How our log buildings change people’s lives for the better – yes seriously!

It may sound slightly over the top but we regularly get told by our customers how their lives have been improved by our buildings.

Elderly relatives who are now able to live next to their families, business owners who can ditch the commute or expensive office rent and work from the comfort of their own garden, smallholders who can finally follow their dream by living on their land, and parents who are able to have their own space for chilling. The difference is always easy to spot and lovely to hear about.

One of the favourite parts of our job is speaking to our customers once they have moved in. They quickly tell us how their lives have improved….

Annex - Take Muriel Seamon and her daughter Jennie, pictured above. Muriel had been finding the upkeep of her home and large garden increasingly difficult but wanted to keep the much-loved bricks and mortar house in the family, just as it had been for generations. By installing a cosy Norwegian Log annex home for herself, Muriel has help at hand across the garden, and Jennie and her young family are now able to continue the tradition of living in the fifth-generation ancestral home.

“It’s absolutely marvellous,” Muriel says. “They have their privacy and I don’t go over there unless I need something. In fact, I tend to text her as I don’t want to get under her feet and want them to have their own space. They are leading their lives, and me, mine. But if they do need to help me, they don’t have to go very far.”

Jennie now lives in the house she was born in and has her mum on her doorstep. “I can look out of my kitchen window and see Mum sitting at her window. I don’t go over there every day but if she needs me, I can. It’s peace of mind for us both,” she says.

Garden hair salon - Hairdresser Diane Cox now steps out of her back door to reach work rather than navigating the busy Berkshire traffic, thanks to her chic new log cabin salon sited in her spacious back garden. Plus, after years of renting a business premises, she’s looking forward “to having an asset that over time will be more cost effective than being tied into a long term rental agreement”.

Also, her customers love her new salon, as she explains “Our customers walk around the corner and say ‘wow’. They like the quietness of its location and how calm it is. We also have so much natural light which is perfect for colouring hair. My salon was on the main road before, so there was a lot of noise and cars.”

Smallholder log home – Alpaca farmers Clare and Martin Stanger, who run J & J Alpacas, were having to make stressful, emergency dashes to assist animals giving birth from their home in a local village several miles away from their land. Moving into their large log cabin lodge on their 23-acre smallholding, has transformed how they can care for their animals. “We can now watch them through our windows, so you can see how they are getting on,” said Clare. “It’s so much easier than it used to be.”

And it’s not only the animals that have benefitted from the move. “We absolutely love it. It’s so peaceful, calm and cosy,” said Clare of their three-bedroom family cabin. “You come back home and you are really glad to be back. We just love it. We really are living the Scandinavian dream!”

School staff accommodation – Sited in one of the most expensive parts of the home counties, Sunningdale Prep School offers outstanding education for its pupils. And attracting and retaining staff is now much easier thanks to two new log cabin homes in the school grounds, built for teachers and their young families.

“It is very expensive to purchase or rent in this part of the world,” explains school bursar Andrew Tidd. “So, from a staff recruitment and retention issue, this makes things so much easier. The log homes are on-site but in a completely private area of the grounds. From the pupils’ point of view it is also great to have the staff so close, and it really adds to the school family.”

Annex – Jayne Hancock now has her mum Mary living in a cosy Norwegian Log annex next to her Derbyshire home. “As you get older, you become more vulnerable. That’s not an issue at the moment for Mum, as she’s fit and healthy, but we both know she now has that security of us being next door, and the fact we are there for her,” Jayne explains.

“For me, I know I can check on her every day and when we have company over, she’s able to see everyone and take part. If she’s not feeling 100% then we can pop across the garden, instead of having to get in a car to drive to see her after work. It’s just so convenient.”

Lives made better by Norwegian Log buildings…