We've been working with Honest Abe Log Homes for well over a year now.

At first, we just had a lot of questions about log homes in general, and the sales rep at the Murfreesboro office (Tonya Hallman) always had the answers. She really helped us by pointing us in the right direction.

Once we were determined that our next home would be a log home, we did a lot of research and we met with a handful of log home companies. The closest runner-up in our search for a log home builder was Southland Log Homes.

I am thrilled to announced that we have officially hired a G.C. to oversee our project from start to finish!

And we couldn't be happier with our decision.

...It's been a long time coming.

Jim and I have come to the conclusion that we were completely disillusioned about the cost to build a log home... at least here in Middle Tennessee anyway!

So far, we've spoken to 6 general contractors now (4 of whom have many many years of experience building log homes). Each of them told us that we could build a log home for somewhere between $125 - $150 per square foot.

Baloney.

If you are considering meeting with a space planner or an interior designer to help you fine-tune the details and features that you plan to build into your new home, here are a few things that we've learned along the way...

When we first started designing our log home with Honest Abe Log Homes (about a year ago), Jim and I both gravitated toward the D-Log for some reason.

So naturally, we've been thinking all along that our log home would be built with D-Logs, right?

Well, fast-forward one year, and now we're considering a switch to Genesis Logs!

See why below... plus a listing of some of the differences between Genesis Logs and D-Logs.

Even though we were having difficulty finding where to build our log home, we still decided to go ahead with our plans to build anyway.

Instead of just sitting around twiddling our thumbs, we turned our attention to designing our log home. That way, we would be ahead of the game once we eventually found the land.

(This is not the recommended order to do things, however. Typically, you'd want to have your land secured before you start designing a home that will suit the lay of the land.)

Anyway... here's how things went for us.

Have I mentioned yet how much I enjoy participating the many events for prospective log home owners that log home builders have throughout the year?

Yesterday, we attended another one. It was an Honest Abe Open House at the home of Todd and Kim.

Another log home event that we attended was a "log raising" at the sawmill & corporate headquarters for Honest Abe Log Homes in Moss, Tennessee.

This was pretty early in our process of looking for land (...in all the wrong places).

At the time, we weren't exactly sure what to expect at a log raising.

If you're wondering, too... then read on.

How?

These folks are the experts!

The final home on our tour of log homes was Matt and Melissa's.

Their home was actually completed a couple of years ago, but they enjoy having visitors and sharing log home stories with others. That's why they choose to participate in Honest Abe's Annual Tour of Homes each year.

BONUS: Melissa's dad was on hand to explain how he did all of the "finishing work" in this log home. (He does really nice work, too!)

See some examples below...