The Town of Vershire, Vermont has been something of a hotbed of volunteerism in recent years, and a number of local bakers had the idea to build a central community oven as is the style in so many parts of the world. When Top Hat Chimney Sweep, a local chimney/masonry company, offered to donate all the materials and labor to build the actual oven, we at TimberHomes could see that the time was right to pool the town resources to make this a true community gathering place.
Dale Ricker, a local carpenter-cum-production-professional revealed that he had a garage half full of pine and spruce timbers for a barn that he had never built. A close inventory led to a design to exploit virtually every scrap of what was there. Mike Gendron, our go-to-sawyer, offered to re-saw the wood to the sizes needed at no charge. Thrasher Construction offered free site work and the first of five loads of donated gravel for the base. Carroll Concrete donated the concrete for the piers, Ward’s Construction supervised the formwork and pouring, Ridgewind Engineering donated the special tie-down post-foot brackets, Tilden Electric donated all electrical work. Flint Blake and Boles Roofing donated the standing seam roof. A fine all-day raising got the frame up and decked. Total cash outlay for the project was $700, and came from VerShare, a community organization.
The building was inaugurated in the spring of 2010 and has become a centerpiece of Vershire’s Town Center. Vershire’s bakers keep it humming. The building design was copied as an outdoor classroom at the Crossroads Academy in Lyme, NH, in the fall of 2011.
The pavilion design is simple, yet robust in keeping the structure well tucked in deep under the eaves to prevent moisture damage. It could serve a variety of community uses. If you or your community needs an outdoor kitchen, this design could do the trick.
