Last Post First

It is amusing to me that I am inspired to start my first blog post right as the final post for the main frame of our house is nearly complete. We have come far since starting on this journey to build a timber-framed house over five years ago. What began as a fun backyard project building a small timber framed cabin on the in-law’s property quickly spiraled into a whirlwind of property searches, feasibility studies, homesteading practices, years of living off the grid in a 240 square foot cabin, and the slow and beautiful creation of our future three-story masterpiece of a timber framed mansion (well…. okay, admittedly she’s more of a humble and reasonably sized house).

This is one of three piles of finished pieces featuring the largest posts and beams in the house. These are all 7"x10" Douglas fir and range in size from about 14' to 20'. The top two of the third and forth row were our final pieces for the main frame! A very exciting landmark. The only pieces left to handcraft our those for the staircase and main entry. 

We are the Heartwoods. Neither of us began this endeavor as experienced woodworkers or carpenters or the like, but with research and tenacity we have worked our way through each step of the long and winding process of taking a raw piece of land sans well, septic, or even a road and making it a legal living space. I studied cell and molecular biology in college and now work as a veterinary assistant at a cat and dog hospital. Warren is a mechanical engineer and not surprisingly the brains behind our operation. We didn’t seek out a parcel of land that was hopelessly off the electrical grid, but Warren’s ingenuity (or, as he calls it, naivety and persistence) allowed us to make it work. We have fallen in love with our 40 acres of heaven and couldn’t imagine calling any other place home.

Warren proudly showcasing two finished posts.

Cara working on a queen post tenon.

Our timber framed house will be made out of mostly Douglas fir and some western hemlock with a front entry of western red cedar. We collected windfalls, dead standing trees, ancient logs floating in a lake, and trees off our own property. We milled every one of the over 200 beams ourselves and handcrafted each of them to my husband’s custom design. For us, every beam has a story and is a treasured piece of a three-dimensional jigsaw puzzle that will hopefully come together flawlessly at the end of April (that’s next month!!) We aren’t just building a house; we are handcrafting our home!

A lineup of logs from our property ready to be debarked and milled.

Here I plan to document the rest of the process as our timber-frame project comes to fruition in the culmination of the raising of the frame and making of a home. I will also reflect on past triumphs and struggles we’ve had on this journey.

A proud landmark: placing our first post and beam in the house!