Friday, December 18, 2009

Log Home Christmas Traditions



I have the pleasure of speaking with a variety of log home enthusiasts as I travel to shows and events across the country. It's always interesting to listen to the plans people have, and how they approach challenges and obstacles. As a log home provider, it is our job to help customers through the various stages of building a new custom home, so it is important that we always be good listeners. However, my favorite stories revolve around the passion our customers have for the log home lifestyle.

Everyone has a slightly different story, but we all have something in common. We all share experiences or an event where you "know you know" that log home living is for you. My story revolves around a family Christmas tradition. As long as I can remember, each year our family travels to my Aunt's log home on Christmas-Eve morning. Long before the sun is set to rise, she starts cooking breakfast for the multitude of people soon to come.

In the rural area of Tennessee we are from, everyone is invited. Family, friends, neighbors and folks you don't even remember make their way through for a meal. Our family usually arrives just as the sun is rising, but people come and go for several hours. "Merry Christmas" is sure to be heard, and if you leave without a hug or a warm smile and hand-shake, then you must be Scrooge himself.

My Aunt's Honest Abe Log Home provides the perfect gathering place for the family and community around Christmas. It's warm, cozy and the aroma of a country breakfast and coffee is wonderful. It's this Christmas tradition that drives my passion for log homes. What is your story?

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Memories from a Porch Swing

We often idolize our parents, but perhaps our grandparents even more so. One of my best memories from childhood is the time I spent with my grandfather on his porch swing. My grandpa and I spent many evenings watching the traffic go by. We would each choose a direction of travel, and make a contest out of counting the cars as they sped by. He always knew the direction most vehicles would be traveling, and picked the opposite so I would win. I remember he would often be sipping a cup of coffee and humming a tune, while I rubbed the belly of his old dog with my foot as we swung.

Those types of memories aren’t created just anywhere. My grandfather’s porch swing was a place of bonding, relaxation and seclusion from all the hectic disruptions of life. Now that I have my own family, I realize he probably treasured the time on that porch swing with me, even more than I do the memories today.

A great trend with many new home builders is to give more focus on outdoor living spaces. Bigger wrap-around porches and features like exterior fireplaces on a porch are becoming more common. On upper-end homes, outdoor kitchens grow to be a center of attention for family gatherings. The opportunities to create great outdoor living areas are only hindered by the imagination and one’s budget.

There are also very practical reasons to design a home with more porch area. The sun and rain are two major enemies of a home, and a porch helps protect the exterior walls, and doors and windows; whether it be log or conventional. A log home uses stain to help protect the logs, which in turn requires it be re-stained every so often. A porch further protects the stain, so the added expense of re-applying stain again comes much later. On homes featuring large porch areas the energy savings can be substantial, offering a “Green” advantage as well. Finally, and possibly most importantly, a porch is a great place to create long-lasting memories for you, your children and grandchildren. Whether the porch on your log home is simple and classic, or has a built in kitchen and hot tub, just remember to hang that porch swing!

Josh Beasley
Honest Abe Log Homes, Inc.

If you would like to receive information on our log homes, visit: http://www.honestabe.com/info/

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Showcasing the Right Projects?

As I post construction phase images on Facebook of a 9000+ square foot home being built in Tennessee, a question comes to mind. "Is our industry showcasing the size homes that the majority of our customers are interested in seeing?" Not many of us have a budget to build a million dollar home, I certainly do not. However, log home manufacturers in general (Honest Abe included) tend to show off our grand projects, and seldom mention the more modest size homes.

In the most recent August edition of Country's Best Log Home's Floor Plans & Design Guide issue three homes are featured. Country's Best certainly did a good job at showing a good size rage of homes to their readers this month. "Worth the Wait" starting on page 16 is an 8 bedroom, 6.5 bath home. Page 26 starts "Great Escape", a 3 bedroom and 2 bath plan. Finally, "History in the Making" starts on page 34 is a smaller 3 bedroom and 2 bath home. Each of these are beautifully decorated, photographed and certainly worthy of their featured articles.

So, I return to my curiosity. Assuming our readers would like to build a log home in the future, which of these articles are most helpful in planning? Are the larger homes so grand and overwhelming that they seem out of touch? In contrast, do they allow readers to see many more options available bundled into one featured article? Do the more modest size "family" homes seem all the same? Many are built with less unique features and options, so are they less interesting to see and read about?

There's a saying, "People buy what they can see." In housing, especially log homes, that seems to hold true. Honest Abe Log Homes wants to show consumers the houses they are most interested in. We want to be an asset in the planning stages in an effort to earn business. That's why I ask...

Joshua Beasley
Honest Abe Log Homes, Inc.

If you would like to receive information on our log homes, visit: http://www.honestabe.com/info/