Last updated on July 4th, 2024 at 03:02 pm
This is a list of the best log home builders in the United States. Log homes might not rank high on most new home buyers’ must-have lists. But these rustic dwellings that evoke images of the American pioneers are more in-demand than ever. Spacious and modern, today’s log homes are a far cry from the single-room sheds that Abe Lincoln was birthed in. And because log buildings resemble traditional homes, most people aren’t aware that buying one requires a different kind of research.
That’s where the contractors on this list come in. Each one understands that prospective clients need more than just a DIY kit. They need help deciding things like what type of log material to use and how to erect the home on site. The top-performing log builders here are ranked according to experience, customer service, industry recognition, and curb appeal. The #1 winner beat the others with its turn-key product and unmatched designs.
If you are thinking about building a log home, we recommend checking each builder’s license with the local licensing board, speaking to past clients, and using our bidding system to get competitive quotes from at least 3 contractors. Getting multiple bids is the best way to ensure you get a fair price and that bids include the complete scope of work.
20. Highlands Log Structures
26289 Harrison Road, Abingdon, VA 24212
Winston and Pamela Johnson run this Abingdon-based firm, which started by hand-crafting logs for locals. Today, the company has expanded into a full-service log home manufacturer and supplier that serves every state in the USA. It even provides interior design consultation. Customers can purchase dry-in packages or choose to have the company build the home on site. The company also makes and sells separate building components, such as doors, windows, posts and beams, log building accents, faux stone, mantels, log stairs, and laurel railings.
Highlands Log Structures is a Class A licensed contractor. Its homes are mainly built with eastern white pine from local mountains in Tennessee and Virginia. But the team works with other wood species, depending on the client’s preferences. Standard floor plans range from a necessities lodge for a weekend getaway to larger homes with master suites and plenty of space for entertaining. Or, the company will custom design the home. Recently, they have added the Nature Craft Series of higher-end natural materials to the manufacturing process.
19. Norse Log Homes
7411 Industrial Road, Lantzville, GC VOR 2HO
This Canadian company, which has been building log homes since 1975, ships its products worldwide. It builds homes in every American state. In 1984, Norse Log Homes moved to Vancouver Island, just minutes away from the world’s best supply of Douglas-fir timber, which it crafts into about 40 fully assembled homes each year. All manufacturing is done at one of the company’s two Vancouver construction sites, with adjacent yards and hammerhead cranes spread out over six acres.
Floor plans are available for chalets, log cabins, ranchers, and additions. Structures built out of western red cedar are priced slightly higher. Norse Log Homes offers custom design and drafting services. The average home takes about eight weeks to build. Once delivered to the site, homes are erected within three days. Clients can start the process by sending in a rough sketch — with walls and dimensions noted — and the company will prepare a quote based on the drawings.
18. Meadow Valley Log Homes
N13706 State Highway 173, Mather, WI 54641
The emphasis has never been on high volume at the expense of quality for this Mather-based log home manufacturer. The company was founded in 1983 and, since then, has built well over one thousand homes for clients from Virginia to North Dakota. Production General Manager Dwight von Haden has run the operation since 1992, growing it into a company that now operates out of several buildings, including a model home and manufacturing plants.
The team consists of national sales associates, experienced draftsmen, a production foreman, and eight laborers. Though the enterprise has grown, the manufacturing process still begins with the purchase of white pine timber from local mills. The logs are allowed to air dry before many — but not all — are cut according to a client’s specifications. The uncut logs are then cut on site, which allows the crew to correct any fitting problems when building the new home. Meadow Valley Log Homes says it will travel anywhere in the country to build a home.
17. Real Log Homes
61 Plains Road, Claremont, NH 03743
The roots of this New Hampshire design build company go back to 1963, when Jesse Ware fashioned the first log home out of white pine trees, which stands today in Hartland, VT. Five decades later, Real Log Homes outsells all other makers of pre-cut log structures available in North America. Much of that success comes from the company’s own manufacturing process, which uses a machine known for high precision cutting. The technology saves clients time and considerable money. It’s allowed the company to expand operations beyond the usual log home “kit.”
Today, the company offers both standard and custom floor plans. It has sold more than 30,000 homes through a network of independent representatives in every state in the country, and also throughout South America and Europe. Current President Richard Neroni has been with the company for 30 years. The company is Energy Star certified for green design.
16. Town & Country Cedar Homes
04740 Skop Road, Boyne Falls, MI 49713
White cedar, flared bottoms, and burled trusses are some of the signature characteristics that distinguish the logs used by Town & Country Cedar Homes. Since its opening in 1947, the company has worked coast to coast, making luxury log homes that have earned it solid standing with the BBB. The company was originally known as “Boyne Falls Log Homes” when it was founded by Bernie Kondrat of Northern Michigan.
Kondrat felt Americans would latch on to the idea of living in a log home, so he used a $200 G.I. loan to open the business. He built his first log home with a sawmill that he purchased for $35. Today, builds by Town & Country Cedar Homes typically cost between $350k and $3.5M. In addition to manufacturing, the company offers design-build services, including architectural drawings, greenhouse design and construction, project management, and site planning.
15. Estemerwalt Log Homes
505 Adams Pond Road, Honesdale, PA 18431
The beginnings of this national log home company stretch back 130 years to when Kurt Propst began manufacturing wood building products in Archbald, PA. Several generations later, the company changed its name to Estemerwalt and, in the 1980s, began to specialize in log homes. It moved operations to Honesdale, PA, and opened a full-service sawmill where it sews, dries, and manufactures every wood surface that goes into one of its homes. Most of the wood used by Estemerwalt Log Homes is eastern white pine, which is durable and naturally resists decay.
Standard log packages come in many sizes and styles, and the company will even develop a new log profile to meet a client’s preferences. Press coverage of homes built by the firm has been local and national, with features in Log Cabin Homes Magazine, Log Home Living Magazine, Cottages & Bungalows, The Wayne Independent, and ProudGreenHome.com. The company sells homes in every state and internationally.
14. Jeremiah Johnson Log Homes
1501 County Road 308, Dumont, CO 80436
A third-generation member of the Anderson family runs this Colorado maker of handcrafted log homes. A native of Minnesota, Dennis Anderson took over his family’s construction business even before he entered Anoka Ramsey Community College in his home state. By 1995, Anderson had relocated Jeremiah Johnson Log Homes to Colorado and expanded services to include rustic mountain homes. The new builds became popular, and by the early 2000s, Anderson was specializing in making and building homes made of lodgepole blue stain pine and western red cedar.
Today, the company is the largest log building homemaker in Colorado. Anderson is a Vail Resorts Approved Builder and licensed to build in over 24 counties. Outside of Colorado, he sells log cabin package kits nationwide, but for experienced home builders only. Jeremiah Johnson Log Homes also offers log home plans, designs, and architectural services. It has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau (BBB).
13. Yellowstone Log Homes
280 N. Yellowstone Highway, Rigby, ID 83442
This company sells throughout the United States and in every province of Canada. It was founded in 1962 by Lewis Youngstrom, who had been running a sawmill and logging operation in Spencer, Idaho, since 1949. Sons Lynn and David took over the company in 1976, and today they are assisted by more than 50 employees in a Snake River Plain office east of Idaho.
Logs come in milled, half log siding, and handcrafted styles. Floor plans range from 780 to over 7,800 square feet and come in premium and elite packages. Yellowstone Log Homes has an in-house drafting department and a team of licensed design professionals. In its five decades, the company has sold over 10,000 log kits. Its reputation for high quality and affordable homes has gained national recognition, with numerous profiles in leading magazines such as Log Cabin Homes, Log Home Design, Custom Wood Homes, Log Home Living, and Log Home Design Ideas.
12. Wisconsin Log Homes
2390 Pamperin Road, Green Bay, WI 54313
After Dave and Kathy Janczak tied the knot in the 1970s, Dave promised his new wife he’d build her a log cabin on the 20 acres they’d purchased in Pittsfield, Wisconsin. When finished, the home became a local sensation. TV stations and reporters showed up, and neighbors started asking Dave to build them a log cabin. By 1976, the couple opened this business. Dave supplied the construction know-how and Kathy the professional marketing expertise.
Today, Wisconsin Log Homes is managed by the couple’s son, Nate. Its staff has grown to include general contractors and designers. The company now sells nationwide. Services include architectural design, 3D rendering, demolition, site preparation, space planning, custom builds, additions, barn design, and construction. The company has been featured in over 65 articles in the local and national press, including American Lifestyle Magazine, Log Home Living, Energy Efficient Homes, and Country’s Best Cabins. Dave and Kathy also appeared on an episode of the TV show Epic Log Homes.
11. Tomahawk Log & Country Homes
N10714 City A, Tomahawk, WI 54487
Three years after this company’s launch in 1986, it added a traveling crew construction service to build homes in all 50 states. Owner Tom Wyles reasoned that it would be easier for customers to deal with one company that offered both manufacturing and construction services. Business savvy like this came naturally to Wyles, who, just a decade earlier, had built his first log home in 1979 and his second two years later.
By 1994, Tomahawk Log & Country Homes improved manufacturing with a new dip treatment for its logs. By 1997, it had spearheaded a saddle lock corner style. In 2011, the company was honored with three national design awards from Country’s Best Log Homes. Wyles’ team has been profiled in Country’s Best Log Homes, Log Home Design Ideas, and Log Home Living. Wyles is still president and CEO but is now joined by three other executive-level managers and a national design coordinator.
10. Stonemill Log & Timber Homes
10024 Parkside Drive, Knoxville, TN 37922
This nationally esteemed log & timber frame builder is headquartered at the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains in Knoxville, Tennessee. Since its founding in 1974, StoneMill Log & Timber Homes has sold its product direct from the home office, preferring to control every step of the designing, milling, building, and distribution process. The StoneMill team is currently led by Robert Cantrell, and has over 100 years of combined industry experience amongst its current staff.
StoneMill specializes in the design, fabrication and construction of log & timber frame homes across the United States using a variety of wood species and log profiles — or even as hybrid mixes. In close partnership with Creekside Construction, StoneMill offers shell erection and dry-in services anywhere in the US and turn-key services in the Knoxville market. A member of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) & Log and Timber Homes Council, StoneMill has been featured in front-page stories of many publications including Country Living, Veranda, Log Cabin Homes, Log Home Living, and Country’s Best Cabins
9. Hearthstone Homes
120 Willis Road, Newport, TN 37821
When HearthStone Inc., was founded in 1971, the company did little more than restore log homes in southern Appalachia. Some of those homes were 200 years old. By the 1980s, the company had developed its own method for building timber frame homes, and business took off in a big way. Today, Hearthstone Homes specializes in several log home models. Some are typical of 18th century structures with flat logs and chinking. Others have timber frames joined by pegs. Still others are larger, Scandinavian-style mountain lodges. Floor plans start under 1,000 square feet but go over 4,000 square feet.
Services now include home remodeling, house framing, new construction, and structural engineering. Hearthstone Homes is a member of the NAHB, Brown County Home Builders Association (BCHBA), US Green Building Council (USGBC), the Smoky Mountain Home Builders Association (SMHBA), and American Society of Interior Designers (ASID). Press coverage has been extensive, with features in dozens of building and design magazines.
8. Southland Log Homes
PO Box 1668, Irmo, SC 29063
Southland Log Homes got its start in 1978 in the mountain territories along the Carolinas. Today, it is the largest log home manufacturer in North America with 22 locations across the US, and the industry’s most visited web site at SouthlandLogHomes.com. President and CEO Ken Sekley has been with the company since 2009, and has led its expansion in the US and internationally.
Home models range in type from traditional and modern to environmentally sustainable. Sizes go from an 800-square-foot efficiency to larger models with two decks and a porch, and even extra large sizes that include enormous great rooms. Southland Log Homes is a member of the NAHB, BBB, and USGBC. It has been featured in the national press and honored with numerous awards. In 2017, the firm received the NAHB design award for excellence in homes sized from 2,000 to 3,000 square feet and 3,000 to 4,000 square feet.
7. Original Log Cabin Homes
PO Drawer 1457, Rocky Mount, NC 27802
Founder Tom Vesce opened the doors to this Rocky Mount-based company in 1987. But the company’s history goes back to 1922, when Vesce’s grandfather started a small lumber business. Tom and his cousin Tommy joined in the 1960s. By the 1970s, uncles Joseph and Jimmy from New England came on board to help build the team’s first log home. Today, Original Log Cabin Homes isn’t just nationwide, it’s global, and Tom Vesce serves as CEO of the international division.
Homes comes in a variety of woods, such as white cedar, white pine, red cedar, bald cypress, scotch pine, and the more common Douglas-fir. In 2012, the company became the nation’s largest cypress log home manufacturer. It has enjoyed extensive press coverage and industry recognition, with awards from Log Home Living, Field & Stream, and Outdoor Life magazines. Vesce’s team enjoys an A+ rating with the BBB. A member of the NAHB Log & Timber Homes Council, the company is also a Certified Green Dealer (CGD).
6. Katahdin Cedar Log Homes
205 Smyrna Road, Oakfield, ME 04763
Run by the same family for two generations, this Oakfield-based log home builder has been in business since 1973. Foster Gordon, Fred McCormick, and Wayne Farrar were the three founding partners. Gordon’s son, David, a graduate of the University of Maine, runs the business today and is credited with turning it into an industry leader that employs more than 80 people.
Under David’s direction, the firm transformed from a manufacturing facility into a full-service design-build operation. Today, Katahdin Cedar Log Homes operates Maine’s largest cedar mill. It works with a nationwide dealer network and sells throughout North America. Its standing as an industry leader has been recognized with numerous awards, including the Maine Governor’s Award for Business Excellence, the NAHB’s Log Home Council Image Award, and Maine’s Outstanding Manufacturer Award. Katahdin Cedar Log Homes is a member of the NAHB Log Home Council and the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).
5. Lodge Log & Timber
7789 S. Federal Way, Boise, ID 83716
Over 3,000 customers have made the Idaho-based Lodge Log & Timber one of the most successful milled log home companies in the world. It was founded in 1975 in Boise, where it still designs and builds structures that carry a lifetime warranty. The company uses 20 standard floor plans, which it modifies to the customer’s specifications. It also manufactures natural tapered or milled logs for roofs, railings, and fireplace mantels.
Lodge Log & Timber says that its method of drying the logs to 15 percent moisture content creates a more stable structure. It also uses a through-bolt wall system and foam sealer that ensures the best fit. The price varies by the diameter of log chosen. The company offers five different sizes, from 7- to 12-inch diameters with either a smooth or hand hewn finish. Because it harvests still-green logs locally, the company can charge less than manufacturers who have to buy mature logs through a broker.
4. True North Log Homes
1730 Winhara Road, Bracebridge, Ontario P1L 1W1
One of Canada’s premier log home manufacturers, True North Log Homes was founded by Ron Wrightman, father of present-day CEO, Rob Wrightman. The two worked together in the 1970s. Ron operated his first log home company, and Rob learned carpentry and management. By 1986, father and son founded True North Log Homes. Rob and Ron came up with a unique way to improve a log home’s efficiency, and they hold more than 18 patents in machinery and building.
Ten years later, Ron retired and Rob took over the local family company and built it into a global enterprise. Today, Rob employs over 50 professionals, and his company has over 100 plans on their website but are a completely custom log home manufacturer so every home is tailored to their clients desires. The company’s success has brought lots of press coverage, with features in the Wall Street Journal, Mother Earth Living, Home Design, Cottage Life, and Log Cabin Homes. In 2018, the company obtained approval to build homes in the United Kingdom. Through the years they have also received multiple awards such as: 2017 Manufacturer of the Year – NAHB Building Systems Council. 2017 Global Innovation Finalist – NAHB, First manufacturer to offer a completely machine coated log home from the factory, 2018 BSC Jerry Rouleau Awards for Excellence in Home Design – Winner of the 2001-3000sf for their Blackstone 2, 2018 BSC Jerry Rouleau Awards for Excellence in Home Design – Winner over 40001 sf Citadel PPK and 2018 BSC Jerry Rouleau Awards for Excellence in Home Design – Home Of Distinction 3001-4000sf Custom Sprucedale Residence, and NAHB Award Winner – Top Plan book in the USA.. True North Log Homes is certified by the NAHB.
3. Blue Ridge Log Cabins
625 East Frontage Road, Campobello, SC 29322
Before Earl Taylor, who founded this nationwide company in 1992, customers had to either wait a full year for a log home to be built on their land or buy a kit and do it themselves. Taylor decided to build the home in a temperature-controlled manufacturing plant, then assemble it at the customer’s site in a matter of days. That process has helped Blue Ridge Log Cabins become, according to Inc. magazine, one of the fastest growing privately held companies in the nation.
Under current Owner and President Milton A. (Chip) Smith, the firm has twice received a Gold Star Award from the BBB for having no complaints for three consecutive years. Its most recent awards came in 2017 with two Jerry Rouleau Awards for Excellence in Home Design and Excellence in Marketing. The company was also featured on the TV show Extreme Makeover in 2011 and on HGTV’s series Amazing Log Homes.
2. Rocky Mountain Homes
1883 Highway 93 South, Hamilton, MT 59840
All four owners of Rocky Mountain Homes have been with the company for at least 30 of its 40 years in business. Since its founding, the company has received hundreds of awards and write-ups in the local and national press, including Country’s Best Log Homes and Architectural Digest. Its homes use Western timber allowed to season naturally. Only one in 10 of the standing logs this firm cuts ends up in the finished home.
In 2012, Rocky Mountain Homes received three national awards for excellence in design and marketing by the NAHB’s Building Systems Council and Log Homes Council. One of the awards was for the Tunken Log Home model, which offers over 6,500 square feet of living space. The company’s staff includes a licensed architect and a certified member of the Society of American Foresters (SAF). Homes manufactured by this company are sold in every state, and in countries with climates ranging from rainforest to desert.
1. Precision Craft
711 East Broadway Avenue, Meridian, ID 83642
In just over two decades, Precision Craft Log & Timber Homes has become an industry-leading custom log and timber home maker serving all of North America. The company started in 1990. By February 2011, PFB Corporation had purchased it and formed the PFB Custom Homes Group. Offices are in Meridian, Idaho; Blissfield, Michigan; and Calgary, Alberta.
Precision-Craft’s Total Home Solution starts with a custom designed mountain-style home and can end with a turn-key new build. Home styles consist of handcrafted cabins, timber frames, milled log, hybrids, and post-and-beam structures. A member of the NAHB Building Systems Council and Log and Timber Homes Council, Precision Craft has an A+ rating with the BBB. Its work has been written up in Timber Home Living, Log Home Living, and Log Cabin Homes magazines. Many of its more than 40 awards are for creating homes of distinction and were bestowed by the NAHB.
How can I find a home builder near me?
Read our latest articles on the best home builders across the country. If you don’t see your city or state in the articles below, just let us know – we are happy to create a tailored recommendation list just for you.
Custom home builders in the US
Prefab and modular home builders in the US
About Our Rankings
This list takes a range of ranking criteria into consideration, including but not limited to: work history, customer satisfaction, awards and recognition, geographic area of work, cost, building permits, and clientele. We spent over 40 hours researching local contractors before calculating the final ranking for this post. If there is additional information about your business that could affect these rankings, please fill out this form and we will take it into consideration
Get Bids For Your Build
If you are thinking about building a log home, we recommend checking each builder’s license with the local licensing board, speaking to past clients, and using our bidding system to get competitive quotes from at least 3 contractors. Getting multiple bids is the best way to ensure you get a fair price and that bids include the complete scope of work.
