timber frame Archives - Page 3 of 6

Livable Furniture: Wood Frame Houses Built into Chair Bases

Posted on May 28, 2015 by Jeff Easterling

Fine furniture craftsmanship, stick frame construction and out-of-the-box recycling come together in cool sculptural creations by woodworker and artist Ted Lott. Old chairs, reduced to the bare bones of their frames, become the unlikely foundations for miniature houses, the pieces all fitting together with incredible precision.

Look closely at the flat fronts of these miniatures and you’ll find all of the architectural details you’d expect to find on a full-scale version of the same homes: gables, balustrades, balconies and rough openings for windows and doors. But the back sides, adapted to fit the shapes of the chairs, feature unexpected curves and angles.

The chairs are reclaimed antiques, and Lott crafts the little houses in pine. The concept for the series was inspired by the material of wood itself, putting its most common usage in a new light.

“When viewing woodworking in the context of objects made with wood; housing, particularly stick frame construction, emerges as possibly the most widespread use of the material throughout the modern world,” says the artist.

Beautiful White Pine Gambrel Barn-Style Home by Vermont Timberworks

Posted on August 28, 2014 by Jeff Easterling

Inspired by gambrel barns, a classic rural silhouette favored by American dairy farmers during the 20th century, this Eastern White Pine timber frame home has a classic New England country feel with beautiful details like the twin glassed cupolas rising from the roof. Vermont Timber Works collaborated with contractor Mark Jupiter to create this hand-hewn spec house located in Hunter, New York.

The house is “cut from native material and hewn the old-fashioned way with an adze and slick,” explains Vermont Timber Works. The project uses traditional wood joinery. The warm, welcoming feeling captured on the exterior continues inside, where the rustic white pine beams are paired with contemporary cabinetry.

Interested in seeing how this project came together? Vermont Timber Works offers downloadable files including plans, profiles and details, and even a rotatable 3D image of the frame.

“Pine is a very stable wood,” says the company of this particular wood choice. “It has a good straight grain, can be easily stained, planes well, and is a great wood for hand hewing. Because it is less expensive than douglas fir, it is often used for residential timber frames.”

This Week in Wood: UK Sees Huge Surge in Timber Frame Demand

Posted on August 15, 2014 by Jeff Easterling

Timber frame construction is in the news in a big way this week with reports of skyrocketing demand in the UK. Last year, a report by MTW Research predicted that timber frame architecture would see a 60% increase in sales volume and an 80% increase in value. Now, so many home builders are inquiring about the building style in Britain that a timber association is offering a free RIBA-acredited seminar and factory tour.

Stewart Milne Timber Systems reports a “surge in demand for timber frame and a rising interest in the benefits of offsite construction”, with group managing director Alex Goodfelow saying, “We’ve seen a significant increase in enquiries from housebuilders looking to capitalize on the current market upturn through improved cost efficiencies and speed of build.”

Meanwhile, timber frame architecture will form the backbone of the UK’s first carbon zero eco town, called North West Bicester. The same firm offering the seminar has been awarded the design order to build an initial phase of 393 homes, with the timber systems prefabricated off-site for better environmental performance and a faster build.

“Timber frame is the most energy-efficient building material available and therefore is a perfect fit for NW Bicester’s design as the UK’s first eco town,” says Goodfellow.

Custom White Pine Timber Frame Home in New York by Woodhouse

Posted on July 31, 2014 by Jeff Easterling

Set against contrasting painted walls, the beams of this Eastern White Pine timber frame house in New York really shine. The 3600-square-foot home, which blends contemporary and rustic design styles, highlights the frame and other built-in white pine elements like shelving, doors, benches and cabinetry.

Pennsylvania-based builder Woodhouse got its start in 1979 focusing on passive solar design, using the path of the sun to naturally heat and cool a home, in response to the energy crisis of the time.

While the focus eventually shifted to timber frames, Woodhouse is still dedicated to environmentally responsible structures.

That makes Eastern White Pine a natural choice for many of the company’s homes, resorts and other buildings. Find out more about what makes this wood type so ideal in terms of strength, value, versatility and sustainability.

Moonstone Timber Frame: Full-Round Log Cabins Made of Eastern White Pine

Posted on May 15, 2014 by Jeff Easterling

Originating in Northern Europe, one of the oldest and most rustic form of log homes is known as round log ‘full scribe,’ a chinkless method of construction that uses wool or other soft materials to insulate between logs that fit together like puzzle pieces. The techniques used to build these homes are thousands of years old, but combining this ancient craftsmanship with modern cutting and shaping tools enables faster and more economical construction.

Some builders, however, still hand-craft the logs, cutting them with chainsaws but hand-scribing them and finishing them with hand tools. These logs are naturally-shaped and smoothly-peeled before being custom-fitted to one another. Saddle-notch corners help retain a tight fit between the logs as the home settles after construction.

Many log cabin builders offer round log full scribe construction as an option, and the wood of choice for these structures is nearly always Eastern White Pine. That’s because it’s renewable, sustainable, and remarkably easy to work with.

The end result is a home durable enough to stand for centuries, brimming with handcrafted charm. The structures pictured here were built by Moonstone Timber Frame, an Ontario company building custom timber frame log homes and cottages.

Timber Frame Twist: Contemporary British Interpretation of Rustic Classic

Posted on May 8, 2014 by Jeff Easterling

What do you get when you cross American rustic pine timber frame architecture with traditional British sensibilities? The Wishanger Lodge, built on an old farming estate in Surrey, England, is the answer. When the mother and daughter owners purchased the property, it was little more than a collection of dilapidated sheds and stables. But they envisioned a barn-style home that took its inspiration from American timber frame structures with lots of exposed beams and warm pine siding.

The duo worked with Timberpeg Homes UK and Elspeth Beard Architects to create the rustic yet refined home of their dreams, with an open plan, airy interior full of vaulted ceilings and cathedral-like spaces. One of Timberpeg’s technical staff from America flew in to supervise the erection of the frame, which is made from sustainable Grade A eastern white pine.

The interior cladding has been left unpainted to show off the gorgeous post and beam frame. While most American timber frame homes are complemented with rustic-contemporary, lodge-style interiors, the owners of the Wishanger chose swirling metal staircases andcontrasting gray tile.

Explains Elspeth Beard Architects, “The design was very different from the usual house the Americans at Timberpeg had built before, especially the open gallery bathroom in the master bedroom. The timber frame was shipped directly from the USA to site and erected in just three days; within a month they had completed a weatherproof shell.”