Final Thoughts - Log & Timber Frame Expo / Chicago

Alright kids, last post on the Log & Timber Frame Expo that I exhibited at recently! It was a great show since it provided me with a venue to speak obsessively about log homes with other people!

Some trends I noticed from the show:

• A good majority were looking to have their log home as their retirement or permanent home.
• The older crowd were more interested in single story plans or having their master bedroom on the first floor. This makes sense - as we get older and not knowing what potential health problems we might face- do we really want to be climbing stairs in our golden years?
• Full log homes seemed to be the preference of this particular crowd. Only 25% of the visitors to my booth expressed an interest in half log homes.
• I would say 90% of the visitors to my booth were nature / great outdoor lovers! (This is me and Greg!)
• Roughly 40% already owned the land they planned to build their log home on.
• Quite a few expressed their desire to have that open floor plan - with the kitchen, dining room and living room all blending together. This is the favorite part of my log home too - it encourages togetherness and communication with family and friends.

All this talk about log homes makes me want to watch my Dick Proenekke video - "Alone in the Wilderness" again for the 20th time. If you haven't caught it on PBS, I highly recommend purchasing this video - an amazing story of a self sufficient man who in 1967 built his log cabin by hand in Alaska.

Alone in the Wilderness

If you are searching for a great and inspiring log cabin documentary, then I highly recommend "Alone in the Wilderness" the story of Dick Proenneke. Dick was 50 years old when in 1967, he set off to Alaska to build his own log cabin. It is amazing to watch him prepare the logs, fashion door latches and kitchen tools out of wood and live off the land. I especially enjoyed his footage of the moose, bear and other animals he encountered.

"To live in a pristine land unchanged by man...
to roam a wilderness through which few other humans have passed...
to choose an idyllic site, cut trees and build a log cabin...
to be a self-sufficient craftsman, making what is needed from materials available...
to be not at odds with the world, but content with one's own thoughts and company...
Thousands have had such dreams, but Dick Proenneke lived them. He found a place, built a cabin, and stayed to become part of the country." -Sam Keith

Here's the link to the video: http://www.dickproenneke.com/DickProenneke.html