Hello Spider and all, this is my first post. I'll post an intro next but couldn't help wanting to make a suggestion here.

Spider I am about to buy a house in the Alentejo but we very seriously considered building a log house and in fact are putting in planning request to do just this.

I discovered that 800ml white cedar is almost indestructible and looks amazing. This stuff is in Costa Rica, Hawai, Cyprus, Greece and many other hot regions. Anyway here's the good bit. ............

Typical 3000 sq feet build for around 75,000 Euro, Built in 8 weeks and when I spoke with the planning department in Odemira they 'suggested' this might not need planning permission and were looking into it.

Just an out of the box thought. These houses have stood for 300 years in Northern Europe. If you want I can pass more info by e-mail.


Good Luck