American Log Homes, Inc., started manufacturing log-home kits in the Ozarks in 1977. Back then it was more common to sell the home-building kits as rustic cabins for weekend trips. Nowadays, most customers use the log homes as their primary residences, so it’s about size and sophistication.
American Log Homes, Inc., offers more than 65 models, from its cozy 572-square-foot Osage design to the colossal 4,000-square-foot Fort Hays model, which has a three-car garage. But the company’s most popular kits are custom designs.
Owner Clyde Cremer says, “We take one house at a time and manufacture it and check everything over before shipping it out and moving on to the next one.”
The log homes are made of seasoned pine, spruce, or western red cedar from Canada, Missouri, Utah, and Colorado. A double tongue-and-groove is milled into each log. The lumber is pre-cut for window and door openings, and holes are pre-drilled for spikes and screws. The logs are numbered, and an instruction manual shows how they fit together.
They don’t assemble quite as easily as a Lincoln Logs toy construction set, Clyde warns. He also cautions that log-home construction isn’t synonymous with low cost. In fact, log homes are typically pricier than conventional construction since most homeowners tend to put more upgrades in them. American Log Homes, Inc.’s standard models range from $18,185 to $140,635 before shipping, and total construction costs can be $100 or more per square foot, he says.
For the look of a log home without the expense, the company offers log siding. But from the Ozarks to Colorado, there’s no shortage of people willing to shell out a tidy sum for log-cabin luxury.
For more information, call 1-800-518-6256 or visit www.amer-log.net.
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