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Tell us about yourself:: We built our first log home in 1979 and lived in it until we decided to retire in 2008. Both my husband and I loved the home, but downsizing, outsourcing and off-shoring in the IT field took it's toll and we decided to retire on "our terms" and not wait for the day when he would suddenly be unemployed. We bought 10.55 acres of land in Adirondack State Park in October of 2006 and spent the next 14 months trying to sell our original log home in order to build a new one.

We succeeded...broke ground for the driveway/foundation in April 2008 and began laying the logs on May 28. The new log home is our retirement project and a labor of love!

If anyone is interested in following the progress our blog can be found at:
www.schraderlanding.blogspot.com

Are you lucky enough to be living in a log home?: Lucky? Heck yes for 29 years and in 2-3 months we'll be moving into our second new log home.

The Original Log Home

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At 6:21pm on September 10, 2008, Dee said…: Ha ha ha - we had the same desk and chair (probably the same dining table too) we traded those out for modern stuff in our current house - too bad as they do look nice in the log home. D.

At 6:19pm on September 10, 2008, Dee said…: Beautiful house Dianne! We have that same Grandfather's clock - i was wondering if we could move it as it is not modern and my current house is mid-century modern. Glad to see it looks good with logs. Dee

At 5:21pm on August 27, 2008, Dave said…: I guess the cracking isn't necessarily a bad thing...just a different look in the end. It's tough trying to picture the final product from the various "villages"...both new and old.

Gotta love them labs! A black lab will be our next puppy!

At 5:13pm on August 25, 2008, Dave said…: You definitely answered what I needed! As I said somewhere else in the forum, we are new at this so the more educated we can get through the process...the better. You mentioned the split and cracks in some of the logs. Our big problem with Lok N Logs was just that. The "village" was very out dated so we couldn't get a good visual on what it would look like today. But the new construction down the road gave us a better idea. The new one is more like a mansion that incorporates every aspect of a log home into one free standing building. It must be 8,000 sq ft or so. It's huge and has everything you can think of. But we did notice and awful lot of cracks, splitting, etc throughout. Not sure if there is an explanation or if it should deter us. Because on the other hand that borate treatment is a huge plus.

But then there's Beaver Mountain that doesn't borate treat, but appears to have far superior logs. No cracking, splitting, etc. And we noticed that from a novice point of view. Their village is in fact newer and appealing, but we also went through the mill tour and were able to see finished products. It's going to take some doing to decide. Barna log homes will be our next trip. Decisions....decisions!!

Oh and by the way, 3 labs huh? Explain this one...my husky (very girly snow dog who hates being dirty) loves to swim and chase the ducks, while the lab barely dips her paws. That's a new one for me, thought it would be the other way around. Just when I thought I had it all figured out! HAHA!

Keep me posted on your home progress!

At 5:49pm on August 24, 2008, Dave said…: Your new pictures look amazing, and ours will be similar, but with an attached garage. I found a great 7.5 acre wooded/cleared for a house lot in Owego NY (just west of Binghamton) that borders Oakley's Corners State Forest. The forest has 2 ponds that feed 2 creeks that run behind the land and will feed the existing small pond. It's about a 4 foot deep pond and is perfect for the dogs to swim. The area is rural (not like the Adirondaks of course) and there are a few neighbors. The lot screams for a log house, and one of these days I'll post some pictures. Looks like the house will face east and in 5 years or so the young trees will have the house mostly hidden from view.

At 12:44am on August 24, 2008, Dave said…: Dianne, I was kind of shocked by your message. You apparently are building exactly what we want to build. We were out at Lok N Logs in Sherburne about 6 months ago and loved what we saw from the company. By the way, have you dealt with Beaver Mountain in Deposit NY? They are our second pick. And we heard that Barna is a good company as well. We loved the frasure. Our set up is almost like what you chose, 2nd floor master bedroom, bathroom, loft. Our 1st floor will be similar to the Frasure plan, except we'll have a 2 car garage (probably log sided though). Since you speak from experience with Lok N Logs, what did you like best about them? Lease? We'll probably have the milled logs, and are trying to keep things as simple as possible to help with the cost, while still having everything we want in the house. Do you have new photos posted, or are these your old house? Hope everything goes well finishing yours, and as always I love any tips you could provide!

At 1:24pm on August 22, 2008, Shelley Martinez said…: Thanks Dianne! Still love watching the progress on your blog!!

At 11:28am on August 7, 2008, Ted said…: One of these days I'll re-read what I have written ... oh the type-0's.
Ted

At 11:26am on August 7, 2008, Ted said…: Hey Dianne, life is a compromise and computers are our enemy. Marilyn (my wife) and I have lived in a dozen different homes over the years, with that may different kitchens but somehow you adjust. I remember living in one house where the kitchen literally had 2 upper cabinets (one over a 2 ft wide counter so you couldn't get to it), 1 base cabinet and a dishwasher, sink and range. The interesting thing was that this was a 3000 square foot house. To this day we can't figure out what the architect was thinking. Oh, by the way, we were only renting this place while our house was being built.

At 11:25am on August 6, 2008, Ted said…: Wow, looking at the pictures, the house looks even bigger than the 1800 square feet. It always amazes me how much living space you can get out of a log home.
Personally, I can't help but wonder what all these folks do with the space when they have 3,000, 4,000 or more feet to fill. I guess they have big families or like to play hide and seek.
Ted