Roy took our class a few years back and then went on to build this stunning log home in his native Africa. He had never tackled a log home project before attending our class, and to say that he did great building his first attempt would be a serious understatement.
Roy used Eucalyptus logs to build his house. Some species of Eucalyptus grow at a rate 6' to 12' per year. So in as little as 4 years you can have a 48' tree.
This is a 3 story home. The dimensions are 33'x36', and it is at least 3000 square feet (maybe more depending on how you calculate footage on the 3rd floor). It has a complicated roofing plan, with it's crossed dormers, which is very cool to look at -- we included several pictures at the end of the gallery of the roof system under construction.
Amazingly enough Roy spent around $20,000 USD building this house.
Based on all the pictures we've seen, we would not be surprised if it appraised for over one million dollars. It is not uncommon for one of our students first log home to appraise for that amount.
To keep construction costs down, Roy used a lot of recycled materials. All the lumber was milled on site from extra logs. He built some of the windows himself (and he got the rest for a large discount using a topic we cover at our class). All the water needs are met via a cistern, rain water collection system. Et cetera. Essentially, he was able to build for such a low price because he had the right knowledge, was dedicated, was frugal, and did a lot of the work himself.
Skip always believed that anyone was capable of displaying those characteristics, especially when they realize the alternative is a 30 year mortgage. Skip used to say, "building a log home involves hard wark, but it is far easier than spending half your life paying off a mortgage."
As Roy put it, in his recent email to us, "I now know that it is far better to sweat for 3 years building your own spot, than pay someone else to build your house and then spend 25 years slaving to pay off the bank."
Great job Roy, you've built a home that you can be very proud of.
See the rest of our pictures of Roy's house
See log homes built by our other students
