I'll let you in on a secret: customizing one of our existing designs or starting completely from scratch on a custom home is hands-down my favorite part of this job. Fourth-generation sawdust runs in my blood, and I grew up on job sites and in the mill watching my family turn other people's dreams into actual standing structures. Now I get to do it myself, and I still haven't gotten over how good it feels.
Here's the thing most people don't realize: designing a custom log home isn't supposed to be overwhelming. It's supposed to be fun. The reason it feels daunting from the outside is that most clients walk in with a Pinterest board, a vague sense of "something with big windows and a porch," and absolutely no idea where to start. That's exactly where we come in. Merrimac has been designing custom homes since 1978 - over four decades of figuring out how to take what's in your head and put it on paper, and then put it on your land. You don't have to know how to do this. We do.
So let me walk you through what the first conversation actually looks like.
It starts with you, not the house
When you sit down with me, I don't pull out a blueprint. I ask about you.
What's the goal for this home? Are you retiring into it - the forever home where the grandkids will come visit? Or are you sick of paying rent and ready to actually own something? (I've been there. I get it.) Is this an income property - an Airbnb, a resort cabin, a campground build, a multi-unit? Are you planning to move elderly parents in, or build a launch pad for kids who just graduated and need somewhere to land for a few years? That's a really common one right now, by the way. Or maybe you have a clear vision for the house today but you need it to grow with you - additions, a future garage, an in-law suite down the road.
I'm not designing a home based on my vision. I'm designing yours. That's the whole point. And before I can do that, I need to know who you are and what you actually want your life inside this house to look like.
Bring me your Pinterest board. Seriously.
Bring me all of it. The screenshots you saved three years ago. The magazine pages your mom ripped out for you. The interior shots you keep coming back to. The exterior style you can't stop thinking about. None of it is too much. The more I see, the better I understand what you're drawn to - and patterns start to emerge that even you might not have noticed.
Then we start going room by room, and this is where it gets fun. Not just "we need a kitchen and three bedrooms." I want to know what life looks like in each space.
- Do you do yoga in the mornings? Where's the light coming from when you wake up? Let's put your bedroom on that side of the house and frame that view.
- Do you work from home? Where does your desk need to be so you actually feel like thinking big? Is it tucked into a quiet loft, or is it in front of a window looking out at the trees?
- How much storage do you really need? And what for - seasonal gear, hobbies, a workshop, a wine collection, holiday decorations?
- Are you a cook who needs an actual island and prep space, or is the kitchen more of a coffee-and-cereal situation with the real entertaining happening on the porch?
- Energy efficiency a priority? Let's talk insulation, window placement, solar orientation - we plan for that from day one, not as an afterthought.
- If it's a rental, who are you trying to attract? Couples looking for a romantic weekend? Families? Skiers? Hunters? That answer changes everything about layout and finishes.
- What's your land like? Mountain view? Lakefront? Wooded? Is the home itself the main attraction, or is the view the star and we're designing the house to frame it? Could you fit a tiny home elsewhere on the property as a rental while you live in the main house?
We go through the whole home together and I help you build a written bullet list of wants for every single room. That document becomes our roadmap. And we talk about budget - early, honestly, and openly - so I can help keep us realistic from the very beginning instead of designing something gorgeous that's twice what you wanted to spend.
You're not doing this alone
Here's where the team behind me kicks in. Once we've got your vision documented, we set you up with a complimentary call with the right design professional for your project - a designer, architect, or engineer, depending on what you're building. You'll be in direct contact with them throughout the process. We do most of these meetings over Zoom, which means it doesn't matter if you're an hour away or across the country - you're in the room, asking questions, weighing in on decisions, watching your home come together in real time.
And I'm there for every one of those calls. As your project manager, I'm your central point of contact through the entire design phase. I coordinate with the architects and engineers on your behalf, keep the timeline moving, handle revisions, and make sure nothing slips through the cracks. You get weekly progress updates so you always know where things stand.
If you're someone who loves the visual side - picking finishes, tile, lighting, cabinet stains, hardware - we can also connect you with our interior designer. Some clients want to drive that themselves; others want help visualizing how it all comes together. Either way works. There's no wrong answer.
What I want you to take from this
If you've been sitting on this dream for years because you don't know how to start - that's exactly what we're here for. You don't need to walk in with floor plans. You don't need to know what a ridge beam is. You don't need to have it all figured out. You just need to know enough about your own life to tell me what you want it to feel like. The rest is my job.
The Pinterest board you've been quietly building? That's already step one. You're further along than you think.
Let's dream it up together. To see more about the entire step-by-step process of designing a custom log home with our team, check out our Custom Design page.
📞 Ready to start? Reach out at 1-866-637-7462 or fill out the inquiry form on our Custom Design page. I'll take it from there.