40 years in the making.
Over the past 40 years of designing and building for clients from Japan to Alaska, to Telluride, and seaside in Florida, I have seen many challenges and always chose to view them as opportunities. Some of these challenges took shape in my mind when listening to my clients requests for something rare... something that you don’t see anywhere else. The resulting systems met those challenges and more. We perfected Schafer System’s with each new Edgewood project until I was confident that they were ready to be shared. Previously only available in an Edgewood home, I now offer the four, most impactful of these building systems in a factory-direct environment through Big Cabin Log & Timber.
A few of the 800+ Projects
completed in the U.S. and japan
Breckenridge
Durango
Lake Tahoe
Park City
Payson
Steamboat
Whitefish
Coeur d' Alene
Denver
Salt Lake City
Seattle
Bend
Portland
Sun Valley
Sandpoint
Anchorage
SENDAI
NIIGATA
MYOKO
YAMANASHI
NAGOYA
kyoto
saitama
Brian Schafer
Founder and CEO
All of the experiences throughout my 40-year career, whether positive or negative, have allowed me to arrive where I am now. I founded Big Cabin on the principals of innovation, challenging the status quo and striving to produce the absolute best architectural solutions. Crafting extraordinary homes is a passion we will continue for decades to come.
More about Brian
Milan Brodina
Project Management
Lead Designer & CAD Technician
When I graduated with a Master Degree in Wood Engineering I made a life-changing decision to travel all the way to the United States and apprentice with Brian Schafer of Edgewood Log Homes. The passion I have for log and timber home construction grew deeply over my two-year internship with Edgewood.
Learning the complexities of roofing design and construction was incredibly intensive and the time I spent working side-by-side with Brian Schafer, invaluable to my career.
The opportunity to work with the log building luminaries Graeme D. Mould and Robert Chambers of Natural Log Homes greatly impacted my skill levels and experience.
When Natural Log Homes began generating more sales and increased their production in the international, log home market I was promoted to Production and Project Manager.
Responsibilities included overseeing day-to-day operations at the log building yard, meeting and liaising with clients, product & material development, and consulting with key architects and engineers.
I stayed in touch with Brian over the years and always remembered what he had shared with me.
Aging log crafters would make great log home CAD drafters Brian would say, and so with no formal schooling in architecture I set out to teach myself everything I could learn about CAD.
Max Krieger
Production Foreman
39 years ago I began working with Brian at Log Home Logs before it was Edgewood. Over the years I have been trusted to work in every operational and production position Edgewood offers, spanning operations to quality control. By way of example, over 50 different homes to Japan and twelve 10,000 SF full log buildings for a project at 11,000’ elevation in Telluride, CO, all crafted and shipped under my watch and all with no call backs, that makes me proud….. not just of myself but of my staff.
Living in rural Idaho and having been fortunate enough to do what I love over these many years is truly a gift.
I am an avid hunter and fisherman and actively share my outdoor lifestyle with my my friends and family members. I am passionate about passing on my many years of knowledge and appreciation of the wild to future generations.
Brian Smith
Project Management
In 1998, I began my log home career in Montana’s famous, Bitterroot Valley. I was barely 20, when I was offered a hard-earned position as a crew leader at Alpine Log Homes.
Pioneer Log Homes was the next step in my journey. On a major 10,000 SF project, a devastating site injury left me with many broken bones and subsequent surgeries. It took a full year and half to battle back with painful and intensive physical therapy, to finally be able to get back to doing what I love in the log and timber industry.
I focused on sharpening my pre-building skills and experience, and then switched to on-site work. Carving out a reputation for my know-how in log home re-assembly and establishing myself as a highly respected, professional crew trainer, I spent much time traveling throughout the USA.
Being on the road was what I truly loved, and over the next few years visited 28 states and 8 countries. I was very fortunate to be able to share my knowledge and teach crews worldwide the “tricks of the log and timber trade”.
In 1999, Neville Log Homes, offered me a sales and project management position. They were an industry leader and offered an incredible opportunity to develop my professional skills.
Overseeing log and timber sales and project management is my specialty and I am incredibly proud of all of the log and timber structures I have helped build in the US and France.
Using my many years of log and timber construction, and traveling field assembly experience helps assist Big Cabin’s clients through the entire journey of designing and building a custom, dream home.
Dave Pierce
Production Manager
Growing up in North Idaho has given me a deep appreciation and love of the outdoors. The combination of rivers, lakes and mountains is the perfect backdrop to feed my passion for winter sports especially hitting the slopes and skiing.
I was accepted to the University of Idaho and put myself through college by working construction and beginning to learn the craft.
When I graduated with a BA in Environmental Science I was hired to help head up operations at J.R Simplot in Boise. The demands were high and I learned how to manage a large workforce and careful budget planning.
My career then took me to a company in Nampa Idaho where I was responsible for coordinating large teams and keeping our production facilities on track.
Through the next few years I honed my skills in Cashmere, Washington and then Selah as a Process Quality Manager.
I have always believed that a great team equals a great product and that is the mindset I bring to Big Cabin. My cross-departmental skills and extensive experience in project and team management drives me to work closely with Big Cabin Log and Timber to produce excellent products for discerning clients.
