Living on Hawkins Pond in Johnston offered Bob and Maryellen Quinn a real-life tale of country living minutes from Greenville’s Apple Valley Mall and about 15 minutes from downtown Providence.

“Our home sits on a peninsula with a three-sided view of the water,” Bob Quinn said. “It’s so peaceful here. This is like living in New Hampshire.”

The log cabin-looking, three-bedroom house at 25 Pine Lane also became a labor of love for Quinn, an engineer. He spent weekends and week nights adding some 1,800 square feet onto the 900-square-foot dwelling, built nearly 60 years ago. The sale price is $579,000.

Gallery

Walk through the House of the Week

Located at the end of Pine Lane in Johnston, it had a circular driveway, storage shed and two-car attached garage. There was additional storage inside a car port next to the garage.

The dwelling stood out as unique from the road. Its log cabin exterior and farm-style porch resembled something out of a western.

And even before entering the house, which sat on more than a half acre, the front-door’s side lights delivered a view of the pond. Nearly every room, including the cellar, supplied a view of the pond.

The house boasted two porches, two balconies and an oversized deck. Step into the house, and you’ll find the small foyer with a tile floor contained the home’s signature exposed pine beams and paneling. It also had a coat closet, and a door leading to a small mudroom and the garage.

The entry hall was closed off by French doors that led to the living room with lots of windows and additional sets of double doors led to a wraparound porch. The living room had two ceiling fans, a radiant floor heat and a wood-burning stove.

“It’s wonderful having heating in the floor,” said Quinn. “Our feet are always toasty warm.”

The Quinns said that they like a lot of light, and put in windows and windowed doors whenever possible. They kept the floors and the wood walls and ceilings an off-white color in keeping with the log-cabin theme.

The second floor, which houses the master suite, had similarly bleached oak floors and paneled walls. It included a sitting room with a balcony, a full bathroom with Jacuzzi and double sinks. There was a roomy walk-in closet with a hook-up for a washer and dryer and built-in closets.

The oversized bedroom prompted Quinn to say, “Look how small our king-size bed looks in this room.” The master suite had air conditioning and a gas fireplace. “We rarely need to use the heat up here,” he added. “The wood-burning stove throws off enough heat to keep it comfortable.”

Quinn, a self-described weekend contractor, said that he worked on the house for four years. “I’d fall asleep at night,” Maryellen Quinn added. “Then, he’d wake me up to show me what he had just finished.”

The Quinns, who collect antique cars, found another home that can accommodate their collection. (Currently, he’s paying to store his cars, he said.)

During his renovations, Quinn added, he rarely deviated from the log-cabin theme. Most noticeable was the restoration in the kitchen where he put in pine cabinets, a wood floor and a decorative dark-brown tin ceiling.

The ground level boasted an open-floor plan with the dining room and the house’s original living room separated by the kitchen. The living room had a high ceiling of dark-wood paneling and a large fireplace with a floor-to-ceiling granite surround.

A hall off the kitchen led to a full bath and a bedroom. He enclosed the original back porch and entry, and turned it into another bedroom. It had lots of windows, and, naturally, the home’s signature view of Hawkins Pond.

In the winter, they said that they enjoy ice skating; in the summer they swim and take out their paddle boat. About 32 families have access to the pond. He added, “No gas motors are allowed on the pond.”

“I love this location,” he said. “I also like that I live in a pine house on Pine Lane.”

The three bed-room log-cabin-looking house, which has two full baths and is on more than a half acre, has oil heat and about 2,839 square feet of living space. The home, at 25 Pine Lane, Johnston, is on sale for $579,000; taxes are $7,444; and there’s a $100 annual fee paid to the Hawkins Pond Improvement Association. Celeste Fournier of RE/MAX Realty Group, (401) 640-8897 has the listing. Fournier will host an open house tomorrow from noon-2.

fzuckerm@projo.com