Timber Frame

Robinia a Tiny House Case Study

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Sharon Bagatell and Dennis Hoffarth combine permaculture principles with passion for the planet in Robinia, a tiny house case study in pioneering an ecologically sustainable lifestyle for the future.

Permaculture is way of life that integrates all dimensions of the human condition into a collaborative whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. Practitioners weave a rich tapestry of systems for building, growing food, earning income and nurturing relationships with one another that enhance functionality and multiply our joys while meeting everyone’s needs. It is a lifestyle rooted in ethics that promote reciprocal partnerships between humankind and our environment that are based on care rather than exploitation. The endgame is an abundant world where everyone can enjoy a high quality of life, wherein our problems are solved in the garden instead of on the battlefield.

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Timber Framed Shed

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timber frame tiny house

by David Stiles A New York Times writer once asked an Amish farmer, “Why did you build your barn walls five feet thick when you only needed to make them one foot thick?” The farmer’s simple answer was, “Why not?” The same question could be asked of anybody considering timber-framing … Read more

Build Locally with Roundwood Timber Framing

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local timber frame

Dimensional lumber — 2x4s, 2x6s, etc., are about as ubiquitous as suburban sprawl is in America. (Maybe there’s some kind of relationship there..?) 2x4s are an industrial product, only becoming a dominant building material in the last century. As priorities have shifted to speed, uniformity, and ease of production, more … Read more

Small Timber Frame House Plans and Workshop

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Brian Liloia also known as Ziggy to his friends and well known for his cob house, which I have covered in the past here on the Tiny House Blog, is building a new home using a timber frame structure.

The house, code named Strawtron, is designed to be a passive solar, straw bale-insulated house using timber frame as the main structure.

The interior living area is 13 ft x 24ft which is about 300 square feet, it also has a loft and a green house area that is used to bring in passive solar heating.

Brian is making the small timber frame house plans available for free.

As a side note if you would like to help build this house Dancing Rabbit is offering a Natural Building Workshop in the summer of 2012. This includes two workshops one a Timber Frame Workshop and the second a Straw Bale Workshop. Only 12 spaces are available so click here to learn more and to apply.

P.S. Ziggy just sent me the full details so I am including them below.

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10′ x 12′ Timber Frame

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by Jon Anderson

Over the years, I’ve built a few log structures and along the way, timber framing got into my blood. I love the beams, the posts, and the tight fitting joints made by a builder using mortise and tenon.

I remember the first time I viewed the clean lines of a timber frame structure. The frame was draw pinned together with Red Oak pegs that were cut by hand on a shaving horse—I was hooked. And, for framing, you don’t need fancy or high-tech tools—framing square, hand saw, chisel, and auger bit have performed quite well for hundreds of years.

When I decided to build a timber frame, I was clueless in regards to technique. Of course, like always, this didn’t stop me. Normally, I just plod blindly ahead (or in the case of the TV remote—I just mash every button randomly on the four separate remotes that are clearly critical to the operation of my cable system—something is bound to happen). However, in this case I decided to at least gain a basic understanding of the process, as there is a certain liability associated with handing big heavy things, like timbers. So, I read a few books that described traditional timber framing techniques and I took a framing class at the North House Folk School in Grand Marais, Minnesota.

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Diana’s Innermost House

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Guest Post by Diana Lorence

*New photos added below of loft, kitchen and bathroom

This is Innermost House, my home in the coastal mountains of Northern California. It is the latest of many very small houses my husband and I have occupied over twenty-five years, all for the same reason–to make possible a simple life of reflection and conversation. I am delighted now to be a part of Kent’s public conversation with others who share my love of tiny houses, and I’m grateful to Michael Janzen of Tiny House Design for introducing us.

 

Innermost House is about twelve-feet square. It faces directly south beneath an open porch that shelters our front door. A hill rises to the north behind us and the forest lies all around. The house encloses five distinct rooms: to the east is a living room eleven feet deep by seven feet wide by twelve feet high; to the west the house is divided into kitchen, study, and bathroom, each approximately five feet wide by three feet deep, with a sleeping loft above the three of them, accessible by a wooden ladder we store against the wall.

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Tiny Timber Frame Update

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I’ve been wanting to do an update on Ian’s timber frame tiny house that he has been building in Worcester, Massachusetts.  You can view the original post here and get Ian’s story. Ian has been building the house in a firehouse building and just moved it to its permanent location. Here is what Ian says:

I just finished moving my house from my shop at the Firehouse to a spot in the woods on the other side of the city. There is still work to do before I move into it, but it is a huge relief to have finished the move. There are many pictures and a short video of the first part of the move on my blog

Tiny House Moving Day (Ode to teamwork) from pvander on Vimeo.

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Seattle’s Timber Frame FabCab

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Logan, Tammy Strobel’s from the Rowdy Kittens blog husband brought this new company to my attention recently. I have been in touch with Maura a partner in the business to learn more about this unique timber frame pre-fab product.

FabCab designs and sells pre-fabricated and kit-built environmentally-friendly homes and accessory dwelling units (ADUs).

Maura says: “We launched our company in March and we have had an outpouring of support and interest in our products. We are passionate about designing environments that marry “green” design, design that supports people with a range of ages and abilities and prefab design. Therefore, our environments are designed to be flexible, open and easy to use and live in.”

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Sustainable Hand Hewn Timber Frame

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One of my google alerts brought this beautiful timber frame to my attention. From a craigslist listing from the New Salem, Massachusetts area. You can own this beautiful hand hewn timber frame, modeled after Thoreau’s cabin at Walden pond.

With a footprint of 10’ x 15’ this timber frame would be perfect for an artist studio, shed or other small out-building. All the major members were sustainably harvested.

The frame is mixed species by bent (Oak, Maple, and mixed Pine) utilizing an English tying joint. The sill is rot-resistant white oak. The company that constructed the frame is White Oak Timber Frame & Construction and the price they are asking for the frame is $5500.

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dwelle dwelle.ings

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These tiny prefab homes, originally created as “sheds for living” by architect, Richard Frankland, have morphed into the company dwelle. Their tiny houses are called dwelle.ings. Right now they are only for sale in the UK, but with the world’s response to the current economic climate, that may change.

This range of carefully designed micro buildings are highly sustainable, quick to erect and adaptable to many landscapes. The intent for each building is to be completely off-grid with additional costs added to incorporate renewable energy systems.

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