Nearly 40 years ago, near Gregory Heights Elementary School, I shared a "peeler-log" home with a roommate. Designed and built by Bill Hines, the 680 square-foot, two-bedroom bungalow was perfect for a couple of bachelors with low paying jobs.

Bill lived next door with his wife Cora, she a retired school teacher in the Highline district.

He was a terrific landlord, always at the door on the 1st of the month with a smile. We got along well. He let me put a garden in the middle of the back yard.

I added a chicken coop. I even saved a couple of brown eggs for them each week.

The dog-run was special with a wire cable running from the corner of the house over to a tree in the back of the lot. I tied up my German Shepherd-Collie mix each morning when I left for work. Sadly "big dog" was struck by a truck the first day I let him off the cable for a bit of freedom. I didn't know he was trying to protect me from that over-sized four wheel monster coming around the corner.

For more than two years we enjoyed this unusual home made from the very ends of the trees placed on the lathe to create thin ply pieces to make plywood. The 8-inch logs are left over and sold off for a variety of uses. Bill found them desirable to create his log home around 1948.

Painted red and white with scalloped eaves, its smallish frame was concealed by an enormous hedge I once tried to trim with a machete. Bill advised me to stop before I hurt myself. I never attempted another trim.

When I left, it was approaching 15 feet high.

The lumpy yard was of little use for more than a pup tent if the weather was too warm. The tiny sidewalk extended from the double-poured driveway to the front porch with a slight curve.

Except for the attic space, the home was not insulated. With electric baseboard heat it was a requirement to wear a couple of sweaters or risk an inflated electric bill. We did use the fireplace pretty often; before those wax logs. We brought in firewood as needed.

Being young men, we had a few parties. Our lady friends thought the place was dirty, more than once offering to clean it. We didn't see the dirt.

Bill and Cora never once complained about our loud music or the great number of cars on the street and often in his driveway. Maybe because I volunteered to clear his walk and driveway every year it snowed.

For $105 a month we got running water, one toilet that iced over in winter and a single-car garage with a rickety latch and spring. We never parked inside. We kept our excess belongings neatly stored there.

Above the garage was the "second bedroom", an oddly shaped room where one could stand straight up only in the very center. The roof slope meant bumped noggins on mornings where I needed to get up early.

Fortunately I did not bump my head that often to the chagrin of my boss who wondered if I was coming in at all.

Alas, all things must change. Many renters later, and years after Bill and Cora passed on, the OLD LOG CABIN is no more. Brad Gehring of G-9 Construction purchased the property from Hines' daughter Marjean Weber last year.

This is good news for Burien. New construction-- his second home in the vicinity. Why here? "Burien is a great town," he'll tell you.

Greg is a guy with a good pedigree. He grew up in Burien, went to Highline High and later went into contracting with the granddad. Together they've built a score of custom homes in Des Moines and Burien.

This latest venture, designed by Brad's wife Tina, will feature 4 bedrooms in a two-story home. At over 2,400 square-feet, this two-story beauty should fit well on the nearly 9,000 square-foot lot. The permits were in place a month ago when razing began on the cabin.

Brad is a qualified engineer and knows the dirt. He removed the debris, reset the lot lines and has dug the ground to foundation level.

By late spring he'll have this beauty up and ready for visitors if he doesn't sell it first. He's had a lot of interest with a price point in the mid $400K.

We're just wondering if his excavation crew found that stack of old beer kegs behind the chicken coop. And we left our Kirby vacuum in the closet. It was in mint condition (hardly used).