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.

For my first project, I decided a 10’ x 12’ timber framed shed would give me the opportunity to learn timber framing techniques and provide additional storage at the house (although now that the shed is complete, I still can’t get a car in the garage).

My normal approach to building is “wing it” which works fine for log cabin building where “close enough” and “moose hair” are appropriate units of measurement. For timber framing, a plan of some sort is required. I opted to learn Google SketchUp with Timber Frame Rubies and then used this software to work up my plan.

Because I have a small TimberKing 1220 sawmill at the hand-scribed cabin I built up near Hinckley, Minnesota. I decided to cut the timbers and haul them home. Maybe not the best approach because the cabin and sawmill are quite a few miles back in the woods. Cutting and hauling the timbers was certainly an adventure—an adventure that is otherwise known as Reindeer Games.

I cut the frame in my garage over the winter of 2010-2011. Well, actually, I cut parts over the winter and cut parts in the spring and cut parts a bit into the fall, too. Things never go exactly as planned. Then, in the fall, I recruited my brother, Petey, and we spent two days raising the frame.

After we got the frame installed, it didn’t take long to install the roof (twice), install the windows and door, and install the board and batten siding.

Overall, I was very pleased with the result and I certainly learned a great deal about timber framing that I can apply to my next project.

[View with PicLens]

12►

*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.

The living room is the heart of the house. It is where my husband and I spend most of our time, and where we receive our guests. On the east wall of the room is a small fireplace set a foot above the floor, with a hearth extension of bricks projecting a foot and a half into the room. On the west side is a wall of books four feet wide and seven feet tall. Between these walls of hearth and books, our two low chairs sit facing each other a couple of feet apart. Everything about the space is conceived to make a harmony of conversation possible.

I know that sounds strange in a world where conversation seems to go on all the time every day. But pause for a moment and try to remember the single most moving and meaningful conversation you ever had. Perhaps it was with your mother or father in days long past, or with your husband or wife when you were first in love. Perhaps it was when you said goodbye to someone for the very last time.

Now, how would you design, build and furnish a place so that those conversations could happen every day? That is the question we asked of every detail of Innermost House, and we are still asking it.

The fireplace is where our conversation begins, just as it began a million years ago when human language and domesticated fire were born together. The fireplace is the original tiny house. After all, what is a cave or a tipi or a wigwam but a big, enclosing fireplace? The fire is our link with the wild. Gazing into the fire seems to release our dream life into words.

The books complete the circle of conversation on the other side. They are our link with the world. All of our books have been carefully chosen over the years as contributing something essential to the Innermost Life. It is strange that it was not until I saw them all together, illuminated by the fire at Innermost House, that I realized nearly every one was first written by firelight. In some way they represent the last light cast from that first fire at the mouth of a cave.

We do not have electricity or power of other kind, so we warm the cabin and cook our food and heat our water for bathing all over the fire. Our firewood comes of local orchard prunings that would otherwise be burned as waste in the field. In the summer we cook over coals and wash with cold water. We light our home with beeswax candles. After examining all the options, we installed a conventional septic system, though we use very little water.

The house is of mixed post and beam and stick construction. Our floor is of yellow pine tongue & grove planks, our ceiling of fir planks and rafters and beams. Our interior walls are of plain white lime plaster applied by hand over blue board. The exterior walls are clad in rough-sawn redwood board and batten. The roof is of cedar shakes. Both the redwood and the cedar are naturally resistant to rot, fire, and insects–all important considerations in the woods. The house is constructed of natural, simple materials, with a lot of care taken to render them neat and plain.

Real wood, real plaster. The real things really do make a difference, at whatever sacrifice they must be had. It’s worth waiting and saving for if you can.

The building project required the better part of a year for two men working part time. A good deal of that time was spent in familiarizing ourselves with the traditional building language of the region. We would have built a rather different house in New Mexico or Massachusetts or Virginia. My husband always limits himself to the vernacular of a region so that, as he says, nature can have a hand in the building.

This kind of life has been made possible for us by living in partnerships of one kind or another over the years, often in guest houses. We have moved many times, and have never owned a home. My husband is a private confidant and friend to people in public positions. Men come to him for the special kind of conversation he makes possible. Innermost House was built for us on the land of such a partner and friend. Many local building ordinances allow for small guesthouses.

I have loved our small houses, and I love Innermost House most of all. There are many reasons for wanting to live in a tiny house. A simple life of high conversation is my reason. I could not live any other way. Visit another post by Diana here.

Diana Lorence is an inspirational speaker on the pleasures of the Simple Life. Innermost House was designed by Diana’s husband, Michael Anthony Lorence. More photographs of Innermost House and stories of Diana’s life in the woods may be seen by visiting her website www.wordsfromthewoods.com.

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.

.

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.”

There are many uses for FabCab cabins including a home, guest house, home office, writer’s or artist’s studio, caregiver’s residence, in-law apartment, rental unit or a cabin on a vacation property.

FabCab utilizes a machine milled and pre-cut timber-frame structure which can be sent as a kit of parts (including the frame, wall panels, doors, windows, siding, as well as finishes and fixtures) to a customer’s building site, and erected / built by a licensed contractor. The noticeable quality of timber-frame construction sets these cabins apart from other kits and pre-fabricated structures on the market.

Ranging in size from 300-1800 square feet. My favorite is the 550 square foot model featured in the photos of this post. FabCab just placed their first home in Brewster, Washington and Maura shared a few of the photos of the completed home with us. To learn more visit the FabCab website and if you live in the area stop by and visit them and share your thoughts with me. Although not listed on the website,  I found a price on the Press Kit brochure they sent me for the 1 Bedroom 550 s.f.: Exterior Package $48,500 and Interior Package $33,000.

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.

If I lived in New England, I would be very tempted to buy this myself as timber framing is one of my favorite types of building construction and this size is perfect for a small cabin or tiny house.

Photo Credits: White Oak Timber Frame

Tree

Hewing

Temporary foundation

Side View

Finishing touches

The commander in action

The top

Joints

Hand Hewn Frame

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.

The two dwelle.ings that are available for full-time living are the big dwelle.ing and the little dwelle.ing. The big dwelle.ing is 6.7 meters by 3.5 meters (22×11.5 feet or 253 square feet) and costs around £35,000-£50,000 ($52,000-$75,000). The little dwelle.ing is 4.9 meters by 2.65 meters (16×9.5 feet or 152 square feet) and costs around £20,000-£35,000 ($30,000-$52,000).

Each dwelle.ing is built with timber frames and can be entirely prefabricated in a factory and delivered to your site, or the separate components can be delivered and assembled on site. Each house takes about 6-8 weeks to build and they are small enough for two people to assemble with no large machinery needed. Exterior siding can be customized for your location and each house can be placed on different types of foundations.

Each dwelle.ing is created with these features in mind:

• high quality design
• environmental sustainability
• healthy internal environment
• affordability
• versatile, adaptable and easily deliverable

The layout of the dwelle.ing is extremely efficient and compact, yet provides a spacious feeling with a double height space over the main living area. Directly over the kitchen and shower room is a double bed deck with ample storage and hanging space for clothes. To maximize storage, an inner “sleeve” has been designed that incorporates cut-outs for furnishings and fittings, and elsewhere provides plenty of storage space. This inner lining also contributes to the buildings excellent thermal performance. The timber framed walls, floor and roof are insulated using cellulose fiber extracted from 100% recycled newspapers. The windows are all double glazed, and each dwelle.ing is heated by electric underfloor heating with the option of a real wood burning fireplace.

By Christina Nellemann for the [Tiny House Blog]

I think that you will agree with me that you will want to follow along as he gets busy this spring so I think now is a good time to share Ian’s build with you. I’ll let Ian tell you more about his project.

Several years ago, a friend of mine showed me the Tumbleweed House site. I loved the idea of living a more sustainable, compact and cheap lifestyle by living in a small house. I immediately started sketching out floor plans for the way I would build a house. At first these plans were just a creative escape for me while I was trying to focus on my engineering classes. I returned to it again and again throughout the next two years of school. It seemed like a great way to apply my love of design and building to something practical that would benefit me and others for a long time.

Immediately after college, I attended a two-week timber framing workshop at Fox Maple School of Traditional Building in Brownfield, Maine. After this workshop, I knew that I actually wanted to build this little house, and I wanted it to be timber framed. My idea for the project became more cohesive. It would be built out of materials salvaged from existing buildings, or at least manufactured locally on a small scale. Influenced by the ideas of the Arts and Crafts Movement during the early 20th century, I want as much of the house and the things in it to be built by myself or by people who I have actually met and who put care and thought into their work. Like many of the other small houses I have seen, this one will also be somewhat mobile since I don’t have a long term location for it.

Anyway, check out the blog if you want to learn more about the project! I am hoping to move into it this spring so there should be a flurry of activity over the next few months. Visit the Little House Blog.

You can learn more by watching the video below and by visiting the Jamaica Cottage Shop website.

Pennypincher is introducing their own pre-cut timber frame buildings. One is featured in this post and the details follow below.

Nearly complete! Our buildings are designed to accept most types of siding and the cedar lap siding came from a local mill. Pennypincher’s rustic wood windows fit neatly in the dormers. Glass door blanks are installed both fixed and operable to create a wall of windows.

Pennypincher’s pre-cut timber frames can be purchased as the frame only and finished out with your own recycled or purchased materials. We can also design any of our kits using the pre-cut timber frame, shell kit materials and our custom drafted design engineered plans.

Details:

• 196 Square Foot Moutainberry Cabin Kit
• 6’ Shed Dormers, designed for future loft
• Pressure Treated Wood Foundation
• Pre-Cut Timber Frame ~ 4 x 4 Roseburg Eased Edge Timber
• Douglas Fir T&G Roof
• Locally Cut Cedar Lap Siding

The timbers were pre-cut at our shop in Rochester, Washington.

The small Mountainberry is 14′ x 16′ and is 196 square feet (because it narrows up at the prow).
You can get it with a 14′ x 12′ loft but they opted for “loft ready” on the one in the pictures. When the loft is added we include both the loft and a pull down stair.

Basic Shell Kit Price in Timber Frame $4,499

As shown with upgrades: (pressure treated wood foundation & flooring system 2 x 6 T&G roof sheathing, (2) 6′ Shed dormers, (2) triangular front and (4) wood dormer windows, sub-siding & house wrap) $7,939. Owner supplied gravel, door blanks & local milled cedar lap.

A footing was dug and the pressure treated wood foundation was buried and back filled with a load of 5/8” minus gravel and the wood flooring system was installed.

Next, up goes the frame which has been pre-drilled and will be secured using a special lag bolt screw that is super strong and has a great rustic finish.

Next goes on a layer of sub-siding. Our timber frame kits are design so that there is a space between the timber frame and the sub-siding. This is so that you can easily slip your interior wall finish, like T&G pine, behind the frame leaving your timbers exposed.

Material upgrades are available. On this cabin the roof sheathing was upgraded to Douglas Fir T & G. Eventually, the interior walls will be finished in vertical T&G and the entire interior stained. When possible, we recommend pre-staining the frame, interior finish and siding so that by the time your shell is up all the messy work is done.

Optional shed dormers let in extra light and will create more room when a loft is added at a later date. To learn more be sure and visit Pennypincher Barn Company’s website.

EcoNests are simple, elegant, and healthful handcrafted dwellings that welcome owner participation in their construction. They are the product of a design/build collaboration by Baker-Laporte: Robert Laporte, a timber framer, author, natural house building pioneer and teacher, and Paula Baker-Laporte, an award-winning architect, Bau-Biologist (building biologist), teacher and author specializing in healthy and ecological design. The EcoNest utilizes natural building techniques including: timber framing, light clay/straw walls, earth plastering, and natural, non-toxic finishes throughout.

Most of the EcoNests are a little larger than a tiny house, but the philosophy remains the same: create a healthy sancutary.

The smallest stock plan for an EcoNest is 700 square feet. But Paula said that Baker-Laporte, and their workshop participants, build quite a few “Hummingbirds”. Small studios without a bathroom or kitchen that are about 200 square feet. A Hummingbird can be integrated into a community with other small buildings that contain bathrooms, kitchens and sleeping areas.

EcoNests are built with timber framing and light clay and straw. Unlike standard building methods that employ vapor barriers, clay/straw walls actually breathe. They are weatherproof yet porous, and they allow for the slow transfer of fresh air and moisture much like human skin. The one-foot thick, light clay/straw walls are a unique combination of insulation and thermal mass, keeping the interior cozy and warm in winter and cool in summer.

The light clay/straw walls are then coated with earth plaster. The walls are ideally suited to plaster because they are perfectly flat but coarse in texture so that the plasters adhere to them without needing lathe. Earth plastered walls are both durable and beautiful. The floors of the houses are made of natural materials such as earth and stone.

Econests have been built in many different locations including Portland, the Northeast and Canada. Most of them are primarily in the American Southwest.

Baker-Laporte offers workshops on how to build your own Econest. You can take workshops in timber framing, clay/fiber construction, roofing, natural plasters and finishers, an Econest intensive, or builder training and apprenticeships.

Photos Courtesy of Baker-Laporte and Associates

By Christina Nellemann for the (Tiny House Blog)