The image shown here is from Spirit Cabins. It depicts one of a number of manufactured homes which they sell. By manufactured, they mean that it isn't built on site, but rather, it's built at the factory and then shipped to the site. In other words, it's a mobile home. In this case, it's a "double wide" mobile home. The clue to that fact is the seam which appears in the middle of the home on the right side.
The building isn't actually constructed from logs. Rather, it's a conventional mobile home, covered with log siding, with log paneling on the inside. Nevertheless, I really think that the log siding adds something special. It may not be as beautiful as some of the gigantic log homes for which one can sometimes pay millions of dollars these days, but I still think it looks very nice, and a home this size would be quite adequate for most of my personal needs.
In fact, when it comes to my personal needs in terms of living quarters, a smaller unit from this company would be adequate. For example, the Homesteader is basically similar to the above, except that it is a "single wide" unit with just two bedrooms, not three.
The main reason I'd want a unit as large as the Ponderosa (shown here) is that I could use one of the two extra bedrooms for an office, and I could use the other one as a music practice room, with a place to put music recording equipment and a digital piano. The living room area would then serve as a small gallery of my art (in the form of several giclee prints on canvas), in addition to being a place where I could entertain visitors. Having such a space would make it more feasible for me to sell my visual art.
I'd also want to have a utility building (for storage) adjacent to this unit, on the same piece of property. It, too, would ideally be covered with log siding, so that the look of the two buildings would be consistent. I'd also want a garage, covered with log siding. Later, provided that the land was large enough (and providing that the zoning was suitable), I could add yet another log building (or a building covered with log siding), to use as a larger retail art gallery.
That's my fantasy, at any rate. The reality is far different. Right now, I live in a room at the YMCA in downtown Chicago, and it measures 11x14 (154 square feet). That doesn't include the shared restroom down the hall or the small closet and small "water closet" adjoining the main 11x14 room, nor does it include the 50 square foot storage room I rent here in Chicago. But any way you slice it, I don't have a lot of space right now. A small cabin occupying about 300 square feet or so would probably be comparable in space to the living quarters I currently occupy. For some people, that might be enough, but I love to read, and I tend to acquire a lot of reading materials and computer equipment and other things for which I need a lot more space than I currently have.
It isn't just a matter of space. It's also a matter of aesthetics and living environment. The city can be wonderful in some respects (such as the fact that one has regular access to large bookstores such as Borders or Barnes and Noble), but I have long desired to have a beautiful log home in the country, where one can experience the peace and quiet which comes from being surrounded by nature. I don't know if it will ever be feasible for me to own such a home, but that's what I dream of having. If not in this life, then perhaps I'll have such a home in the next.
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