Compiled by Katherine Owen
Photos courtesy of Tim Patterson
When pastor Tim Patterson and his wife set out in search of a new place to live, a log home, much less an unfinished one, was not what they had in mind. However, a near-complete, one-of-a-kind cypress stunner turned out to be the perfect fit. Here’s their story.
Tim: Finding our log home sure was a journey. It was 2022, and my wife, Wendy, and I had been casually looking to move. The home we lived in was a house I’d built myself back in 2002—we raised both of our kids in it. But she wanted to change locations, and I was wanting property with a pond on it.
When we saw this house listed, we immediately called our Realtor to go look at it. From the moment we pulled onto the property, we fell in love. Pictures can’t even capture what it’s really like—it’s a little one-lane road, and it feels like you’re really in the middle of the woods. Then when you pull into the driveway, suddenly it opens up to a large pond in the front yard with this big cabin behind it.
We quickly put in an offer; however, someone outbid us. But then my phone rang one day, and it was the owner. She said, “Well, son, the house is yours.”
I asked, “What do you mean?” She said, “They called me with a whole list of things that they wanted me to do, and I told my agent, ‘You tear that contract up, this house is going to the preacher.’” It was just a few minutes later before my own real estate agent called and confirmed: “If you want it, it’s yours.”
The house was actually unfinished at the time, hence the other offer’s list of requests. For instance, the whole basement was incomplete, and there were no stairs from the top to the bottom of the house—not even a stairway from the first floor to the loft. But my wife had fallen in love with the home, and I knew it could be a great investment.
We closed in July of 2022, and I immediately had multiple crews start working on it. We ended up working on the home through December, and we moved in the last week of 2022.
It’s funny because we weren’t necessarily looking for a log home. As a matter of fact, I really didn’t even think that my wife would like a log home, though we’d had one before. Now that we’ve got it though, she says she would never have anything else.
When you see the size and complexity of some of the beams and logs in this house, it’s really something. The home was designed by BK Cypress Log Homes, and most of the wood used is cypress with a mix of cedar, pecan and pine as well.
I would have never even thought about starting a home like this. But I was willing and felt like I was capable to come in and finish what had already been started. Now, when the original owner comes to visit, she can see that all the time, money, effort, ingenuity and love she poured into the home paid off. Seeing her stand there with joy—watching us enjoy the home and continue what she started—feels really good. It was definitely a God thing.
