Adding space to a log home is different from adding on to a stick-built house. The logs are load-bearing, the walls have already settled, and the new work has to match a material that ages, shrinks, and changes color. Homeowners usually face one question first: build a second level or push out the main floor. […]
A turn-of-the-century cabin can live again if the logs survive. One Montana ranch project started with a stack of logs from an early 20th-century cabin, relocated to a 1,275-acre property and rebuilt into a 780-square-foot retreat. The owners marked each log during deconstruction so the rebuild crew could put it back together in order, and
A cabin built for retirement has to work as well in twenty years as it does on move-in day. Aging in place means designing the floor plan, entries, and systems so the home stays functional as mobility changes, and the decisions happen long before construction starts. Owners planning a one-story timber home in a mountain
Restoring a historic log cabin is a different discipline from remodeling a modern house. The building has survived decades of weather, settlement, and previous repairs, and each intervention has to respect the wood, the joinery, and the way the structure actually works. A pre-Civil War cabin of about 700 square feet, built mostly from hand-hewn
Not long after Terry and Jan Price moved into their new Arkansas log home, Terry’s employer transferred the family to England. They kept the house for 12 years, visiting in summer and at Christmas, and returned with a new vision: enlarge the floor plan, refresh the interiors, and import an English country accent to the
Log homes are planned and built to last, and that durability is exactly why many owners stay put instead of moving when they need more room. If you are happy with your current home, an addition can deliver the extra space without leaving the land, the views, or the neighborhood you already know. The biggest
An Ohio couple bought a neglected log home in 2011 intending weekend use and ended up in a two-and-a-half-year restoration of a 7,000-square-foot house set on 100 acres in the southern hills of the state. The home had been built a dozen years earlier, sat vacant for two years, and looked so rough that it
Sunlight and water are the two forces that wear down log construction. Ultraviolet rays bleach finishes and break down the resins that protect wood, while moisture seeps into every joint, crack, and seal it can find. Fall is the season to push back, and a weekend or two of routine work keeps logs sound, solid,
A log home can keep its exterior finish for two decades with the right combination of design, placement, and routine care. The proof comes from a family cabin in Middle Tennessee: built in the 1990s to replace a 100-year-old log structure that burned, the new house went 20 years before the owner needed to re-stain
Log homes and outdoor living go together, but the deck carries the heaviest load. Sun, rain, snow, and freeze-thaw cycles hit the boards 365 days a year, and unlike the family inside, the deck cannot retreat indoors when the weather turns foul. A simple annual routine keeps any decking material looking and performing well, and
