Hirsilinna hirsitalot ja hirsimökit

First floor plan that gets the honor of being reviewed is Finnlamelli’s Aapo. Finnlamelli is less-known custom log home manufacturer from Finland. Excellent product quality and flexible manufacturing and deliveries make this company one of the first choices when you consider buying a log home from Finland. Being so strongly technology oriented log home manufacturer, Finnlamelli’s standard catalog models aren’t stunning architectural thrills, still I found one that I especially like.

COMING HOME
So you come back from work and pick up some groceries on your way. You park into the carport and expect to conveniently get those bags inside. No such luck! There is no access from the carport to wetroom and inside. Luckily overhangs extend far enough to protect you if it’s raining so you get inside without getting wet. There are two independent storage rooms connected to the carport one with optional access to inside the house.

HOME SWEET HOME
Open living room with cathedral ceiling greets you, once you get past the entrance. Statue-like oven is the focal point of living room. Imagine those warm and cozy nights, family getting together and playing board games and fire flickers through glass crate. Door to backyard veranda invites outside to sunshine and to sunset.

KITCHEN
From living room you have an access to almost every room in the house. Kitchen is almost integral part of living room and separated only by cabinets and the decorative partition wall behind them. Large kitchen area, plenty of room for dining table. Is there anything more natural than whole family having dinner together?

BEDROOMS
Three bedrooms make this log home a small family home. All the bedrooms have plenty of storage space, one comes with its own closet. Parents’ room is separated from kids’ rooms by living room, a nice detail that gives some privacy. Unfortunately same cannot be said about toilet, which is directly connected with living room. No matter what, it is always slightly embarrassing to use this kind of toilet when some guests are visiting.

UTILITY
Utility has lots of room for washing and drying machines also cabinet room for linen. This room also has a door to outside, you’ll probably find some kind of rack to hang laundry on. This kind of wetroom/mudroom area is reasonable to marry with bathroom and (as in Finland we are) sauna. Nothing splendid in bathroom, just very efficient, pretty much the same goes with rest of the house.

SUMMARY
This floor plan uses space extremely sparingly, providing good return for your money. Efficiency turns against itself and takes away some points, also carport should be connected with direct access to the house and mudroom. I can warmly recommend this floor plan, but with slight alterations. Luckily the company is up for the challenge since most of their homes are custom made.

Do you want your floor plan reviewed? Just leave a comment, I read them all.

Vintage turf roof

Turf roofs used to be very common and there were some good reasons for that too.

First of all they have terrific ability to withstand sunlight. Even vampires would love to use turf roofs because they can handle sunlight much better than any other traditional roofing material. Actually they thrive in sunlight, where other materials wear down.

Another important reason is insulation capability. Turf roof is instant protection against elements, but also gives the better insulation the thicker the roof layer. Hard to achieve same result with tiles, eh? As a result, turf roofs provide warmth during winter and soothing coolness during summer.

Third reason for their past popularity comes from durability. Like I said, turf roofs are especially good in dealing with sunlight, but it doesn’t end there. Thick layer of soil gives good foundation for small plants, which keep pushing new sprouts, no matter how much wind, snow and rain the roof gets - sort of a regenerating roof, how cool is that?

We are never going to run out of people who like cheap. Turf roofs are your thing if you happen to like cheap things. Materials are readily available and building is rather straight-forward. Maintenance is also easy, just occasional watering during long dry spells.

Here is a photo showing that turf roofs are not only yesterday’s news, but defend their place in modern log home building. Photo from Norway, a country where turf roof can put all its good features in good use.

Modern turf roof

Yes, I was there and took over 600 photos. Here are just few of them, I’ll try to make some sense out of them during the coming week. They did have couple of log homes, though…

As any homeowner, log homeowners are deeply concerned about effects of current financial crisis on their homes. Foreclosures are happening left and right, maybe our friends are affected or maybe a family member. I’m here to tell you that you don’t have to worry about your log home’s or log cabin’s value and I’m going to give you a list of seven good reasons to stop worrying. For other valuable log home tips, subscribe my feed.

1. LOG HOME IS A DREAM
Some call it longing for times long gone or sentimentality, some call it the ultimate way of life, but they all have one thing in common - log home is a matter of heart and soul. Dreams are difficult to value in money, but we all know that they are worth a LOT. This means that log home dreams are highly valued by the people who live in them and therefore log homes and log cabins prices remain high.

Living in a dream home makes people cling to it. If everything is perfect, why change anything? However, if you are not yet living in your dream home, it just might be that during rough times, flipping down would be easier. No flipping down in log homes, we love and live them.

2. LOG HOME STANDS AMONG GREAT BEAUTY
Lakeside, mountain top, prairie, riverside, woods, slope, resorts and some other beautiful locations are places where you find most of log homes. Suburban log home… nah, not really and this shows in the price of log homes and log cabins. Many log home lots cost more than our everyday single home in the midst of other similar houses.

Mark Twain said along the lines that land is always a good investment because nobody’s making more of it. Make sure your log home stands in a special environment and value appreciation is guaranteed.

3. LOG HOME RESIDENTS ARE OLDER
How many young families that you know live in log home? Not many, because log homes tend to be luxuriously designed by using unused space (now that’s a funny term), those cathedral ceilings or large foyers and what about those outrageously large fire places… Yes, log home is not a place for young family, which is fighting with the bills and commuting between school, daycare, work, hobbies etc. When would you have time to enjoy your home?

Log homes are for people who have time to enjoy environment, staying home and doing little chores, all part of the lifestyle, which comes along with a log home. There’s a big chance that these people have already stepped into retirement, there are no sudden changes in every day life (4th baby! We need a bigger home and we need it now!) and years of work life have brought enough to get by without working. So, as a result, these log home enthusiasts stay in their log home and have a ball while doing it. Not many log homes are coming to markets to be sold and market prices of log houses stay high.

4. LOG HOME MAINTAINS ITS VALUE
Log home is very special in the way it’s built. Builders have to solve many structural challenges while creating someone’s dream. Robust structure and thick walls set the log home for decades and while lesser homes get torn down, log homes get renovated and remodeled to suit the likings of different generations. When log homes age, they age like fine wines, bringing more meaning to the story of the house and to the people who live in it.

5. LOG HOME IS MADE OF QUALITY MATERIALS
It ain’t no way to dream without silk and satin sheets. Log homes are all about wood, stone and steel. No one is going to water down their dreams with vinyl, plastics or polyester. Another angle with materials is down right cold cash. Poor materials devalue home and increase upkeep costs over time, because cheap must be fixed more often. Also people who value quality know that there is price tag included, moreover they look what they get with their money not how much it costs.

6. LOG HOME IS UNIQUE
Just about every log home is built according somebody’s special plan. The plan might have been brooding up for years. Before building project starts, the planning book can contain clippings from magazines, textile samples, photos of real life log homes around the country, news stories, wood material samples, floorplan sketches, coffee stains… Log home is a labor of love.

People recognize love and dedication to unique details and in turn fall in love with the place. Sometimes it might be bit of a wait, but the right person is bound to find the right home and match is made to last. These perfect matches create so much value to the owners of log home that benefits easily outweigh monthly payments.

7. LOG HOME BUILDER LOANS ARE A PAIN TO GET
Because large part of log home crowds love to have the deluxe log home experience, they end up building the home from ground up. Unfortunately banks are not too trusting towards the combination of owner/builder and log home therefore loans are hard to come by. Luckily, today this means that log home owners are less likely to fall into the turmoil of financial crisis. Also it means that many log homes have been built with lot of elbow grease, which has helped to keep the building costs at check. Living in a home that was relatively cheap to build and sports high market value is a perfect combination.

Do you have a good point that wasn’t mentioned, please, help me and post a comment.