the pieces that Alex has shown me that he has in his home were from his travels the same thing with iris pieces he goes out and collects them and they all have stories look at that hook on there it's already welded on what kind of what kind of car is that what is the international so how can we soften this a little bit is there something we could add what's that glass from it's from an old oil lantern yeah somewhere yeah cool it's so pretty and how are we gonna light this guy I've been using little LEDs kind of are a little more modern I like it to be old and feel like it was made in 1700s and then throw some LEDs in it and just freakin go and then we'll put one on each spoke I was thinking every other spoke together yeah you know would be be alright to go chair cuz then I would light up can light up your spokes and stuff yeah how are you gonna hang it from the ceiling like what is that thing right there these are Hames panes are for going around the neck of a draft horse that pulls wagons okay so it's pretty suitable never really driven a team with a wagon on it but I've rode shotgun a lot and they're pretty cool I was just thinking of welding him oh he's gonna love this yeah they're beautiful and what are they called again Haynes Haynes feel like it's gonna be a really nice piece I want it to be more of a sculpture than a light fixture Abbie's excited about it and that makes me excited one week into the build alex visits his lot to check the team's progress [Music] Wow where did that come from there wasn't a cabin there yesterday and suddenly it looks like a cabin oh my goodness wow what an amazing place there's no way to anticipate or even imagine how much these guys get done in a day Wow the staircase is extraordinary it's beautiful it echoes the the exterior logs is perfect yeah [Music] this is incredible well you guys have just been cooking today even though this has been a passion and a dream over the past eight months only now does it become real and tangible and taking on its own life and its own form and it's amazing I'm totally jazzed initially I had justified the cabin as a place that I might come down and live in the future either worked out but now looking at this structure you couldn't keep me from living there okay I'll be moving within six months it'll be home hey Alex I like it oh my goodness for you kidding it's like a new adventure I can't imagine anyone doing this better you know my only real concern the detached garage if the garage is across the street from your cabin then in the dead of winter you came to groceries through the snow and not directly through the garage into the back of your kitchen and so at present what I'd like to do is incorporate the garage to make it part of the house I'm gonna rely heavily on LV to help me to sort that out in Kansas Alex has asked LV for a last-minute change to his log home alex has given us a little bit of a curveball here originally plans were drawn with the house being separate and the garage being separate across the road we're going to scrap that idea Alex has decided he wants the garage attached LG's team will have to extend the current walls to create a 30 foot by 30 foot double garage this will allow Alex to drive straight into the cabin and walk directly into the main living space the attached garage will add extra complexity to the bill so alvie's team will have to work fast to finish the cabin in time for the fourth of July fireworks I think with the way we've changed the plans to the attached garage is definitely the best solution for Alex it's got about ten foot walls it's also cathedral ceiling it's going to be a very nice place for him to park his vehicles in his tools and his toys he likes things big we work really hard on site we put in long hours and the boy just get these big appetites we got to feed these boys the way they really work the Amish diet consists of a lot of protein high carb a lot of cholesterol fat and salt but most Amish people are skinny because I guess they work it off this is real Montana elk burgers elk is very lean it's almost fat-free very very healthy [Music] no fat people in our community tell you that [Music] ooh lot of pepper hey got it little barbecue sauce [Music] the game closed this cheese it might not look good but it's gonna be awesome hey guys time for lunch [Music] you can't get them to stop for lunch you can't get them stop for evening they just keep on going hey guys we're break for lunch burgers are on come & get it the only thing better than cooking elk burger is eating it he's a pretty good cook he makes good burgers but I don't think he's better than my mom at cooking she's much better she's better looking too so now the logs are up the garage is attached but it's still going to be tight to get this thing done by the fourth of July [Music] at this point where the boys are working quite high on the roof it's important that they stay safe so they need to wear harnesses it can be dangerous work up there I mean I don't like Heights really but they get used to it after a while oh they got the wrong log on there so it belongs on this side of the roof so the Jalen's got a big job ahead of him cornele is probably the biggest joker he likes to get under your skin we love harassing the younger guys you know just to keep with the stuff while I go on their toes yeah yeah heard of this Benjamin are from a Swiss Amish background they're from a great family they love to sing and they light like that Swiss yodel it's in their DNA there's four Jerrod brothers and we yodel a lot together we learned yodeling through our dad you know my dad yodeled many times I remember we'd be going down the road with a horse and buggy almost dark and you'd see the horse's head bobbing and and dad was just the old way [Music] oh they do do do do you oh dear the insides coming together very well got the half hearts there which that's cut with a chainsaw and that's a really neat feature the kitchen is gonna be underneath there and then that wall carries us loft noise coming out another feature of course is that big log raft for the aged shape and that is makes that whole upstairs open into the loft see how strong this is it's not going anywhere the front is is custom-made him for Alex he wanted lots of glass so both of these openings are large sliding glass doors so he can see out into the water so this would be a very light room it's gonna be awesome [Music] LG's crew has taken a break from Alex's cap to head home to Montana for their annual community auction the auctions a great opportunity to come together it's people bringing crafts and things of sell and buyers wanting to buy things plus a lot of good food fellowship yum yum some of the furniture is very unique one-of-a-kind pieces listening to the auctioneer's is almost like music it's most entrancing [Music] alex is coming up to date for the option so it's gonna be a lot of fun watching him how are ya good do you think you'll be bidding on some things I'm afraid so it's inescapable this is a lot of footage these guys make some amazing nation creases gives new meaning to Fifty Shades of Grey they're four posters out of local wood pine but the pine isn't just milled and it's straight-up some of it has Gauls girls not eNOS really interesting peculiar job there's definitely not another one in the whole state of Montana like this one unfortunately when I could auctions sometimes I'm swept away by the excitement in the enthusiasm at the moment and I just flat-out get carried away and the bidding started soon as I jumped in the fray it just picked up speed there is no so right here but I have no doubt in my mind there was a great deal it's a great bit I was happy what do you think room here for several hats today was marvelous I caught the fever so I came away with a bit more than I had anticipated or planned on but I went off I had a great day today's been one of the most successful auctions ever and we raised enough money to run the school for the next year [Music] at Alex's property in Kansas all the walls are up and the roof is in place the next challenge for LV and his team is to cut out the windows and doors when it comes to cutting windows and doors out I'm an animal once I pull that helmet down it's pull the trigger and go I could cut more accurately as fast rather than slow cuz I like to try to outdo the other guys so we got this thing going on about who's faster and better that would be me it's a very complex operation and today I'm going to teach my son Jalen to do it Jalen has never cut out a window or a door before so we'll see how this one goes it's a little bit of dynamite in your hands follow Martha she'll follow mark first towel it's probably gonna be a little bit stressful because there's no tolerance for mistakes let's go up as high as you can that's good first cut the vertical and the next cut the angle my father taught me and so now I'm teaching that to my sons [Music] that looks good okay no not take this off this is a tough part I definitely see myself in him I think I was also kind of lazy until I was like 15 or 16 something like that no sudden I began becoming like a man and that's what he's doing looks great good job on your first window hold us up so you see it now we've got all the openings cut out we're going to install the windows and doors and cut all the trim yeah that's good up and down close it just feel if it's feel natural yeah good okay all right keep all the can just wind out of it let's slide this bad boy in here I'll get us there you go it's amazing actually fits Alex has chosen a very good brand of Windows for his house perfect his views are going to be great okay looks good what do you think jaylen looks pretty good [Music] the windows with their views are looking great there's great access through the doors onto the deck out to the lake the cathedral ceiling and the loft is looking really amazing the garage is pretty big now it's over to Abby to add the wow factor inside [Music] I think we're in a great location I think it'll be right directly over the table just arrived here at Elm Mills I'll be done a great job on the exterior we gotta get going cuz it's gonna be tight to get this done before the fourth of July the chandelier is quite heavy but luckily there are three electricians here to help us raise it up is that cool I love the patina everything just adds to the look of the cabin it turned out awesome cool that's a super step it looks great guys Thanks what we've been able to do is kick and pillage through all his things which I love fits like a treasure hunt because he has so many incredible things some of the paintings are painting so his mom actually did for him as a child on his birthday which i think is really sweet I think it just adds to the personality of the cabin I'm most excited about somebody walking in and going oh this is Alex's home the pieces Alex picked up in the auction are perfect I think they're really gonna fit into the design nicely sometimes with this handmade rustic furniture it takes a little brute force to get it together now I gotta kick this again there you go kick real hard I think Nico's gonna love it how's it feel it's great [Music] often time people forget that the exterior can add square footage to the home the great thing about the world we live in today is that we can find exterior rugs we can find cushions we can find sofas what's really important to me is to bring in greenery do with tables and planters that can create different heights they're pretty awesome it's beautiful cool let's keep going we got a lot to do we just found this large log that I'm really excited to incorporate into the design yeah you could stick plants inside well I think it's important to have found objects so not everything looks new I have some sweet potato vine and some crimps and gold hair put them inside that's amazing yeah I think people think you need to go out and buy everything there's things right in front of you I love this my wife would like this kind of thing yeah beautiful well I hope Alex enjoys it I can't wait to see Alex's reaction when comes and sees the exterior and the interior what Abbey's done so Nicolas is the excitement building for you yeah it's been a bee eyes your jaws gonna drop I am so psyched I can hardly wait [Music] I have no idea what she's done at the cabin oh my goodness wow that's so cool [Music] it looks so nice and fancy alright let's go Wow yeah pretty much [Music] this place is incredible this is really cool so Alex what do you think I think it's amazing I think it's incredible I can't wait to see the inside well let's go check up in tears you guys [Music] whoa oh my so what's your first impression well pretty much total Wow it's incredible the whole place I'm just trying to drink it in it's amazing you all have done extraordinary things you know my favorite part of the job was looking through Alex's pieces and getting to know who's actually gonna live here so it's actually everything you own but just done up in a different way I could have rearranged those things a thousand times and never came up with anything remotely like this I think a lot of people just filled a fill space and I think that's kind of a waste I think if you're gonna put objects in your home it needs to be objects that mean something to you or tell a story I have no words this is totally wild that doesn't happen very often no really amazing totally amazing how about touring the house now do it just head over this way holy Christmas this is incredible Niko do you know what those are on the top no what are they they're called Hames and there they go around the horses collar I did pull and I hitched up many many horses in my life with Eames well Niko I want to go look at your room let's go check it out cool I can't wait whoa oh my gosh it's so cool I saw this piece and I fell in love with it it's like something out of a dream super cool so what do you think of this garage Alex it's great this is perfect you like these bigs is it big enough I don't know about that big but no this was perfect so you threw us a bit of a curveball on this attaching this drive to the house but it was okay in the end here we are I want to cry you like this one grow up well I think we need to check out your room Alex I think so too let's go upstairs how amazing is this [Music] that was really important to have an office area a seating area and your bed and I think we're able to accomplish that I really can't believe it's my my bedroom that's perfect it's a beautiful space isn't it we put your desk here so you can look out and see the water I also thought was important to keep it really clean and minimal mm-hmm there you did incredible there's a lot going on with the logs in the grain and I'm so wanted the bed in artwork to be really quiet I love the way you have the rugs on the floor where they're overlapped over each other yeah you never seen that before you know I think people try to be so literal and everything has to line up so perfectly in life when I think layering and adding angles it softens a little bit because everything is so refined that we put in here it's not overdone which i think is important I think this room is better than my room I'll flip you for it yeah I'm so excited for them to be able to enjoy the space together and just the memories that they're gonna make so what do you Galax overall I think this is like a dream come true I'm relieved that they're happy with it but I expected you would be he's a pretty jolly old fella Wow you're acting like you live here well I'm beginning to feel like I live here well you look pretty comfortable it's a hugely comfortable house and it's perfect a work of art really the craftsmanship what you guys did it's amazing you guys really did a great job bringing an idea to life thank you we appreciate it and we got it done by the fourth of July didn't we oh man it was tight but we sure made it I can't wait to see the fireworks tonight me too that's show time I think the cabin that the team put together here is just what the doctor ordered every time I walk from one room to another it's like oh my god it's so amazing all over again it was such an incredible opportunity part of making his dream come true

Channel: Amish Meadows

Views: 461,389

Rating: 4.8492045 out of 5

Keywords: meadowlark, log, homes, amish, meadows, libby, Montana, cabin, cabins, handcrafted, rustic, custom, home on lake, log home on lake, kansas log home, montana chalet, amish log homes amish log cabins, amish log home, amish dream homes, episode 2, log home video, kansas log homes, montana chalet video, chalet log homes, chalet home, amish dream home, amish cabin, amish log cabins, montana log cabins

Id: Bi3avHmy39Y

Length: 42min 57sec (2577 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 04 2019