BRIAN SCHAFER

Looking back on my 40+ year career in the log and timber industry, I can say with pride that not only have I accomplished my dream of designing and building exquisitely crafted log homes, but I have been able to perfect Schafer Systems through each new, Edgewood project.

When I started out at 21, I had almost no experience with the business side of log and timber. My first attempt with the Log Home Log Company quickly taught me that milling and manufacturing timbers was only a fraction of what I ultimately would need to learn.

In order for me to be successful the way I envisioned, I had to take the time to learn the business as a whole- from the design side, to the raw material acquisition side, as well as on-site construction.

Creating this kind of high-quality, design-driven company would only come from a holistic understanding of all of these aspects of the business.

What I soon realized what that my vision was in direct opposition to the traditional way building companies had been run for decades. Our industry was simply dominated by mass-production building models.

In the 1950’s and 60’s when a family built a custom home, they hired an architect/master builder who worked directly with them throughout he entire building process. This individual not only built the house but carefully managed the construction, reviewed and approved the payments to the artisans working on the project, and was responsible for making key decisions about the material elements.

This level of ‘creative ownership’ and craftsmanship in home building has been largely forgotten in our industry, yet it has been a consistent, driving force behind how I choose to design and build a custom home and how we produce Big Cabin's products.

In 1991 I made a decision to relocate to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho and transition to a full-service log home construction firm known as Edgewood Log Structures. As the company grew, we found ourselves building throughout the Western United States. Edgewood’s reputation became legendary for delivering extraordinary log homes with unprecedented levels of personalized service.

Today, with over 800+ successfully completed projects without a single call back for structural failure, I can say that I am genuinely proud of each and every home which bears the Edgewood name. Our projects span the western Rocky Mountains, from Steamboat Springs and Telluride, Colorado; to the San Juan Islands in Washington, Lake Tahoe, California, McCall, Idaho and as far internationally, as Japan.

What I have discovered in my 40 years of working with craftsmen, homeowners, and industry professionals is that people can actually feel the level of thoughtful design and detailing that is a signature of an Edgewood home.

Edgewood's decades of expertise and deliberate attention to detail, defines our entire product line at Big Cabin.