Dedicated to a Dream

Too many people who want a log home give up on their dream once they find out what one costs. Quality of the building material, uniqueness of the design, expertise of construction — these aspects that distinguish log homes from ordinary houses might make buying one a challenge. It’s one that can be overcome, however.

A couple that built near my weekend place may not be typical, but their story illustrates the lengths to which some people will go to own a log home. Wanting to enrich the family experience with their two young sons, they bought a small wooded lot, cleared it themselves, paid cash from their savings for a modest milled-log package based on a company’s stock design and had it erected. Then they spent nearly three years finishing it. Living nearly three hours away, they’d drive out weekends and some summer evenings to do whatever work they could. For most of the first year, their home had neither electricity nor water. They stuck with it. Today, even in a down market, their finished home is valued at just shy of a half-million dollars, even though they spent only a fraction of that amount.

Other homeowners tell of one spouse moving into a camper on the construction site for more than a year to handle the role of general contractor, sometimes to save money but more often to see that the job got done right. Some of the people who build so-called million-dollar mansions scrimped and saved all their lives to afford their dream. Others did grunt and go-fer work to fit their costs to their budget.

Even log-home owners who’ve enjoyed financial success rarely regard their homes as trophies or status symbols. The trait that log-home owners tend to share with each other and with their log homes is that they’re down to earth.

As you plan your log home, keep in mind that the quality and size of the home that gets built more often are the result of dedication and sacrifice than of money. If you’re determined to own a log home, you can find a way to make it happen.