Honka log homes grinds on in U.S.

Honka started their U.S. market push with a bang. NFL star Steve Young was used as a PR case to increase the visibility of Honka log homes. This was year 2001, and after that, things have progressed slowly and the visibility of Honka is still rather low in the States.

Honka is the biggest industrial log home manufacturer in the world. Company is about four times bigger than their closest competitor, so for me it is quite baffling that they are still relatively unknown in the States. However, they seem to be making some progress in building their distribution network. Time will tell how they fare against local competition in the U.S.

Log home by the lake

Finnish tradition places log homes by the lake. I visited one this weekend, but the nature stole the leading role and in the end my camera didn’t have too many shots, which would have included the log home. As you can see from the pictures, autumn has come to Finland.

Popular log home story

A story that has been circulating in many news sources tells a tale of family living in Wells, Maine. No wonder this kind of story has gotten more popularity than perhaps it would normally have gotten. It is all because ABC series “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” has taken the family part of their show. This series has good cause as they remodel homes of families that have gone through hardships.

Doug Goodale, his wife and two daughters got this chance because Doug lost his arm while working his fishing boat’s winch. He has been working in the field one-handed, which shows his determination to go forward.

This family didn’t only get remodeling, they got completely new log home that was donated by Katahdin Cedar Log Homes. With publicity Katahdin received, I bet that donation turned out to be pure public relations investment. Although story is widely publicized, I think this article in Boston Globe was most descriptive.

Log-covered caskets and coffins

Two friends started a company that is on a casket making business. Their competitive advantage is that their caskets have log motifs. Now log home lovers can embrace their lifestyle in death. Sounds quite bizarre but then again, to die is part of life so it is only natural to develop services and products for all occasions. The original article was in Chieftain check it here.

Log home decor shop

Mike Steele is a log home old-timer that has been living in a log home for 21 years. During this time he noticed that to get that style of decoration that he wanted was very difficult. He turned his furniture hunting skills into a business and now has a shop that provides everything imaginable for log home and log cabin decorating.

There is one BIG but, he is retiring and wants to sell the shop. Do you think that you might want to take a crack at selling log home related decorating items? Check more at this article.