@Corie Henson, why are log cabins so expensive in your country? Is it a matter of not enough hard wood? My cabin is not a modern one, but I thought you might like to see a bit of it. My husband and I bought our cabin in early 1990, for $35,000 with 2/3rds of an acre. It had not been lived in for about 15 years, and it really wasn't livable at the time, but we moved in anyway. After many years of our extended family helping with carpentry, electricity, and water and sewer reconstruction, we now have a nice 2500 sq. ft. home. I guess over the last 25 years, we put around $90,000 into this home, and that includes the original cost. I'm hoping that when I sell this place, I'll get a decent profit.
Wow, @Ina I. Wonder those photos of your cabin made me salivate, so to speak. I am speechless and couldn't find what words to write. That log cabin of yours costs a fortune here particularly if situated by the mountainside or in the forested area. And you seem not content with the logs in the cabin because you even have that vintage rocking chair. So great photos, really. Cabins are expensive here because they are mostly for the rich people so builders jack up the cost in their contract. And log wood is also expensive particularly so because of the logging ban here to preserve the forest.
It's in northern Maine, near the Canadian border. We have a hundred acres of land there, about two miles away from the nearest utility. We have a potato field back there that we rent out, but otherwise it is a woodland, which is not as old as a forest but still consisting mostly of trees. The photos that I posted in my Petra, Maine thread in the pets and critters area of the forum were taken on the land, very near the camp. In fact a couple of photos of the bears were taken from one of my wildlife cameras that was mounted on an tree just behind the cabin. We paid $35,000 for the land and about $6,000 for the cabin, with $700 of that in delivery costs. @Ina I. Wonder , your place is beautiful.
Wow, really. @Ken Anderson and @Ina I. Wonder are 2 lucky people and I'm so glad to meet you even only here in the forum. Who knows someday I might be in your area and drop by. What a nice thought. I'm awed with your cabins and Ken mentioned about the wild animals like a bear. That's something to ponder about. I am not a hard core nature lover but I love nature nonetheless. In our recent trip to the islands that I had been posting pictures of, the only animals aside from the birds were the cattle - cows, goats and some sheep. My husband who is fond taking photos of the wild took a fancy with the rooster of the house beside the hotel. I was teasing him that he was content with the rooster. And he said he was expecting to find a yeti in the mountains but he didn't find one. Huh, a yeti?
There's one log cabin here in the neighborhood that I know of, and I wasn't in a position to buy it when it was for sale. It needed work, but hopefully whoever bought it has taken care of it. @Ina I. Wonder, I love your place, especially your front porch! I've always liked the look of log cabins, and try to catch the shows about them when I can. Who knows, maybe someday I'll have one. I can't believe I missed this thread before, and will have to keep an eye on it, so I can keep up with what's going on with the cabins. @Ken Anderson your place looks huge, I guess because it's empty? I'm envious of the wildlife cameras. I want those someday, as well.
WOW! Ina and Ken, thanks for sharing your pics! They are wonderful! As a former feral child, who was raised in the woods, and now lives in a "civilized" town, I must say that I envy both of you! LOL I would so love to get back to my roots with a cabin in the woods. Unfortunately my present mortgage won't allow me to do that. It's nice to see that other people have realized their dreams.
The one in the pictures could be big enough for a wheel chair. I'm not sure, though. It would be a tight fit on the inside. If the one there was doubled, and set up right, it would be everybit as big as some mobile homes I've seen.
@Ken Anderson I love how many windows you have!! Our entire back half has no natural light at all, really. Its looking really good, though. I don't know exactly what will happen with the floors. We have small ceramic tiles for the area in front of the door. I don't want carpet if I can help it, though. Linoleum or hardwood is what I'm pushing for. Summer time is too hot to have carpet in that tight of a space, though.
You got a good price for that acreage @Ken Anderson , I have been researching the cost of acreage in this portion of NY and parts of northern PA. I doubt I would ever be able to afford 100 acres but I think I might be happy with 10. I have also been doing some research on the Amish made cabins and I am totally in love with the idea. Very nice workmanship did you use the company from Kentucky? For quite sometime now I have been a bit on the fence about what I wanted to do in retirement and I have to say I was so inspired by this thread I have decided that I do want to follow my dream of a place in the woods off the grid. My son just got news of a new career position and will have a fair amount of income and we have discussed going in together on the land and then putting up a cabin (unless we get lucky enough to find one. As much as I love my house, and I really do- I just would like to get away from all the noise and people for the weekends or parts of the year and this seems like a great way to make it all happen. We were discussing this over breakfast and he is also convinced it will be a good thing when he has children, they can stay with grandma at the cabin and be away from all the baloney kids are exposed to these days.
We got ours from the Amish in Kentucky. They have the most beautiful gazebos and swings. The quality you get for the amount of money you spend is insanely better than anywhere else! Its ideal for my husband and me. We need more acreage, though. You really should look into it. It'll be heaven, so I really hope you do do it!
How do you plan on doing your kitchen? I'm feeling good about it being to the right as soon as you walk in the door. But I'm at a total loss for any details. I've kind of starting looking for one of those fridges bigger than a dorm fridge, small than a regular fridge. And one of those apartment size stove/ovens. But thats as far as I've gotten
We went to a car show last weekend, it was as hot as all get out, but they had several of these cabins and sheds on display right at the show. there was this one that I just loved, it had like a green house in the front with glass on the roof portion and I thought it was just divine, there was so much space in the main area and a loft. I could just imagine adding a wrap around porch to that at some point, plus there was plenty of area if you wanted to enlarge and add more rooms. I felt the logs were a great improvement over just insulation, but I could be wrong on that. The green house was not logs, and I am not sure if the windows opened but it seemed like they could have. Since I lie to garden and figure thats what I would be doing on the property the green house seems like a great idea, I could see me having my tea there in the mornings or watch the rain or stars at night. what a great way to end my weekend!
Our cabin is placed so that a short end of the cabin faces the road, the only wall without a window, to reduce the visibility of the cabin from the road. As the cabin is approached from the road, the door is on the long end to the left, but near the corner, leaving just enough room to the right of the door for boots, a coat rack, etc. We are planning on a combined cooking/heating stove, which will be to the left of the door, along the same wall as the door. Although I would love to have a Pioneer Maid or a Pioneer Princess, realistically we'll probably only be able to afford the Baker's Choice model, with the optional hot water reservoir, which isn't as pretty, but it will work fine. It has a smaller cooking area, but there's just the two of us. I'll probably buy the stove from the Amish too because the price is about the same, and they can get people to deliver stuff to off-road locations at reasonable prices, whereas if I were to buy it elsewhere, I'd be stuck trying to figure out how to get it there. Since it gets hot here in the summer, I would also build some sort of an outdoor kitchen so that the cabin wouldn't overheat whenever we cooked something. Something with a roof so that I won't have to move things around when it rains.