Tradition
Branching out from a sturdy foundation
What does it take to endure, to create legacy and tradition?
In home building and design, some may argue the keys are timeless design; nailing a coveted niche; employing craftsmen capable of carving dreams; and using a product that’s at once resilient and beautiful.
And they’d be right.
“Our success is based on two unique fundamentals: Our Northern White Cedar, and our northern Michigan craftsmen who can do great things with it,” said Steve Biggs, co-founder of Town & Country Cedar Homes and current Chairman of the Board.
Northern White Cedar is the bedrock of the Petoskey company that has built thousands of homes around the U.S. and the globe. Its durability and elegance have set a benchmark that other home builders can’t reach without putting in their due diligence in time and resources.
“White Cedar’s not found in the lumber yard,” Biggs said. “You have to go to the woods to get it.”
Since 1947, Town & Country’s lumber harvesters and mill operators have reached into those recesses—pockets of acreage in the Upper Peninsula and around northern Michigan—and culled the most choice white cedar timbers.
The haul is returned to the company’s own mill in Boyne Falls, where custom carving tools are often employed to turn four walls into a homeowner’s broader vision. And that can be anywhere from Michigan to Maine, Colorado to the Caribbean.
“We wanted the old-fashioned look of a true log home, but with the weather conditions here and the maintenance, the half-log lended itself really well to that,” said a Town & Country log homeowner in northern Wisconsin.
The family of six chose a wooded setting for a sprawling seven-bedroom, six-and-a-half bath stunner that serves as a year ‘round getaway from their home in Indiana. Half-log inside and half-log out allowed the family the flexibility of a rustic-looking estate while providing comfort in the cooler northern climate. insulation in between the logs is concealed with the construction that includes the classic log-home chinking inside and out.
“I love the feel of log, I love the ambiance,” the homeowner said.
Because the family lives full-time in Indiana, and with the project headed by Town & Country in northern Michigan, the firm’s Wisconsin Regional Director took an exceptional material package and created the client’s spectacular wooded getaway.
Despite the distance, Town & Country’s reputation for customer service and meeting deadlines spanned the miles.
“We looked at different companies and we chose Town & Country for the way the company uses white cedar,” the homeowner added. “it is insect-resistant, kiln-dried, and the shrinkage is very little. We were very impressed with that fact alone, and then we learned more about the people and the process. We were impressed.”
So impressed that the family even chose to use white cedar to construct a dock at the lake on the property.
“It’s going to last in the water forever,” she added.
‘Tradition of Excellence’
The durability of white cedar rises to the fore time and again. Back in Biggs’ office, he takes the opportunity to show a chunk of the wood that rests on a shelf. It was sent to him from a client on Grand Cayman Island, sawed from a pile of white cedar building materials that remained buried in back yard brush on the island for some 30 years.
It’s still intact, despite decades and downpours, as is the man’s home, built in the late 1970s and at the time one of the only wooden homes on the island (most were cement to withstand the weather conditions). Town & Country shipped all the home’s components and built onsite, and now, three decades later, the structure stands as a testament to the company’s tradition of excellence and again, to the white cedar, Biggs said.
“If that was any other species of wood,” he adds, “it would not exist any longer.” 
The white cedar has also proven its flexibility for the firm, allowing Town & Country to continue its tradition of excellence in building log homes and country cabin designs, but also branching into innovative architectural concepts with its inhouse architect and designers.
Floor plans span cozy cottages to expansive estates, comfortable family environments to cabins on the lake. Log, timber style, rustic, elegant, cottage style, craftsman, Victorian and hybrid styles span the continuum in between. New design elements are initiated regularly by the creative minds at Town & Country; birch bark and twig add Adirondack elements, flared posts and corners, custom doors and trusses give homes a one-of-a-kind ambiance.
As the second-oldest log home company in the United States, the company’s experience in crafting traditional wooden homes, and its foresight in forging new design concepts, will suit a new generation of Town & Country homeowners.
“Reinvention cannot leave behind the fundamental strengths from which the business was founded,” Biggs said. “The further back you can look, the further ahead you can see.”
Deep roots, new branches
Since 1947, the employees of Town & Country have harvested, milled and built cedar homes of unparalleled craftsmanship and award-winning architecture. founded by partners Bernie Kondrat and Ben Organek, Boyne Falls Log Homes evolved into Town & Country Cedar Homes in the late 1970s, when successors Steve Biggs and Bob Kinney, along with other investors, broadened the company’s building opportunities.
Today, the company’s cedar products sawmill produces finely crafted products for the log and timber new-home builder or remodeling project. Northern Michigan Construction Services will build from a homeowner’s design or develop a custom layout for the client. An on-staff architect, architectural designers, a structural engineer, drafters, plus a sales team, warranty & service staff, and core corporate leaders ensure the various branches of Town & Country work in tandem on each custom home project.