Glamour in the Mountains
From the Summer 2004 Issue
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It began with the late ’60s back-to-the-earth movement.  Since then, the return of the log home has matured, exploded and brought with it a new refinement, hundreds of new building choices, and an undeniable new sophistication. No wonder. According to industry research for the Log Home Council, part of the Building Systems Councils of the National Association of Home Builders, the audience for these homes is special:

Professionals who are better educated than typical conventional home buyers. Also more thoughtful. And more cautious.

In contrast to the average custom-home buyer, people who decide on log homes generally take two years to study and plan their dream homes, in contrast to six or seven months for the conventional buyer. And while they are usually career achievers, one of their primary motives is a desire to escape the city with a more natural, less hectic environment. There’s more.

According to general contractor Curtis Hare of Deep Creek Log Homes, a North Carolinian and second-generation industry veteran, log homes constructed in 2002 made up 7 percent of America’s 315,000 custom homes.

“As for second homes versus primary homes,” he says, “what I’ve seen is a 50/50 split.” Earlier statistics from the LHC, however, put the figure much higher, at nearly 90 percent, with 84 percent in or near metropolitan areas. Expanded from kits with small floor plans that ran around 1,100 square feet, the most common size now is 2,310 for its “move-up” owners, 73 percent of whom are married with an average age of 44,  according to research from Log Home Living Institute.

For complete information about this dynamic industry, contact Log Homes Council, National Association of Home Builders, 1201 15th St., NW, Washington, D.C. 20005. 

-Norma Lugar

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