Cottage, Cabin, Weekend Retreat, Vacation Rental and Long Term Investment

Greg MacDonald wanted to combine all the above “features” in one project. The starting point was to look for a suitable property, which he found near Tobermory ON, a beautiful community at the tip of the Bruce Peninsula, which separates Lake Huron and Georgian Bay in Ontario.

Deciding on a style and manufacturer for his planned cottage was not easy. Greg always wanted a log home, so he started his research, visiting well known log home manufacturers like Confederation Log Homes, Linwood Homes and Colonial Concepts, analyzing their offers and comparing prices. Greg was surprised that all these log homes were much more expensive then he had expected.

At the Cottage Life show in Toronto he became aware of EcoLog Homes. What Greg liked most about these unusual homes was:

• Use of square logs with chinking, the “EcoLog Look”. It's very different, but anybody he has shown some pictures is surprised and likes it

• Sustainability aspects of EcoLog homes

• Rustic look of the exposed roof trusses, especially in the loft, where other log homes use mostly frame construction

• Design flexibility of a custom home with many benefits of prefabricated homes

Even though the price was not the main decision criteria for Greg, he found that his EcoLog kit was much more flexible and affordable than any comparable log home kit he looked at.

Greg signed up to buy an EcoLog home kit, and started the detailed design process. Besides being used as a weekend and vacation retreat, his new cottage should be more than a “cabin in the woods”. He wanted to create a lasting investment with good resale value. Therefore the design had to support different concepts like “one floor living”. The outcome of his design and planning work together with EcoLog was a home with following features:

• 1232 sqft footprint, main area 24' x 28', with two 20' x 14' wings

• crawlspace foundation



• spacious open concept kitchen and living room with high open ceiling in the living room

• master bedroom with en-suite on main level

• Two bedrooms, a large full bathroom and a loft space overlooking the living room below

At the time this article was written (Jan 2010) Greg's home is about 80% finished, and he and his family are looking forward to spending time in their new getaway soon.

When I asked Greg what his friends say about his new home, he invited me to his Facebook page, where he recently posted some pictures of his EcoLog home. I saw lots of positive and enthusiastic comments, here are a few examples:

• Oh my goodness. This is palatial. You must be loving this .... how wonderful!

• Just gorgeous!

• Absolutely beautiful Greg!!!

• Lovely design, Greg

• Looks amazing!

Click here for a more detailed description of Gregs floor plan.

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