Heartwood on the Road: South Carolina!

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

 of historic buildings and events that sustain the cultural heritage of the area. The frame will serve as the Farmstead’s future restrooms.

The class offered hands-on experience in traditional methods. Students completed a curriculum that included laying out joinery using the ‘square rule’ method developed in the early 1800s, comprehensive experience cutting mortise and tenon joinery with hand tools, and a variety of hand-raising techniques. Participants left with invaluable insights and both the knowledge and confidence needed to begin cutting their own timber-framed structures. 

Beyond developing timber framing skills, evening talks from industry experts provided inspiration for everyone in attendance. Those that shared advice and insights included George Morrison, a skilled timber framer; Dennis Marcom, President of the Heartwood School board; Neil Godden, Executive Director of the Heartwood School; and Stephen Morrison, owner of Moresun Timber Frames. The week concluded with a bonfire and dinner from a local BBQ restaurant, and a lasting sense of community that we hope will continue to be a fundamental part of all of our ‘On the Road’ courses.

The success of our first Heartwood on the Road course was made possible through the generous hospitality of Stephen Morrison and MoreSun Timber Frames, as well as our instructors Neil Godden and George Morrison, and all of our support staff.

Looking ahead, we are excited to announce plans for future ‘On the Road’ classes, extending the opportunity to attend Heartwood classes to students across the United States. While no more traveling classes are on the schedule for this season, keep an eye out for another South Carolina course in early 2025, and classes on the west coast next year!