- A ranch-style log cabin is built on one level, not counting the basement. A ranch is longer than it is wide. This encourages the use of a central hallway. In a simple ranch, the bedrooms are located along either side of the hallway and a bathroom is at the end. The other end of the hall leads into a great room or living room. The kitchen and dining area often share one large space. Ranch-style log cabins of about 30-by-40 feet allow for three bedrooms. A 1,200 square foot cabin serves as an ample starter home.
- Capes or Cape Cods were the first European homes built in 1600s New England and have never lost their appeal. These are made with a smaller bottom floor that is close to a square. This home gains much of its bonus room capacity from the higher roof pitch. Capes may have a 7/12 roof pitch, whereas a ranch may be only 5/12 or 6/12. The increased roof pitch allows buyers the option of adding a second floor to the property without raising the roof later on. The addition to the layout offers an extra large bedroom and often another bath upstairs. Capes can be built on a basement or a concrete slab.
- America's saltbox style followed the Cape by around 1650. Still used today, this home features a taller back wall on the second floor. Thus the second floor has more height on one side without the full cost of raising the roof for a second floor. Inside the home on the second floor, the ceiling angles down with the pitch of the roof from the back of the house to the front, until it nearly meets the floor. Sometimes, the second floor is an open loft space. Alternately, this home's layout has two bedrooms upstairs and a second bath.
- The bungalow style has been around since the 1920s, but builders have only recently started building log cabins in this style. The Arts and Crafts home with a single large dormer above a heavily columned porch is well-suited to log cabins. Originally designed for summer vacation properties, the style reflects a greater emphasis on entertaining in the home. The built-in display cabinets or bookcases offer more storage options than other log cabin layouts. The bungalow house varies in size from large to small and typically has one floor. It features between two and four bedrooms.
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