January 1, 2011
Thinking about New Year’s resolutions? I’ve about decided to get a few ducks – a new adventure into the unknown. Roger and I have been joking about three-year resolutions, which is how long it took him to finish the timber frame carport and wood shed you see pictured here.
She’s a beauty, ain’t she? The first phases of the building, completed in 2009, are made of rock hard oak Roger had curing outdoors for a couple of years. Then hemlock became abundant at the local sawmill, so most of the top work is made of this hopefully-not-historical wood (native stands have been devastated by an exotic pest, the hemlock woolly adelgid).
But back to the timber frame, which can no longer be called Roger’s folly. After figuring out how much space he would need for a winter’s worth of wood and a car, he studied classic timber frame designs. He chose the hammer truss, also called the hammer beam, which dates back to the 1200’s when it was used to span wide rooflines without use of support beams. It was widely used in the Cathedrals of Europe, including Westminster Hall in England. Why not in the mountains of Virginia?
The project turned out to be harder than he thought, but what good man will give up a man-against-the-sea odyssey when he’s halfway in? From start to finish, this beautiful structure that will outlive us all took three years to build. And sometimes, when the light is right, it’s so beautiful and rustic and perfect that you wonder why the whole world can’t be that way.
