Build Yourself A Log House

Build Yourself A Log House FARM HOME Houses 2-2-32 Maybe your next new home should be a log house that blends old fashioned rustic charm with modern convenience. You could do like John and joni Keoughan did - buy a custom pre-cut kit and build it yourself! No house building or carpentry experience, you say? The Keoughan didn't have any either, yet managed to build one of the most talked-about new country homes in their community. Their country place is located just west of Fairfield in Wayne County, Ill. Since moving into their "do-ityourself" log house a year ago, they've had upwards of 1,500 visitors. Most of them came at two different open houses, but scarcely a day goes by that someone who's heard about Keoughan's log house doesn't stop in to look it over. The Keoughan's bought the custom pre-cut kit a year ago last fall for $10,500 (it has gone up about $4,200 since then, says John) and spent another $25,000 for electric heat, plumbing and fixtures, for shingles, wiring, kitchen cabinets, appliances and other fixtures. The original log house was designed for a 4 bedroom home. The Keoughan's altered the plan, turning the lower bath into a utility room and making a bathroom out of a lower bedroom. The master bedroom located above the kitchen and over a portion of the living area overlooks the fireplace. The Keoughans hired 3 high school boys to help assemble the 80,000 lb. kit of logs, windows and doors. "All the logs and parts were numbered and it went together slick as a whistle," John told FARM SHOW. "We hired the foundation poured, then collected rocks and stones for the fireplace while we waited for the pre-cut pine logs to arrive by truck." Now that they've built and lived in a log house, would they do it again if they had to do it over? "We sure would. The only change we'd make would be to make it bigger," answers John. "We really like it and so does just everybody who has seen it."

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