Where to begin?

     Where to begin is always the question when starting a large project.  Sometimes it seems like we can't find the beginning because we are too busy thinking about the middle or the end of the project.
Well here is our story....from the beginning.
     We got married in 1988 and we have always wanted a log home, but could never find the land and the money to build.  When we would find land, we were broke; when we had money land was out of reach. Fast forward to 2004 we moved to what we like to call "The Middle of Nowhere, Louisiana"  and believe me, we LOVE it.  After living in the middle of a large town, we are happy to have the very few neighbors that we have.
     We finally have the land and we can finally afford to build a house, as long as we do it ALL ourselves.  We spent months drawing up a floor plan that was what we thought we wanted and more months of sending that plan to various log home manufactures and handcrafters only to find out that the price of our dream had sky rocketed in the last 5 years.  We made up our minds years ago that we didn't like the look of small logs. (No offense intended to those of you who live or are building homes like that, if you love your home we are happy for you...it just isn't us.) We like the look of the large handcrafted logs with the scribe fit and the thin chinking.  So we decided that we were going to do it ourselves...ALL of it. Our philosophy is that if the pioneers could build a log home with animals and all hand tools, then surely with the use of modern equipment, chainsaws and power tools we can do it too.
     Step 1. Find a log home school, there are several to choose from.  We spent several weeks talking to the owners/teachers of various log home schools across the country. Make sure that you talk to them on the phone; tell them your dream, make sure that you have the skills and if they are excited to help you with your dream and you like talking to them...sign up for class. We have decided to visit Montana and learn from Al Anderson at the Montana School of Log Building.  We will be going there in June for his week long class.
     Step 2. Find your logs! This is where we are right now.  While we are waiting on our turn to learn the art of handcrafting from Al, we are lining up our logs....right now they are still standing in the forest!
     Step 3. Begin construction of your home. We are planning for this even now, remember planning is everything. Don't wait until the last minute and then discover that you are missing a piece of the puzzle that you should have anticipated months ago.
     Step 4. Finish your log home and live happily ever after!

Ok, ok, we realize that there are more steps to it than that....A LOT MORE!  So tune in here and we will take you through it with us, step by step.  We will try...not promise, but try to update this site often so that everyone can keep track of our progress. It might be a good idea for you to go to the bottom of the page and "subscribe" to our page so that you will know when we publish updates.

So let's begin...WELCOME to our log home experience;
                                                    The Bare's;  Ken, Lisa & John