After Bill and Virginia Greathouse married, they moved to his family's 300-acre farm outside Lexington, Kentucky, into the colonial-style house that his parents had built. "It's beautiful," Virginia says, "but living in a log home was my lifelong dream." Bill, who shared her goal, promised that one day they would have one. Sixteen years later, they took the plunge.

They attended a REAL LOG HOMES® seminar to see if they could build it themselves. After learning how much work was involved, they met with their REAL LOG HOMES® Independent Representative, Mike and Linda Miller of Walnut Ridge Log Homes, to assist in building their dream home. Bill decided to do some of the work as well, not to save money but to take part in the experience.

Having spent a lifetime thinking about a log home, the Greathouses had some definite ideas about the design. For the logs themselves, they chose milled yellow pine produced by REAL LOG HOMES® of Hartland, Vermont. They recall the thrill of watching two semis coming down the road one evening delivering their log package. Their excitement mounted when construction actually began.

The house took eight months to complete. Bill did a lot of the interior finishing, including the tongue-and-groove paneling. Virginia insisted that all the walls be wood, yielding only in the master bedroom. The couple furnished the place with family heirlooms and antiques they had bought over the years knowing they would one day use them in their log home.

The house is a roomy 4,000 square feet, configured as a long rectangle. Oversized dormers balance the length and plenty of windows bring in light. The open floor plan adds to the roominess.

The Greathouses enjoy their whole house, but two rooms that Virginia especially enjoys are the roomy kitchen and the oversized master bedroom suite. Outside, Bill built a lake 1,000 feet from the house to enhance the view.

Having grown up in Lexington, Bill and Virginia know many people in the area and love to entertain. "Everyone who comes in says 'Umm, smell the wood.' They never want to leave. It's like a lodge. It's the perfect house," says Virginia, who is delighted that her dream finally came true. "Bill promised me that someday he would build me my very own log home," Virginia recalls. "He kept his promise and I absolutely love my home and him. He's my hero."