Testimony from  (Greg & Mary Colton) of Grand Rapids Michigan.

     After 23 years, our dream finally came true. Ever since my husband, Greg, and I were married we dreamed of building a log home. We’ve always loved the warmth and rustic charm of a log home and tried to recreate that feeling in traditional stick built houses we’ve owned over the years but it never quite worked. We looked into building a log home several times but always ended up disappointed because we just couldn’t find a way to do it within our budget. Finally, while surfing the internet, I came across Deadwood Log Homes who sells logs wholesale by the linear foot. For the first time, our dream seemed possible. Not only did they meet our budget requirements, they offered exactly what we were looking for. If we were going to do this, we wanted to do it right and, for us, that meant massive sized logs, kiln dried and hand peeled with full round corners. We prefer the hand peeled logs to milled logs because we like the variations and unique characteristics each log offers. The massive size of the logs along with the full round corners offered a rustic quality reminiscent of the old pioneer days.

     Once I thoroughly checked out Deadwood Log Homes’ website, I talked to Greg about it and we decided to take the next step. I called and spoke with the owner Rick, he was very helpful and knowledgeable and answered all our questions. Greg is a licensed builder and, even though he had never built a log home before, Rick assured us he could do it and offered to help guide us through the process. We approached another builder, Ron Delp, who we knew was a very skilled carpenter and he agreed to help Greg with the construction.

     For the next couple of months, Rick and I talked and emailed regularly as I worked on the plans for our custom home and Rick offered helpful tips and made adjustments to the quotes with each change until we got it exactly right. Then we placed our order and we watched the progress on the website as they cut, peeled, and dried our logs and a few weeks later, they arrived to our building site. We couldn’t believe how big they were! We were especially thrilled with the log trusses which were so massive and were going to be prominently placed over the entrance and rear of the house. Along with the logs, Rick also provided us with the stain, caulk, sill sealer, and log screws we needed. We purchased everything else from local lumber yards and retailers.

     It took us eight months to build our house with Greg and Ron doing the construction while I did the staining, caulking, painting, and varnishing. My brother, Rob Zolen, did all the stone and tile work and added some of our custom features and Greg’s brother, Scott, occasionally provided additional labor so it was a collaborative effort. It was a long eight months and we were exhausted at times but it was a labor of love and worth every bit of it.

     Now we’re finally in our dream home and having built it ourselves with our own blood, sweat and tears makes it that much more rewarding. It’s everything we ever hoped it would be.....There’s no better life than Log Home Living!

Mary Colton

See this Home in the November 2008 Issue of Log Homes Illustrated Magazine