Uniontown natives made dream come true with log home
The porch on the home wraps around to the back, where there is also a patio.
The Werners' living room is adorned with a large fireplace.
This log home in Greensburg was something Debbie and Tim Werner had always discussed building one day.
After spending about six decades in Uniontown, Debbie and Tim Werner tacked just north when a piece of property opened up that was calling their names.
Debbie explained that as their seventh grandchild was on the way, they wanted to be closer to their daughter in Greensburg. They also had longtime dream they hoped to fulfill.
“We always talked about having a log house someday. It’s one of those things, you get busy with life. It’s hard to make that change,” Debbie said.
Their dream home was finished in early 2018, with materials from the Ohio-based Hochstetler Log Homes.
The picturesque house caught the eye of editors at Log & Timber Home Living, which featured the Werners’ house in their November issue.
Log & Timber Home Living has been a resource for enthusiasts of log homes since 1982, providing ideas for décor and design, and construction advice.
“We were featured in the Hochstetler’s newsletter,” Debbie explained. “The Log & Timber people saw that and contacted us.”
Plans for the log house first came about in 2015. Some real estate friends came to the Werners with a tip about land in Greensburg.
“They said, ‘We have something we want to show you,'” Debbie said. “It’s just down the street from our daughter. You couldn’t ask for anything better.”
Debbie and Tim put an offer on the land the day it went on the market, but it almost slipped out of their hands.
“Another couple made an offer $100 more. They didn’t give us a chance to counter,” Debbie said.
Frustrated, Debbie made the declaration, “This is our property and I claim it!”
“That night, we got a phone call,” she said. “They backed out, and it was ours.”
Work on their dream home began in 2017. For construction, a crew of four from the Amish community in Smicksburg built the home.
“I used to do drafting work for a contractor,” Debbie said. “We can both draw. We picked out a basic floor plan we liked and made the changes.”
With a wraparound porch, a patio out back, and a fireplace in the living room, the Werners finally had what they used to only talk about.
“I wake up every morning and start down these steps and think, ‘Huh, this is mine.’ It’s just a cool house to wake up to every day,” Debbie said.
However, Uniontown is still never far from their minds.
“It’s just kind of cool after spending our lives in one place, and then being able to do this. Even that’s still always going to be home,” Debbie said.