INSIDE: CONWAY-AREA FEATURE HOMES | HOMES FOR SALE | DECORATING DESIGN
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SEPTEMBER 2011
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HOMES MONTHLY FEATURE EDITION
A CO N WAY-A R E A G U I D E TO C E N T R A L A R K A N S A S H O M E S
ALDE RSON CAB I N
NATURAL SELECTION INTEREST IN LIVING TO RUSTIC RETREAT LEADS TO SELLING LOG HOMES By Rachel Parker Dickerson Photos Brandy Strain Central Arkansas residents longing for a rustic haven need not go far to find materials and furnishings for their own log home. Maria Alderson of Arkansas Log Home Connection and Anita White of Cedar Creek Log Cabin Furnishings are in the business of making comfortable surroundings available to their customers. Alderson said she started Arkansas Log Home Connection seven years ago by building her own log house. “My husband and I wanted a log house since we honeymooned in a log house,” she said. “It took about 18 years. We loved it so much, and we liked how it went together. Instead of me going back to teaching, I decided to go sell log homes.” They lived in the home for three years before selling it, she said. “A couple knocked on the door and made an offer. They bought everything down to the sheets and towels. It was totally decorated. We built another one. We sold it as soon as we put it on the market. Then we decided to build this third one. We are going to keep it and use it for an office.” The family now lives in a conventional home in Conway, but Alderson said she and her husband look forward to building a large log home on Greers Ferry Lake after their daughter graduates from Conway High School. “It’s just a natural, comfortable feel to it,” she said. “It’s just a different feel than a regular house. Just all the natural elements you can use – how any type of decoration can work in a log house. It’s a more relaxing feeling than in your conventional house.” Alderson is a dealer for Honest Abe Log Homes. She said the company is very environmentally friendly in that it does not waste any part of the trees. They have a mulch company and use other bits of wood to fire the kilns in which they dry the wood. Kiln-fired wood is important to prevent the logs from shrinking, she said. She noted the log homes also tend to be very energy efficient. 8 HOMES / SEPTEMBER 2011
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Having lived in one equal in size to the conventional home she now lives in, Alderson said she is very much aware of the difference. Materials for log homes include eastern white pine logs, fashioned in several different profiles; wood windows, which are energy efficient; and two different roof systems. When it comes to White’s love for log homes, she used words similar to Alderson’s. “To me, it’s just very comfortable, easy, relaxing,” she said. She and her husband Tommy opened their store at Springhill two years ago. What began as a 4,000-square-foot operation has now expanded to 10,000 square feet. White said, “We built a log house about 12 years ago and kind of became obsessed with it. We retired from our first business that we owned for 15 years.” The couple formerly owned an automotive body shop but has easily made the transition to retailers of rustic furniture. White said plenty of customers driving along Highway 65 10 HOMES / SEPTEMBER 2011
are attracted to the store and more than a few come back after comparison shopping in other places. “You’d be surprised,” she said. “There’s quite a few people that have log and rustic cedar homes, homes that they consider more rustic than modern. A lot of lake people and river people.” Cedar Creek Log Cabin Furnishings carries log recliners with lodge themes, furniture made from refurbished tobacco barn wood, hides, quilts, rustic mirrors, gun cabinets and a large selection of western artwork. White said some of the very unique pieces she has in the showroom include a pool table made from a 375-year-old tree and a bed that looks like a covered wagon. She added, “We have tons of taxidermy – everything from chipmunks to grizzly bears. I’ve even got a snow owl on the wall.” “It’s very unique. We try to have something different from an ordinary furniture store, to accommodate people do a log cabin or any kind of western setting,” she said.
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