Hearthstone Open House – Former Giles Residence in Dandridge, Tennessee (2024)
We had the opportunity to visit a dovetail log home located in Dandridge, Jefferson County, Tennessee, USA.
Hearthstone Field Trip to Giles Guest House in 2024
We toured a 40-year-old dovetail log home standing on the shores of Douglas Lake, a beautiful man-made lake in eastern Tennessee. This home was originally built by Randy Giles, CEO of Hearthstone Homes, one of America’s leading log home manufacturers, as his own personal residence (it is now used as a guest house).
With a footprint of about 40m², the house is compact yet remarkably refined in its design. Even after decades, it still retains its distinctive character and the warm, inviting atmosphere that only aged wood can provide.
“Build Small, Live Small” as a Theme
Randy wanted to prove that “you can live comfortably even in a small home,” and used his own residence as a testing ground.
In this compact log house, he and his family raised four children and lived together for 15 years while practicing a “live small” lifestyle. This experiment explored how to balance comfort and practicality within a limited space, and became a symbolic example of how a family can strengthen their bonds and define their way of living in a modest-sized home.
Exploring Fireplace Heating Efficiency
Randy did not stop there. His curiosity led him to further experiments—this time focusing on heating.
Fireplaces are generally considered less efficient heaters than wood stoves. Randy set out to discover how far he could go in maximizing the usable heat from a fireplace.
As a first step, he positioned a masonry fireplace at the very center of the building so that the warmth could be circulated more effectively throughout the entire house. Inside the fireplace, the flue was designed with a carefully calculated angle to improve heat retention while also reducing soot buildup.
In addition, a double-insulated chimney was used to minimize heat loss and dramatically increase combustion efficiency. Thanks to these innovations, the fireplace was no longer just something to look at for ambiance—it became an important component of the home’s overall energy performance and heating efficiency. This approach clearly reflects Randy’s unique, experimental mindset.
Long-Term Aging Test of Log Walls
As someone who enjoys new challenges and experiments, Randy also wanted to observe what happens to log structures when they are left virtually unmaintained.
A few years after the dovetail log home was completed, he applied a single round of treatment: a spray with preservatives (to protect against rot, mold, and insects) and one coat of stain. After that, he intentionally stopped all maintenance and simply watched what would happen over time.
The photos below (in the original article) show the condition of the log walls after more than 35 years with no additional maintenance.
The log wall shown in the left photo is the corner on the southeast side of the house. This area has no overhang above it to shield it from rain or UV rays, and you can clearly see that it has deteriorated more than the corner shown in the right photo on the northwest side.
On the northwest corner, the roof of the back porch provides cover, so the wall has been exposed to less rain and direct sunlight compared to the southeast side. As a result, the deterioration there has been relatively mild.
Through this comparison, it became evident that differences in exposure to weather and sunlight have a major impact on the rate of log degradation.
Visiting the Former Giles Residence
The “former Giles Residence” is more than just an old log home—it’s a living archive of Hearthstone’s early craftsmanship, Randy’s experimental spirit, and the long-term performance of dovetail log construction in a real-life setting.
