Ever since I was young, I have been fascinated with log homes or log cabins. There’s something so romantic and utterly western feeling about living in a home made of logs. It makes me think of the early settlers, and the Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books, Little House in the Big Woods. As I was reading that book as a little girl, I just knew that house was made of logs. When I was a kid, we used to make road trips to Colorado, and sometimes would stay at lodges in Wyoming or Colorado with the exposed logs and beams. It just felt so right, as if it fit in with everything wild around it, and was the ultimate connection to nature.
Even when I was living back in Maryland, I started researching what it takes to build a log home. Surprisingly these days, it’s not as difficult as you might think. There are many companies that sell kits or packaged log homes. You can purchase a set, square-footage specific floor plan, and all the logs a pre-cut and shipped to you via a flat bed truck. Of course, you’re still responsible for hiring contractors to set the foundation, hook up utilities, finish the interior walls, etc. This type of kit is what we initially had in mind, when we started looking for land to purchase in the Front Range mountains of Colorado five years ago.
But then in my search for land, I happened upon a listing for a custom-built, modest home here in Nederland. I was immediately drawn to it through the pictures in the listing. But having bought a home before, I know that often seeing a home in person can be a big letdown from the listing. However, as soon as walked through the door, I knew we were home. It’s similar to that falling in love at first sight experience people sometimes use to describe meeting their future spouse. I fell in love with our log cabin as soon as I walked through the door. And I’ve been falling in love even more ever since.
Being located on a ridge with views of the mountains, surrounded by pine and aspen trees certainly contributes to the feeling of coziness. I remember the first weekend we spent at our house, it was a raw and cold in late May with temperatures in the 30s. We started a fire in the pellet stove and I was sitting in the loft up above our great room. We hardly had any furniture, but that didn’t diminish the feeling I had of just feeling snug and cozy, as I gazed upon the exposed log walls, and stared out the windows at the trees.
There’s a lot of myths about log homes that simply aren’t true. They are particulary vulnerable to fires, they are devoured by carpenter ants and termites. They are drafty and cold, and not energy efficient. We’ve found none of these to be true. Do we have maintenance — absolutely, but what house doesn’t? All I know is this — we routinely have 70 mph winds here in Nederland in winter, but I have always felt our house was sturdy enough to withstand any kind of weather. And I have found it be warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer, than most stick-built houses with siding.
So my fantasy of living in the land of logs was ultimately fulfilled. And I couldn’t be happier. I believe in a path and journey that leads where you are meant to be. Part of that journey for me was finding peace and a connection with nature beyond my greatest expectations, living in a log cabin in the mountains outside of Nederland, Colorado.
Note: In an ironic twist, we turned on HGTV tonight and the featured show was Log Cabin Living. I guess there are more people than I realized captivated by log homes if they dedicated an entire show to people finding the perfect log home….
