Before and After: Cedar Siding Transforms a Modular Home
by Chris Taberna

	You'd never know that Vaughn and Shirley Hillgren's "log home" is actually a modular home covered with Glu-Lam-Log siding.

For many years Shirley and Vaughn Hillgren nurtured a dream to someday build their own custom designed log home on a plot of land they own in rural Great Cacapon, West Virginia. That dream was nearly crushed when Vaughn became ill. At that point the Hillgrens decided that the time to realize their dream was now, or maybe never, but there were two potentially serious roadblocks. The Hillgrens needed to get the job done quickly and they needed to do it within a budget that was more restrictive than anticipated.

"We had been interested in log homes for years, but my husband became ill and we needed to build sooner than we had expected. We didn’t quite have as much money as we had originally planned to spend on our log home so we had to look for alternatives," said Shirley. "One approach we explored was to have someone come in and put up a cedar structure.

	The Hillgren's home before its log home transformation.

With the floorplan and structure under control, the Hillgrens then turned their attention to finding a way to give a "Log Home Look" to their modular home package. "We had checked around here and on the East Coast for similar products and found the cost of cedar products to be way out of sight. The costs were overwhelming! We could have built an entire log house for about the same amount as the cedar siding would have cost us. We really wanted cedar because we believe it’ll last longer and that it has a natural resistance to bugs," explained Shirley. "Since we’d been subscribing to log home magazines for years, we’d seen ads for Glu-Lam-Log products and remembered that they offered log cabin siding. So we called them and asked for a sample kit. Not only did it arrive promptly, but we really liked the looks of the materials. There were lots of choices, but our preference was the standard cedar siding. It looked really beautiful when we held it up against the wall. So, that’s what we ordered and to help us out on shipping costs, Phil was able to work a "load share" with another order that was headed to West Virginia.

The Hillgren's home before its log home transformation

The process of setting the foundation and then putting the modular up on a daylight basement took a couple of months. "We ordered the siding before the crew began setting the modular home on its foundation because we wanted to get a couple of coats of the finish on it before it was installed. We didn’t actually apply the siding until about 3 months after when we received it. The siding remained in good shape and we had no problems when it came time to install it," said Shirley. "We only installed a small amount ourselves, but the contractor who finished it had no problems with the siding and did such a nice job that it really looks like a custom log home."

Not only were the Hillgrens happy with the way their log cabin siding worked out, they decided they needed more. "We continued to get great products and excellent service when we had to order more siding for a screen porch we recently added on. You can’t tell the difference between the original siding and the newer shipment," boasted Shirley. "I really like the product. I think it is just beautiful the way it finished out. And dealing with the people was the best part; they were just as nice as they could be. They were always there for me and worked out our shipping so I got what I wanted at the price I wanted to pay."

	Front view of the Hillgren's "dream home."

"Even our county tax assessor has written it up as a log home. We are kind of isolated out here but it’s not unusual for a complete stranger to stop and ask us about the house.

The Hillgrens are currently living their log home dream in beautiful Great Cacapon, West Virginia. "Everything worked out very well! We were pleasantly surprised at the price and quality and it was amazing that it cost less than if we would have bought it locally," concluded Shirley. "We are extremely happy."

So are we, Shirley! And thanks so much for allowing us to share your story and your pictures with our readers.