LOG HOMES IDEAL FOR QUAINT COUNTRY SETTING

Jim Harper holds a log home in a glass bottle. He gives one of these to everyone who has a log home built by his business.

This is the Harper kitchen in the log home. Harper says he and his family enjoy the log immensely.

Harper feels nature is usually important to owners of log homes. He even built a log garage.

Jim Harper had little idea when he built a log home for his wife several years ago that it would become a lucrative business.

Custom Cut Log Homes in Jackson, has grown by leaps and bounds. Harper now employs two crews locally and one in Arkansas and one in Tennessee.

His company receives about 30 to 35 calls a week. From those calls, he builds about 30 to 40 homes a year.

The first log home Harper built, and lives in, is on the outskirts of Jackson. The nice-looking, quaint log home sits back behind trees, a log garage next to it -- the ideal country dwelling.

"People who love nature love country homes," Harpers said. "That's why you don't see too many log homes in the city."

The home -- Harper never calls them log houses -- is 2,400 square feet and took Harper over three months and several hundred hours to build.

"My wife wanted a log home," Harper said. "I had been a contractor for 15 years. I had never built a log home and wasn't really interested in building or owning a log home.

"I had heard some horror stories about them, but she finally convinced me."

And they've loved the home every since.

In fact, Harper loved it so much he began working for Custom Cut Homes, then operating under different ownership. While working for the previous owner, Harper learned the ins and outs of building log homes.

When the owner became ill and decided to sell the business, Harper bought it.

It's been many years since then, Harper and his business have come a long way. He no longer is directly involved with the construction -- he had his share of that after doing it 20 years.

Now he works as a go-between, working with the future log home owners and the construction crews. He also oversees the sale, quality and delivery of the lumber, which is obviously a vital part of log home construction.

Harper says he hopes to go national soon. To meet this end, he has hired an advertising firm in Atlanta that is trying to get Harper's name and business recognized across the country. His goal is to have dealers in every state.

He's already well on his way to meeting his "national" status.

As if to prove his point, Harper says he will be building smaller log cabins in Atlanta for the Olympics next summer.

He and his company will be in charge of building 200 two-room cabins that will provide housing for those coming to watch the summer games.

"I've gotten a verbal OK from the government," Harper says of the deal. "But no starting date has been set."

While big-time government deals are fine and well, most of Harper's work is done for people just looking to build a log home to live in.

It costs about $28 a square foot for someone who lives locally. If the crews have to travel farther than 80 miles, which costs more for transportation and housing, the price rises to $30 a square foot.

Harper says it's easy enough to get a log cabin built.

"When people get interested, they call me," Harper said. "They want to find out some of the details, which is understandable."

These details include price, house plans, and what kind of wood to use.

Harper says that log homes can be built out of pine, cypress, oak and cedar. But pine is the by far the most popular -- 85 percent of people chose it.

"Oak is just harder to find, so pine is less expensive," Harper said. "And pine lasts a minimum of 200 years. So people tend to go with that."

If the parties remain interested after the call, Harper requires a $5,000 deposit before their names can be placed on a waiting list.

The wait in the winter can be as little as six weeks, but in the spring and early summer the wait has been known to be as much as six months.

Building a log cabin is much harder than regular home construction.

"There's a lot more lifting and sledge hammer work in building log homes," Harper said. "It's just a lot of manual, heavy work."

But the work seems worth it. Log homes are 30 percent more energy efficient. They are also safer in case of an earthquake.

"A log home can shift off the foundation, they're real safe to be in."

Harper says showing the homes sells the homes -- people see the homes and naturally want to buy them.

"If someone who's interested in log homes comes by and looks at my home, then they usually buy one."

Liking his business is important to Jim Harper and he says he loves his.

"I really like to meet people and travel," Harper said. "I think building log homes is a great business and it's catching on more and more all the time."