Made in Finland, Assembled in U.S.A

Daniel Friedlander, who owns Limn, a high-design furniture company with showrooms in San Francisco and Sacramento, has spent two years trying to develop a modular housing system to sell to his customers. But while looking into production in Finland, where centuries-old log cabins dot the countryside, he got another idea: he would offer a made-to-order log cabin evoking humbler times. It is based on traditional Finnish cabins and will be manufactured by a family-owned lumber company in eastern Finland. The pine logs are planed, notched by hand and fitted together without nails or other hardware, and the finished product is square, with a small porch and a gabled roof. The cabins have zinc roofs and come in various sizes and finishes. (The exterior of the prototype, which is 20 by 20 feet, is stained green. An iron oxide treatment gives the interior a weathered look.) They start at $85,000, which covers airfare for two Finnish craftsmen to do the assembly; their wages and the cost of any plumbing, electrical or mechanical work must be borne by the buyer.