Do you have a dream house in your head?
I did, for eight years.
Then the dream became a reality.
I did, for eight years.
Then the dream became a reality.
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| Our dream house in Spring 1988, after moving into it in Fall 1987 |
How did my dream begin?
Beautiful homes built using antique timbers from old barns
that were light filled and spacious were
featured in several national magazines in the 1980s.
Of course, today we collect pins on Pinterest
instead of magazine clippings.
for what inspires me now.
While attending graduate school
at the University of New Hampshire
during the summer breaks between teaching school years,
I saw beautiful new houses for middle-income families
at the University of New Hampshire
during the summer breaks between teaching school years,
I saw beautiful new houses for middle-income families
that were built with cedar siding and
with post and beam details in the interiors,
reminiscent of old barns with soaring open spaces.
Research to find sources is easier and faster
today by using the Internet.
Back in the 1980s, I found addresses from ads
in magazines and wrote letters requesting information.
Here's a house built by the company I found that was in our price range.
Sawmills in the 1980s were not uncommon in New England,
and they offered floorplans with "kits" for post and beam houses.
Plans varied from those that used expensive antique reclaimed
barn timbers to ones that used less expensive
newly-cut posts and beams.
with post and beam details in the interiors,
reminiscent of old barns with soaring open spaces.
Research to find sources is easier and faster
today by using the Internet.
Back in the 1980s, I found addresses from ads
in magazines and wrote letters requesting information.
Here's a house built by the company I found that was in our price range.
and they offered floorplans with "kits" for post and beam houses.
Plans varied from those that used expensive antique reclaimed
barn timbers to ones that used less expensive
newly-cut posts and beams.
And, the best part, the company I found in our price range
would create a custom floorplan "kit!
The photos, faded and distorted,
show parts of the custom blueprint for our house
that was used by the builder over 25 years ago.
A Palladian window was one of the features in
magazines that was high on my "want list."
Before contracting with the sawmill to cut a custom "kit"
for us, we toured the sawmill in person.
We also toured houses in all stages of construction
being built using posts and beams from the sawmill.
Sawmill River Lumber Company was in Leverett,
Massachusetts, and we toured it while visiting
my sister who lived in New Hampshire.
It was only about a 2-2.5 hours drive,
which is just a short drive in the country for a Texan.
The Sawmill River sawmill was built in 1750 and
used water power from the river to cut timbers for
Great New England Post & Beam Houses for over 200 years.
Our timbers were cut using
Sawmill River Post & Beam's saws powered
by electricity, not water.
We sent our builder and his construction foreman
to meet with the sawmill architects and
to see post and beam houses under construction.
Construction totally different from
Texas ranch-style houses framed with 2x4s.
Then we sent our house plans that I drew
on graph paper to the sawmill architects who
drew the architectural plans.
The mill's in-house plans included
calculating cuts for how all the posts
and beams would be joined.
Each piece of wood was numbered
so the construction crew would know how
to put the house frame together.
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This joint is at the corner of the fireplace
on the second floor in my house.
Yes, those are year-round fairy lights on a grapevine
twining around the beams.
These are my hand-drawn details on graph paper
for my kitchen that our cabinet maker used.
I taught high school math for 29 years which came
in handy to calculate the diagonal dimensions.
The date I drew these was July 4, 1987.
Recent research on the Internet did not yield current
contact information for the Sawmill River Post & Beam Company
that created our house.
If you are thinking about building a custom home,
here are my suggestions on how to get started.
Next in the series will be
that shows how we put together
the custom cut posts and beams.
❦
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