Compiled by Katherine Owen
Meet Jeff Miller, a log and timber frame enthusiast and self proclaimed “out-of-the-box-kind-of-guy,” who dreamed up a soaring timber frame tower and then made it happen atop a mountain in South Dakota. Here’s how.
JEFF: A few years ago, I ended up buying 160 acres with a big mountain on it — it’s just beautiful. In addition to that, it’s got some 1800s-era gold mines across the property. With such a place, I wanted to do something pretty unique and just started dreaming and drawing it all out on a napkin.
A friend of mine, Brad Dewitt, used to build log homes. Over the years he actually built two homes for me, and we got to work on them together. He’s now in retirement in Arizona, but I said to him, “How about coming out of retirement, and I’ll give you something to do?” So he came up, I bought an old camper and we lived right there on the land and started building.
Brad had been buying logs from Montana and Canada over the years, and he had connections, so we went for a drive to Clancy, Montana. There was a guy who built his own sawmill (Mark’s Lumber) there, and he had all the material we needed. He cut all the Douglas fir timbers for the beams, and then he happened to have these great big Douglas fir logs from Idaho that are the legs of the tower now. If you want ones bigger than these, you’d have to go to the redwoods. They’re around 40-inch-diameter logs. Then we made the base of the legs and the stairs from flat-top limestone boulders.
I also bought a crane, a telehandler and a scissor lift in the process so that we could get all the way up to the height of it. We built the roof, which weighs 22,000 pounds, down on the ground and then raised it up as a finished product and set it on top. We had planned for a year and then built it in just 69 days — just the two of us. The only contractor I hired was the electrician.
We did our research, and we believe it’s actually one of the largest towers of its type in the world, square-footage wise. The tower is 1,024 square feet on top and 400 square feet on the middle level.
I originally built it just to bring value my land and make a creative, private place to hangout. But then I had friends come up and they told me, “You really need to do something with this.” So, I dreamed up the idea of using it as a venue. We’re still working out the details, but I’d like to rent it out for corporate meetings, family reunions, weddings — you name it. You can fit about 30 people up top. I’d like for it to become a South Dakota landmark eventually.
It’s the perfect location. It’s surrounded by beautiful forest, and I have a little lake that I dug 200 yards away. I am implementing a switchback hiking trail and I even have beach volleyball. On the ground next to it, a log structure houses a kitchen- ette and a bathroom. And that’s all crafted from logs that came from my own land.
It’s just so scenic around here, and it’s very quiet. It’s a beautiful area and this tower lets you see it all.
To stay updated on the tower’s progress and availability, visit toweroftheblackhills.com or follow along on Facebook, facebook.com/toweroftheblackhills.
