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Upcoming Events

Log home open house in Painesville, Ohio
Tour a Beautiful Custom Log Home

Thanks to all who attended our open house in Painesville this April! We plan to have more open house events in the future.

At our open houses, experienced staff and homeowners discuss:

  • Personal experience
  • Creating the perfect custom floor plan
  • Determining a budget
  • Do-it-yourself options
  • How to get started
   
The Great Geauga County Fair
Thanks for coming out to see us last year. We will see you this coming September! We'll be located under the grand stands again.

The Great Geauga County fair is
September 1-5, 2011

   
Johnson's Log Home & Timber Frame Show and The Rustic Living Expo - Columbus, OH

Thank you to all who saw us at the show & expo in January!

   
Custom Log Home Tour

Thank you for attending our Open House! Please contact us to make and appointment and discuss your plan!

HVLH held an Open House on April 24th, 2010. Our staff met with prospective log homeowners to discuss how to create the perfect custom floor plan, how to determine a budget, do-it-yourself options, and how to get started with a custom log home.

   
 
The Great Big Home & Garden Expo
Feb. 5-13, 2011
IX Center
Clev
eland, Ohio
Booth #1189

Thanks to all who came out and saw us this year. We look forward to seeing you all again in February 2011.

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News

 

Sunday, October 26, 2008
Challenging times

HIDDEN VALLEY Log Homes is building a log cabin in Monroe Township. Ranch-style log cabins can take form in as little as four weeks. The Madison-based company reports steady business in the area. In other housing and construction sectors, business is weak.

Construction, real estate find ways to cope in tough economy
Photos and story by Warren Dillaway

As the Dow Jones plummets and unemployment hits the roof, economic issues run deep in northeastern Ohio.

Signs offering real estate for sale are rampant in Ashtabula County while newspaper headlines regularly announce the difficult challenges facing area businesses and families.

There are amid the chaos a few bright spots as some area builders report busy schedules and real estate agents talk of a positive new trend.

“The economy has not affected us at all,” said Roman Vencill of CBC Construction.

He said the company builds about nine homes a year and specializes in quality home construction.

Vencill said he feels the firm has been blessed by God and attempts to meet the customer’s needs.

Vencill said his customers tend to be almost completely area residents who are seeking to build their own homes.

“It’s people who have lived in Ashtabula county for 15 to 20 years and have lived in their family house and are looking to move up,” Vencill said.

 

Vencill said his company gets a lot of business from referrals. He said they are presently building a referral home in Madison, which is the developer’s first outside the county.

Mareddy Estates, a high-end development in Ashtabula, has seen business pick up since a lawsuit was recently settled regarding tax abatement in the city, said developer Brett Cimorell.

He said the lawsuit, filed by the Ashtabula Area City Schools, had hurt business because people did not know whether they would receive the full seven-year tax abatement.

Cimorell said out-of-town residents are especially excited about the lot size, at least an acre, at Mareddy Estates.

“They (Lake and Geauga county residents) see an acre and they lose it,” he said.

Rick Gleason, owner of Gleason Realty in Conneaut, said things are slow and have been getting worse recently.

“Right now we are at a standstill because of the credit crunch,” Gleason said.

 

He said the ongoing foreclosure program has also artificially reduced the real estate market.

Gleason said a new home worth $250,000 in 2007 recently sold at an auction for about $150,000.

“Nobody knows what is going on. Do we stay where we are and hunker down or do we try and make a new (purchase)?” Gleason said of people’s attitudes regarding purchasing a new home.

Gleason said a small positive trend has been people from the Youngstown, Columbus and Pittsburgh areas purchasing lakefront property.

“They have the money and in Conneaut and Ashtabula they can get a lot more for their money,” Gleason said.

He said many people marvel at the quaint nature of area communities and are happy the development is not as rampant as in other areas.

Gleason said he would like to see area chambers of commerce and niche tourism organizations work together on major marketing plans.

 

Another small trend that has developed is the purchase of lakefront properties in Ashtabula as summer homes for those living in the Deep South.

Ward Bennett, owner of Harbor Realty, said the area’s low cost of housing has opened up the market for people from outside the area.

Bennett said it could be a time where out-of-town residents become a part of the experience.

“I foresee we will get discovered by the golf and the fishing (crowd). I feel that is one of the positive things that could expand,” he said.

Bennett said the bottom line, however, is new jobs are needed in Ashtabula so people are able to purchase the available housing stock.

A Madison-based log cabin construction company said their business has been going well.

“It’s really quite busy for us at this point in the game,” said Staysie Chapman, owner of Hidden Valley Log Homes.

She said they build log cabin residences from small ranch homes to 5,500-square-foot structures in four weeks to three months.

 

 

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