Mountain Living - Smokies
Sevier County, Real Estate Guide

Heritage Log Homes:
Make your log home last a lifetime

On chilly autumn nights, some lucky East Tennesseans get to kick back in front of a toasty, crackling fireplace, enjoying the benefits of log home living. There’s something about a well-built log home that makes us feel cozy and connected to the surrounding environment.

Logs worked just fine for the early settlers’ homes. They work even better today, thanks to improved construction techniques. Our ancestors used whatever materials they could locate. Log sizes and quality in those days might vary considerably in a single home.

Now, log home manufacturers standardize log size and quality. Plus, some use plenty of modern-day high-tech touches that can make the 21st century log home the equal of any type of construction.

To get an idea of the wide-ranging options in modern-day log homes, head to Heritage Log Homes’ model in Kodak, located at Exit 407 on Inerstate 40. Founded by Bill Parsons in 1974, Heritage has delivered more than 10,000 log homes throughout the United States and Canada, even in Japan, Europe and Latin America.

Heritage offers several log styles: 8-inch round log, 8-inch “D” log, 6-by-12-inch hand-hewn log, 10-inch round log and a 12-inch round log. All are Log Wall 40 grade, meeting the industry’s highest standard.

“All our logs come from the heart-wood center of eastern white pine logs, so there’s a uniform pattern throughout the house. The center-most section of the log is the densest and most resistant to problems. We use only naturally air-dried timbers,” says Bob Hanggi, Heritage Log Homes’ vice president of marketing.

In addition, the company’s homes have a double tongue-and-groove saddle-notch design that almost eliminates air infiltration. They also have a patented thru-bolt log-fastening system using a spring technology to control shrinkage and swelling.

“There’s nothing else in the industry like our thru-bolt system. It’s top of the line. It makes that log wall a solid unit. Every four feet and at every window and door, all the logs are drilled on 12-inch centers, and one rod goes down the entire length of the wall. Then a spring is cranked down with 1,500 psi pressure. When the home is finished, the builder goes back and tightens the system one final time, and the spring never has to be touched again,” Hanggi says.

Heritage has plenty of home plans, but the company takes pride in custom-designing houses.

“We find out what your interests are and work those into the home. Some people want special kitchens. Some want great rooms for entertaining. Some want additional bedrooms or decks and porches,” Hanggi says.

“We encourage customers to think about how their lifestyle interacts with the home. We don’t want them to get in the house and six months down the road wish they’d done something different. We want to build as close to a perfect home as possible and fit it to the lifestyle right from the get-go. We have a design team on the staff that can turn customers’ wishes into finished products.”

Heritage puts the log home package together, and then ships it to certified Heritage homebuilders.

“If a customer comes to us with a builder already in mind and we haven’t worked with that builder before, we take the builder through a training program and show how these homes go together. We have building consultants available to work with them 24-7,” Hanggi says.

Though most of the company’s customers build homes on their own property, a growing part of the business is developments where all the homes are Heritage Log Homes. “We have a program just for this called Clear Path. Because of our experience in building, we will help the landowners develop the site. We have landscape architects on staff and people familiar with the codes, and with water and sewer systems. We can find the right engineers and contractors. We’re able to work with the developer from the very beginning,” Hanggi says.

Some East Tennessee developments featuring Heritage Log Homes houses include:

- The Landing at Bird’s Creek, a 17-home development soon breaking ground off Glades Road near Gatlinburg.

- Holston River Preserve, a 37-home 130-acre property with more than a mile of frontage on the Holston River just outside Knoxville.

- Smoky Mountain Ridge  - an expanding log home community on a hillside between Pigeon Forge and Wears Valley  -  ranging from relatively small houses to 10-bedroom units to be built soon.

- The Ridges at Tellico Lake, a new log home community in the Bat Creek area on Lakeside Drive off U.S. Highway 72 between Tellico Parkway and U.S. 411.

“Developments will be a very exciting part of our business in the next 10 years, but the core business for us, the engine that pulls this train, is the individual consumer home,” Hanggi says.

“Treated properly, off the ground, with the water kept away, a quality log home will last forever. Our logs are guaranteed for life. They have to be maintained, like any home. We recommend they be treated on the outside with a stain with a preservative element every three to five years.”