Here we go!

I said I'd chronicle the construction of our timber frame home when we finally got to build it, and now it's time! Five or six years ago, my husband bought Jack Sobon's book Build a Classic Timber-Framed House, for the purpose of learning about timber framing as we hoped to someday build our own. At the time, we hadn't begun looking at plans, nor did we have a place to build one, but he's one to learn all he can before he does something, so we already had a collection of books on the subject. I saw the book lying around, glanced through it a little, and really liked what I saw. So did he, and so we had our plan!

With three preschoolers in tow, we began searching our area for a piece of property that met the criteria of being fairly close to work and having enough hardwood to get what we needed for the house. I'm convinced our place is just one more example of God's care in our lives. Just over ten acres, with about half covered in mature hardwoods, and the rest a mix of scattered stands and meadow, with a natural homesite near the center.

For practice and to get us out from under the monthly payment of our old home, my husband built a timber frame barn for us to live in on our property. That endeavor began with offering to take down trees for folks in exchange for the wood, studying timber frame texts as he finalized the blueprints, milling most of the beams himself, and then hauling everything 25 miles from home to the new place. I contributed lots of lunch plates and water bottles, and never failed to be amazed at his progress each time the kids and I drove over to see what he'd gotten done. The fact that his dad drove an hour one way several days a week to work alongside him made it that much cooler and special.

For three years, we've called the barn home, testing the truth in the old saying about being raised in a barn with our kids. So far, they still seem fairly civilized, but we're not out yet. The barn has been our chance to try out ideas and see what works and what doesn't. As the mom/head cook/housekeeper, to me it's represented the value and the challenge of decluttering and sizing down. As a wife, it represents the strength and intelligence and character of its builder. To our kids, it's been a chance to have a much greater role in interior design than they probably would have in our old, conventional home.

Last winter, with the help of his trusty 1950's tractor, my husband began cutting trees from our woods and dragging them up to the house site. We hired a local sawyer to bring his portable mill and crew to mill them into stacks of beams and planks and siding while we dug footings and poured cement and lay the brick for the piers. Around May, the notching began. That is just amazing to me to watch as my husband measures and lays out where each cut goes. We hit a temporary derailment when we found out our place is in the potential path of a potential highway. That kinda knocked the wind out of our sails till we got involved in the process. It's not over yet, but we've seen progress, and I'm thankful we live in a place where homeowners can have an input in the process. Anyhow, it'll be a house we can move even if it does come our way. A huge blessing during this time was forming friendships with several of our neighbors. Nothing like good neighbors.

We were able to hire this crew for a little help with the dirtwork. They didn't have much experience but were willing to work in exchange for some ice cream, bubble gum, and chocolate milk. Can't beat that these days.

The concrete pad here is the base for the wood masonry heater. My husband built one in our old home, and we were amazed at how well it worked. This house is designed with one in mind, so we're looking forward to some low winter heating bills.



Those stacks of wood are just waiting to be fit together!

Hauling the first batch over.

After waiting so long, this was a welcome sight!

So, here we are three years later, and after a gestation period of about nine months of cutting timber, milling it into beams, constructing the foundation, and then notching each beam precisely, last Wednesday, October 27, the first walls went up. Yes, I did get teary when that first wall fell into place so straight and tall.

We debated whether to have an old fashioned raising or hire a crew, but in the end, my husband decided to just tackle it head-on himself. His crew consisted of a 2-ton jack, a gin pole, lots of chains and pulleys, and a good bit of muscle and determination. As he worked, I prayed for safety and for everything to fit. It's a cool sound with those walls fall into place.

In the days to come, I hope to share a little of each step. We still have a long way to go, but I will say this--it's pretty amazing and humbling to see what we've tried to envision in our heads for years now actually taking shape in the form of beams and braces and pegs.