Ritzy Log Cabins

The log cabin is embedded in the national consciousness as an old-time icon of simple, wholesome American living. Abraham Lincoln grew up in a log cabin, by gum, and look at what he made of himself!
However, as with every other aspect of American culture, today’s log cabin has been supersized. The structures that follow in this slideshow are a long way from Lincoln’s logs. Log cabins have gone from inspirational to aspirational. Whereas it was once incongruous to link the phrase “million dollar” to “log cabins,” it’s now quite the norm for a log home’s price to rise into seven figures and beyond.
What can a log cabin offer to command such prices? They’re cabins in name only. They offer the same amenities and features every other modern home offers — the chef’s kitchens, the hot tubs, the walk-in showers, the square footage — only rustic and with logs. These structures can serve as summer and winter vacation lodges for those who can afford such luxuries, but they’re also quite well supplied to function as year-round homes.
So dust off your antler chandelier and taxidermied critters and indulge in some cabin fever. Click through to see these contemporary and traditional log homes for sale, some for eight figures.

Coeur D’Alene, ID
Location: 411 S. Coach Ln.
Price: $10.5 million
Beds/Baths: 4/10
Square feet: 11,174

With its recurring use of vertical tree trunks as support beams, this mansion has the feeling of living under the canopy of an enchanted wood, or at least a resort or casino version of one. The floor-to-vaulted-ceiling windows of the great room offer an unhindered vista of the Spokane River. There’s a media room, a game room with a bar, and if the formal dining room is too formal, try the informal dining room instead.
Park City, UT
Location: 5000 Royal St.
Price: $49.5 million
Beds/Baths: 12/16
Square feet: 20,000

In case you skimmed past the statistics above, you might want to go back and read them. This is not so much a luxurious log cabin as a rustic private resort for one family and their closest several dozen friends. Features include a gym, indoor pool and hot tub with views, game room with views, decks with sunset mountain views, a garage for 20 cars, and a castle-length dining-room table.
Charlevoix, MI
Location: 8633 Atwood Rd.
Price: $2.5 million
Beds/Baths: 6/5
Square feet: 4,600

Behold, the Norway red pine log cabin known as Moblo! It’s located less than three miles from Lake Michigan, but it’s directly on the spring-fed private Lake Charlevoix. The 15-year-old house is traditional, yet offers a mix of the old and the modern: four master suites, indoor and outdoor fireplaces, a children’s bunk bed room, a gourmet kitchen with granite counters, and the all-important antler chandeliers. Plentiful windows and a wrap-around porch allow lucky residents and visitors to take in the enormous expanse of 320 acres.
Crested Butte, CO
Location: 188 Bethel Rd.
Price: $4.75 million
Beds/Baths: 7/9
Square feet: 9,147

This custom log home in the mining-turned-ski town of Crested Butte has views of Long Lake. It’s just six years old so it’s quite up to date, with a modern kitchen and long breakfast bar, the soaking tubs and walk-in showers, and it’s scaled to today’s standards as evidenced by the 15 x 20-foot master bedroom. Yet, the heavy exposed timber beams and other aspects evoke a long-established historic structure.
Richfield, OH
Location: 3827 Deer Run Oval
Price: $5.4 million
Beds/Baths: 5/8
Square feet: 19,360

Although this log mansion has a contemporary profile and is just 11 years old, it’s built from Engelmann spruce timbers reclaimed from forest fires, lending it a traditional feel. The rest of the property is not exactly lacking either, with a 30-foot waterfall and bear cave that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, a 3.5-acre spring-fed stocked lake, a horse-riding ring, a children’s log cabin playhouse with electricity, plus a 1,950-square-foot lofted barn including two cooler rooms.

How do people afford to have to have vaction places more expensive than the average single family home???