A New Year has begun and New Year's Resolutions have either been made or broken by now. My New Years Resolution is to find serenity and peace in everyday life. I am going to hike more, eat better and live life a little fuller. I am getting up there in age (45 this past October) and every day the good Lord gives me, I am going to try to always be the person I want my children to become. Healthy and full of life.

So this year, this newsletter will focus on finding home designs and features that are unique and filled with ideas to capture the serenity and peace that living in Tennessee entails.

I hope one day soon, I will build your dream home!

TennesseeVacationHomes.NET

During my Realtor days, the biggest request from people looking to buy in this area was Log Homes. Unfortunately, we did not have alot of product out there for people to choose from. We had a few new ones that were going up, but mostly we had traditional homes. The biggest request was for downstairs Master Bedrooms and lots of outdoor deck space.

The beauty of Log Homes is their great insulation values and resistance to fire because of the thermal mass of the log. I am a Volunteer firefighter and living in the woods has made me very aware of how important this type of security is to my own peace of mind. It takes alot of heat for an extended period to start that log on fire. My choice of companies is Kuhns Bros log homes. Their dedication to quality and customer service mirrors my own. I especially like that they grow most of their own product and that they hire the Amish to run their lumber yards. When I did my site inspection of their headquarters in Pennsylvania, I couldn't have been more impressed with their processes.

Give me a call and let me walk you thru some of the virtual designs, I will even give you the code so that you can continue to play around with this cool website.

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I thought this was an interesting design. From the front it seems small and concise, yet it is set on a rolling topo with a view so there is actually 3 levels on the backside for a total of 4600 sqft of living space. This type of home would be great if your perfect home-site has a small footprint. Mountain stone is also a very attractive option for fascia when you build in the woods.

Now this is the way to incorporate your landscape into your home design! This custom home is located on a mountain ridge just outside of Chattanooga. The owner obviously had his own eccentric ideas of how he/she wanted their sanctuary to be. The front of the house is even more interesting than the back. There is also plenty of open space in this "space age" design. Built in 1979 and going for $1.225 million dollars today, the old adage "location, location, location" rings true to its meaning with this home. So folks dream big!

Another older mountain home (1974), this home builder made sure they could always see that fabulous view from their back window. With only 2 large bedrooms in a 3000sqft building, this home was obviously mostly used for entertaining and leisure activities. Kind of reminds me of the oceanfront villas on the Caribbean. So if you have a great view, why not go for it?!