Frame to Finish

The Heartwood School

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Frame to Finish

We purchased the 12’x16’ dutch cabin in the fall of 2023. Originally planned to be a garden shed / storage space, it has expanded into more of a “garden house” with an upstairs playroom for our 1-year old. Once we erected the structure on site we soon realized we had to do it justice with the finishing details and make the space as light filled and beautiful as possible.

While I have never taken a class at the Heartwood School, I have friends who have and put me in touch with the crew at Heartwood when one of the frames came up for sale. It seemed natural to put up a structure like this when we live in an 1800s farmhouse built with the same practices. I find it very fun to learn how they built the old New England Farmhouses like ours back in the 1800’s, and thinking about how they erected such large structures with hand hewn beams is mind boggling compared to modern day practices. We got a little taste for this when we used techniques to lift the top plates with a small crew and some ropes. Surprisingly easy!

We are not the type of people to have every detail planned out for

a project, so once we had the frame erected we could step back and figure out what we wanted it to look like. Taking some advice from Neil at Heartwood and watching lots of videos we decided to build an external wall to be able to insulate and keep the garden house cool in the summer so it will act as a flower studio for my wife’s flower business and it will also stay warm in order for her to start her

seeds indoors without taking up a lot of space in our house. Building the external wall also helps with running electricity through the building, so on cold winter days we can give our kid a fun place to play and stay warm and get out of our house for a bit.

The project is far from finished, and we are still trying to plan our countertop workspace, ladder system upstairs so our child can climb up to his playroom safely and also a sink and extra storage space. We have a long way to go on the finishing details but it’s one of those projects that comes together over time and allows us to find fun materials to work with. Speaking of which, our massive black windows came from a school in upstate New York that built the wrong size emergency exit windows. So I jumped on the opportunity when I saw this deal come up and just took the “Emergency Exit” pieces off the windows and they look great and add a ton of light into the structure showcasing the beautiful big beams.

All in all we are extremely happy with this student built structure. It gives us a greater

appreciation for how our house is constructed and helps us see the small details in the frame that are hand built by the students. We were also lucky enough to have two of Heartwood's apprentices come and help us erect the frame which made things go a lot smoother. I am hoping to take a 'Timber Framing' course from the school at some point in the next couple years to learn even more about the whole process and refine my skills as a very amateur builder.

Jeremy

Westhampton MA

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Two Heartwood apprentices working hard on raising day!

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Click below to learn more about purchasing a student-build Heartwood School Timber Frame and to find out which frames are currently available!

FRAME SALES

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Heartwood on the Road: South Carolina!

By Heartwood School • 15 Apr, 2024

Heartwood on the Road: South Carolina! This February, students raised the first Heartwood School frame of 2024, marking the end of the inaugural course in our Heartwood On the Road program. Hosted in collaboration with MoreSun Timber Frames, we took our one-week timber framing course from chilly New Hampshire to sunny South Carolina. Students from all over the United States, including as far away as Alaska and Hawaii spent the week learning to cut traditional wooden joinery with hand tools. Their hard work concluded in a hand raising of a 12’ x 16’ dutch-style frame at the Foothills Farmstead in Oconee County. The Foothills Farmstead is dedicated to historic preservation and will host a living living history farm and museum, with a variety

Small Frame - Huge Possibilities

By Mike Grinley • 26 Feb, 2024

Small Frame - Huge Possibilities As a home-based graphic designer, I really wanted to build my own studio. I wanted it to be beautiful, cost-effective, and something that was relatively quick to construct. After conferring with my friend, Neil Godden (Executive Director of the Heartwood School), he suggested I attend a 5-day timber framing workshop. I was able to purchase the student-built 12’ X 14’ frame, providing a quick and relatively inexpensive start to my project. I made a down-payment on the frame in April and began preparing for the September workshop. In order to raise the structure on my property in the fall, I needed to prepare a solid foundation. I prepared the site by clearing small trees and brush, followed by excavation of the top soil layer/earth. The space was filled with crushed stone and compacted to further stabilize the building site. I chose to construct the project on granite plinths, pouring 10 cement piers, one each for the 10 posts of my timber frame. The preparations were completed by laying 2” X 12” pressure-treated boards to receive the timber frame sills. The September workshop was a thrilling experience! I learned a great deal, had a lot of fun, and met a community of like-minded, truly talented friendly people. Shortly after, the frame arrived, and I had the raising in October. With the assistance of some hired help, we managed to work through the winter. We closed it in, insulated it, wired it, and added the finishing touches by mid-summer. Although it took a little longer than expected, I now spend every day in my studio, a space I absolutely love! Mike Grinley