Work is Love Made Visible

In the American timber framing tradition, much of the work involves cutting standardized joinery. With good instruction and supervision, a group of relative beginners can cut, assemble, and raise a frame in short order. So many of the barns we see in New England today were historically raised with crowds. We have now rediscovered how much fun our forebears had in putting these wonderful structures together. The sense of shared accomplishment following a hand-raising is truly palpable.

Josh Jackson has been teaching timber framing workshops for close to twenty years. This background brought him together with David Hooke for the 2002-2003 Mountain School Barn project, out of which TimberHomes was born. Thus, from the outset, TimberHomes has worked on these sorts of projects in which we provide the design, instruction and project management resources to allow a group to build together. We take on community projects ranging from simple outdoor pavilions to far more complicated buildings. If your town, church, school or business has been looking for a way to bring people together to accomplish something amazing, please be in touch.

Cows in the pen of a timber frame barn

Mountain School Three Story Cow Barn

Monteverde Friends Meeting House

 Timberframe workshop at Moosilauke - Class of 1966 bunkhouse. (Photo by David Kotz '86.)

Moosilauke Ravine Lodge Bunkhouse Builds

 A group of people raise a section of a timber frame building into the air

Moosilauke Crew Cabin

 Beautiful art is hung up inside a post and beam barn in Central Vermont

Farm and Wilderness Day Camp Arts Barn

Brevard Horse Barn Workshop

 A group of volunteers gather in front of the bread oven and shelter they just built

Vershire Bread Oven Pavilion

 Two men in front of a timber frame raising

Friends and Partners of TimberHomes Vermont

Workshops and Events

Timber Framing Class with Josh

  • May 6, 2016 - May 11, 2018
  • Yestermorrow Design/Build School, Warren, VT

Experience the fundamentals of designing and constructing a timber frame using mortise and tenon joinery. Students will learn layout techniques, tool use and sharpening, and joinery cutting methods as we work on a small timber frame project, culminating in a raising on the final day. Evening lectures will address the history of the craft, finishing techniques, and mechanical systems for timber frame houses. We will also cover frame design, joinery choices, and integration of frame and house design. This course will focus on traditional hand-cut joinery and tools and will also demonstrate some of the power tools used by modern timber framers. Learn More and Register »

Scribed Timber Framing with Josh

  • June 18- June 22, 2018
  • The Heartwood School, Washington, MA

Scribing is an art as much as a craft, requiring a good eye and a steady hand. It involves laying out and transferring joinery intersections from one timber to another using plumb bobs, levels and marking devices instead of tape measures and math. This traditional method is useful for incorporating out of square, curved or oddly shaped pieces into a timber frame as well as for complex roofs. Learn More and Register »

Moosilauke Class of '78 Bunkhouse

  • May 21-26th
  • Moosilauke Ravine Lodge

This will be our fifth timber framing workshop working with an alumni class of Dartmouth College to build a bunkhouse at the Moosilauke Ravine Lodge in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Check out some of the other bunkhouse projects on our Community Buildings pages. Visit Bunkhouse Projects of Past Years »

Timber Framing Class with Shannon

  • 8/26/2016 - 9/1/2018
  • Yestermorrow Design/Build School, Warren, VT

Same as above course at Yestermorrow. Learn more and register »