For a retired financier from South Carolina, the Blue Ridge Mountains proved to be the ideal getaway spot for relaxing and enjoying the outdoors. Since 2009, he and his family have enjoyed visiting their sprawling vacation log home in Highlands, North Carolina—a stunning location tucked away at 4,000 feet above sea level. “This homeowner likes the atmosphere that Highlands has to offer as a place to get away and to not be concerned about everything happening in the world,”…
Kristie McAden was born and raised in the mountains of North Carolina. Her husband, Mike, had always lived on the North Carolina coast. The two met while attending college at Appalachian State University in Boone, and the rest is happy history. “Mike and I started dating and pretty much saw everything eye to eye right from the start,” says Kristie, “Throughout the years of our marriage, that compatibility has remained, including our tastes in home design.” After graduating from ASU Kristie and Mike bega…
A myriad of decisions have to be made to bring the dream of a log, timber, or hybrid home to life. Style, floorplan, amenities, and location are a few that come readily to mind. The most challenging for many homeowners, however, comes down to the money. Financing a log or timber home holds a degree of mystery, an element of the unknown, and often enough it is a topic of real concern. Certain misconceptions and downright myths persist that financing of a specialty home is more difficult than financ…
After spending 30 years in the San Francisco Bay area, Rick and Janice were looking for a simple, quiet spot to retire. They found the ideal community just southeast of Coeur d’Alene in northern Idaho, where they built their 3,120-square-foot home on a 130+ acre property. Known for its rugged beauty, the area offers year-round recreation opportunities as well as plenty of space for solitude. Rick and Janice built the home for a lifetime, adhering to the standards set by the Americans with Disabilities A…
It began with a passing conversation, and the result was spectacular. Charlene and Jay Wyatt have deep roots in North Carolina, but a magnificent log home, The Meadow, in the tiny town of Cloudcroft, New Mexico, has a special place in their hearts. “The Meadow is our respite,” explains Charlene. “It’s our surrendering place. We liken our home in Cloudcroft to a favorite pair of boots that you reach for naturally. They pull on easy, and the comfort always has you going back to them again and again.” The …
Keeping up with market trends, making the most of your money, and financing the log or timber frame home you have always wanted may seem more challenging than ever in 2015. In reality, there is no time like the present to make log and timber home dreams come true. Several key elements influence home financing today, and these are basic, even during times of economic instability that are hopefully in the rear view mirror for both businesses and consumers. First, work with professional…
Rebbecca Abair recalls having a passion for designing unique spaces and landscapes her entire life. “As far back as I can remember,” Rebbecca says, “I have been fascinated with small spaces and always pictured myself residing in a little log cabin in the woods.” Her father, a talented design and construction visionary in his own right, taught his little girl how to do roofing, mix concrete, and build all manner of things, from furniture to structures. To date, Rebbecca has designed and built eight diffe…
In your dreams, you imagined the builder handing over the keys to your new log or timber frame home, each inch of the house completed just as you imagined it would be. But for many of us, dreams are sometimes deferred—or at least spread out over time. Whether it is due to budget restrictions or lifestyle changes, there are many reasons you might want to build your home in stages instead of completing the whole project at once. Perhaps you intend to eventually retire to your new log or timber frame home,…
It’s no secret that securing a loan for any purchase has gotten a bit more complicated. Where just a few years ago lenders were willing to shell out big bucks to pretty much any credit-worthy individual, the real estate market slide, sub-prime lending issues, and the credit crunch have made getting a loan a bit more difficult. Factor in the notion that a log home is usually considered a “nontraditional” property, by lending standards, and it’s easy to see the value of a well-researched financing strateg…
Childhood memories often play a big role in one’s adult life. For Sylvie Gagnon-Sciortino, the summer vacations she spent at her grandparents place on the shore of a lake in the Lac Supérior region of the Laurentian Mountains in Quebec were just magical. It was a haven of peace, she recalls with emotion. So it is not surprising she would choose to build her small (27-by-24-foot) log cabin in this enchanted location, especially since her family still owns the land and her parents are her nearest neighbor…
If you’re like most Americans, you’ve spent the past several years watching economic events unfold with a moist eye and your fingers crossed that the worst is over. Well, we’ve got some good news for you—economists and housing authorities believe we’ve finally hit bottom and are starting to emerge from the recession. Not only that, but there are glimmers of recovery. The housing market has shown modest gains, and though it will be methodical and …
For many, building a log home is a dream come true, an opportunity to settle into a long-sought lifestyle combining the finest in comfort with the pristine beauty of nature. Making the most of this building project that may occur only once in a lifetime means research, quality shopping, and informed decisions. No aspect of the decision-making process is as challenging as that of balancing comfort, décor, and cost. Therefore, the inclusion of amenities is the subject for detailed discussion. Partic…
