Timber Framing

Timber Frame Barn Homes

The beauty and charm of timber frame barn homes have captivated property owners seeking a private getaway worlds apart from busy cities and suburban sprawl.

What’s so ideal about a barn home? There’s something about the drama of the open interior space and the coziness of the barn structure.

In recent years, timber framing has become increasingly popular in barn homes. We might be a little biased, but it’s easy to see why. Known as “cathedrals on the prairie,” timber frame barns are both majestic and familiar—a wonderful concept to inspire a living space.

What Are Timber Frame Barn Homes?

These structures incorporate traditional timber frame building methods into a barn-style home. At Carolina Timberworks, we build them with heavy timber and wood-to-wood joinery, using timber frame trusses and pegged mortise and tenon joints.

Although they offer plenty of room for customization, most timber frame barn homes feature open-concept floor plans with large interior spaces and plenty of room for entertaining.

Reclaiming Old Barns

If you truly love the concept of an antique barn, you might like the idea of reclaiming one of these structures and turning it into a home. This option is a nice way to preserve a piece of history while turning it into a usable space.

NC Timber Frame Barn Home — A home designed around an antique timber frame barn. Design by PLATT. Photography copyright David Dietrich.

The only catch is that this approach requires finding, purchasing, and moving an antique barn. In the past, we’ve purchased antique barns for this purpose. But as you might imagine, supply is running short, and they’re increasingly difficult to find.

Building New Barn Homes

Fortunately, reclaiming old barns isn’t your only option for a timber frame barn home. It’s far more common for these homes to be new construction, using traditional building methods.

Why Build a Barn Home?

To begin, we happen to think barns are special (click here to read why).

Barns are the original multi-purpose structures. The open floor plans offer lots of space and flexibility for customization with both wide-open and tucked away spaces. Why compromise? Start a list. Bedroom(s), living room, kitchen and bathrooms–check. Workshop? Garage for your antique truck collection? Entertainment? Gym? Office? Guest bedroom suite? Game room? Basketball court (yes, it’s been done). Instead of building several buildings, build a timber frame barn home that efficiently houses everything under one roof.

The benefits of building new include substantially improved energy efficiency, as timber frame barn homes are often wrapped in a blanket of high-performance SIPs (structural insulated panels). These panels are delivered to your site pre-cut (including all door and window openings), are labeled, and go up fast (meaning you can be in the dry in days, not weeks). Later, sheetrock or wood paneling is applied to the interior walls, and the exterior can be anything you’d like (siding, wood, stone, etc.).

Assuming your building site permits orienting one roof slope facing south, the typical large barn roof shape is ideal for solar panels. Timber framing also happens to be one of the most sustainable building methods available for residential construction (and we even make our timber frames with renewable energy).

The future-proof nature of timber frame barns make them an attractive option. They’re certainly durable structures (probably because they’re loved and useful, and possibly because the simple roof shapes are less likely to leak). The open floor plans in barn homes permit reconfiguration to accommodate different stages of life. And of course, barns have a timeless and enduring appeal that has outlived quite a few other architectural styles over the past thousand or so years…

Want to learn more about the timber elements that make barn homes unique? Check out our Timber Frame Glossary for insights into key timber framing terms.

Traditional Barn Homes

We’d argue that traditional barn homes appeal to our connection with the past. Maybe we’re consciously or unconsciously re-creating something we experienced in our childhood or travels. Or perhaps it’s just the way a traditional barn home just “fits” certain pieces of property and naturally blend with, and compliment, the setting.

Modern Barn Homes

Building new also gives you significantly more opportunities for customization and the option to create a more contemporary aesthetic. Curious how a modern barn home might look?

Above, you can see a glimpse of the clean lines, open spaces, and modern finishes you can expect in this kind of space.

How Can I Build a Timber Barn Home?

We’re glad you asked. In our guide to timber frame barns, we’ve answered many of the questions that homeowners ask about building a barn, including:

How much will it cost?
Should I hire an architect?
How long will it take to build?

If this is the first time you’re considering a timber frame project, you might have questions about that process, too. We’ve answered a lot of them in our homeowner guide, which we like to call What to Expect When You’re Expecting a Timber Frame.

If you’d prefer to talk with our team or if you’d like to discuss a project in North Carolina or beyond, we’d be more than happy to do so. Send us an email or call us at 828-266-9663 – we’re nice!

Timber Frame Construction

Are you curious about the history and the basics of timber frame construction? Let’s look at how this building method has withstood the test of time and why it may be the right choice for your next building project.

What is Timber Frame Construction?

What separates timber frame construction from other building methods? Timber framing doesn’t use concrete, metal, or mass-produced commodity pieces of lumber. Instead, timber frame structures are built with large, exposed timbers and wood-to-wood joinery.

The timber frame construction process starts with a design customized to meet the client’s plan, needs, and budget. After engineering the timber frame, timber is ordered, and detailed piece drawings are created, which our timber framers and/or CNC machine use to measure and cut each timber to exact specification.

Finally, we send all the pre-cut timber, hardware, and specialized timber framing tools to the building site. That’s where our crew will raise the timber frame and sometimes install the 2×6 tongue and groove roof decking and structural insulated panels (SIPs).

Timber Frame vs. Post and Beam Construction

Although it’s similar to timber framing, post and beam construction has some key differences. Both use posts (vertical timbers), beams (horizontal timbers), however, post and beam structures often use glulams, or structurally engineered laminated timber, while most classic timber frame structures use solid wood.

Additionally, post and beam construction often incorporates metal plates and other metal hardware. In contrast, timber frame construction utilizes traditional wood-to-wood joinery (often mortise & tenon) held together by stout wooden pegs.

Timber Frame vs. Log Cabin Construction

Timber frames are not a type of log home. That said, some log homes do incorporate timber framing–think timber frame roof trusses and/or front entries. The difference between a log home and a timber frame is how they’re built and the way they look. Log home walls are constructed from horizontally stacked logs (think of the Lincoln Logs you played with as a child).

Log home walls look unmistakably like log homes. It’s a rustic look, but in the right setting, it just seems to fit.

Log home in the Alps (Verbier, Switzerland)

Unlike log homes, timber frame (and post and beam) buildings are built with large horizontal beams and vertical posts to create a structural framework (think of the Erector or Tinker Toy set you played with as a child).

While log homes almost have a “preferred habitat”, timber frame and post and beam homes are great at blending in. The exterior of a timber frame home is indistinguishable from a conventional home–so it can be brick, or siding, or stone. Once inside, the gorgeous timber frame structure is revealed, and the interior walls can be anything you’d like them to be–from sheetrock, to brick, to painted nickel gap shiplap paneling.

Timber Frame vs. Conventional Construction

Unlike timber framing, conventional construction requires load-bearing walls and relies on nails to connect small pieces of lumber (think 2x4s). Conventionally built structures also use spray foam or batt fiberglass insulation instead of the high performance SIPs that typically enclose a full timber frame structure.

A Brief History of Timber Frame Construction

Hardly a new type of construction, timber framing has existed for millennia. Over the centuries, skilled craftsmen have constructed barns, homes, inns, businesses, and even massive factories using timber framing in areas as far flung as England and Japan.

In the United States, timber frame construction experienced a decline late in the 19th century. With the invention of mass-produced nails, steam-powered sawmills, and the demand for more housing (as the population pushed west) came conventional balloon framing, which was later superseded by platform framing (pictured above).

However, a 20th-century revival brought timber framing back to the forefront. Today, there’s a growing demand for this building method, thanks primarily to the visual appeal of timber framing, but also due to the passionate and dedicated men and women who practice and grow the craft.

Women in construction — Timber framers aren’t all male, nor do they only use chisels and mallets…

Timber Frame Terms You Should Know

Timber frame raising: This timber frame tradition refers to the process of erecting a frame. For centuries, a timber frame raising has been a cause for celebration. Today, we continue to celebrate the hard work that goes into a new or restored timber frame structure.
SIP: Structural insulated panels wrap timber frame structures in a blanket of high-performance insulation. They’re known for shrinking utility bills and their ability to create a cozy indoor environment.
Joinery: Timber frame construction relies on wood-to-wood joinery. Most structures use mortise and tenon joints to connect posts and beams.

Trusses: Timber frame trusses are triangular frames made from heavy timber. Trusses provide structural support for timber frame roofs and can also serve a decorative function.

Looking for a quick guide to timber frame terms? Our Timber Frame Glossary breaks down the key phrases you’ll encounter in a project.

What Are the Benefits of Timber Frame Construction?

There are so many reasons to appreciate timber framing. Here are some of the biggest benefits:

Aesthetic Appeal

A timber frame is more than a mere structure. It’s also an experience. The exposed wood framework evokes a sense of being close to nature, eliciting on some level a secure, grounded feeling (after all, you can see exactly what is holding up the roof and walls).

Many timber frame owners also enjoy the varied ceiling heights, long diagonal views, and wide open spaces these structure provide, as there’s often no need for load-bearing interior partition walls.

Sustainability

Wood is the only renewable building resources we have. Think about that. Everything else depends on using up something. While necessary, concrete, steel, and plastics require huge amounts of energy (and resulting CO2 emissions) to make. And unlike 2x4s or particleboard, at the end of the building’s life, nobody is going to throw the timbers from a timber frame into a dumpster. Wood, if kept dry, will last centuries, and the new timbers from your timber frame will one day become tomorrow’s prized antique timber and almost certainly salvaged and reused for other projects—making timber framing highly sustainable.

Durability

Timber frame structures are known for their ability to withstand snow, wind, storms, and other severe weather. That’s because the joinery and timber sizes are designed for the loads (take time to thank an engineer’s mother) and because of another one of wood’s wonderful characteristics: elasticity. Just like people, wood bends and gives a bit under load.

Timber frame engineering — (please forgive the nerdy engineering humor)

Finally, since timber frame buildings are often loved, they’re usually well-maintained, and houses that are maintained can (and do) endure for centuries.

Versatility

Timber frame structures work beautifully in either residential or commercial settings—and they can easily be multi-purpose structures. For example, you can use a timber frame barn for equipment storage most of the time, pull out the New Holland baler and that pile of barn boards you’re going to get around to cleaning up one of these days, and transform it into a wedding venue anytime your best friend decides to get hitched (again).

What Can You Build With Timber Frame Construction?

From custom homes and barns to gazebos and pavilions, we’ve got quite a few ideas for timber frame projects:

Businesses: More and more businesses are timber framed because they make really nice places to work, and visit.
Gazebos and Pavilions: Ideal for anything from hosting parties to relaxing with the family, gazebos and pavilions make being outside even better.
Barns: Whether you need a space to house animals, store equipment, or entertain guests, a timber frame barn is a beautiful and versatile space.
Carport: A timber frame carport can be much more than a shelter for your vehicles. In nice weather, it can also double as an outdoor entertainment pavilion.
Want More Ideas? A collection of cool timber frame dreams and ideas that are still stuck on paper…

Do you have a timber frame project in mind in North Carolina or somewhere else in the United States? Browse our portfolio to see more examples of our work or contact us to talk about your design idea. We’re nice!

Timber Frame Truss Design: A How to Guide

The sexiest TFEC* report ever.

When a timber frame truss is designed as a collaboration between a talented architect, an experienced timber engineer, and an experienced timber framer, the result is often a work of art.

There are two ways of doing things: the right way, and again.

Here’s the right way to get the most out of timber frame truss design:

Read this report to learn the unknown unknowns (the things you don’t know you don’t know)
Hire an experienced timber engineer (here)

read

* Timber Frame Engineering Council

Do not attempt to design a timber roof truss without adult supervision from a qualified professional. The Timber Frame Engineering Council, the Timber Framers Guild, and Carolina Timberworks assume no liability for the use or misuse of this document.

Why You Should Visit Your Timber Frame Company

“A truly invaluable experience.”

“I hope you encourage all your future clients to come to your shop.”

In Their Words

The trip to visit the Carolina Timberworks shop was the highlight of our project thus far! We were simply blown away by the whole experience. Even just driving to your beautiful shop through the gorgeous mountain environment with the leaves changing and stunning vistas around every corner.

Driving up to the shop for the first time, quite impressive, understated and perfectly done to create the right environment exuding the extraordinary craftsmanship inside. First Impressions: Safe, Clean, Orderly and filled with incredibly focused craftsmen working busily inside and out shaping our beautiful South Carolina Southern Yellow Pine Beams, custom cut from trees on our land, years before. They are now coming to life right before our eyes! Every one of your customers must take advantage of a visit like to this to see this happen. To see and feel the emotion and even the smell of the wood, while these talented men create extremely difficult precision joinery. Unreal experience!

Each one of your craftsmen were so polite and engaging as we communicated with them. Obviously very proud of what they are doing and eager to share the particular things they were doing.

A truly invaluable experience for us all.

How to interview a timber frame company

Ask someone who builds timber frames for a living what makes their company different, and you’re likely to hear some variation on the theme of high quality, responsive service and talented people. Their answer may be truthful, but if you want an enjoyable experience, you haven’t learned what you need to know to make an informed decision. So how exactly do you do that?

While You’re Here

With 5 peaks over 5,000′, 10 acres per inhabitant, a jet-capable airport, the North and South Forks of the New River, the Blue Ridge Parkway, and the picture postcard perfect town of West Jefferson, North Carolina, you’ll want to leave some extra time to explore the area. Here’s a list of some of our favorite things to do while you’re in town.

Learn More

Solar Panel Carport

Solar panels that don’t ruin the view

The idea for this solar panel carport arose from something on our wishlist: powering our North Carolina timber frame shop from renewable energy. Our roof has plenty of space for PV–so that’s exactly what we did:

Sometimes roof-mounted panels aren’t a viable option (roof too shaded, or north-facing), so a ground-mounted array is the only way to go. On the positive side, ground-mounted arrays, versus roof-mounted solar panels, are easier to clean (yes, solar panels need to be cleaned periodically), can be angled at the optimum angle for efficiency, and don’t have to accommodate plumbing vents. Downsides? Well, let’s just say they’re not particularly aesthetically pleasing. Oh, and that’s before the local building official requires a fence.

(There are two rules to remember about building officials: 1. The inspector is right. 2. The inspector is always right.)

That got us thinking. Could a ground-mounted solar panel array be made to look beautiful? To a man with a hammer everything looks like a nail, so it’s probably understandable that our minds would turn first to timber framing.

The problem? Any timber frame or post and beam solar panel mounting solution is going to be more expensive than a ground rack or pole mount system.

But what if the supporting structure for the PV panels was a dual-use structure? Suddenly the economics change. A solar panel car port anyone?

Is Timber Framing Sustainable?

Wood is the world’s most environmentally-friendly building material.

Timber framing is one of the best ways to conserve our resources because post and beam homes are special places that people love, and because they are loved, they are maintained over the years, and because of that care, post and beam homes last for centuries rather than decades. Buildings that are loved get maintained, and well-maintained buildings last far longer.

Why is Timber Framing Sustainable?

Wood is one of our only renewable resources. Think about this sometimes overlooked and obvious fact.
Timber is a natural product. Is timber sustainable? Yes! It is recyclable, biodegradable, and renewable. It does not off-gas toxins because there are none.

Timber, unlike 2×4 and 2×6 lumber, upon the end of the useful life of the timber frame or post and beam home, will be carefully dismantled and reused. Used 2x4s may one day be reused, but today are going into landfills, rotting, and releasing their stored carbon into the atmosphere.

Wood is a carbon sink. If kept dry, wood lasts indefinitely. If you leave a tree in the forest to die a natural death, it will rot and release its stored carbon. If you cut down a tree at the end of its natural life, it has spent years storing carbon and producing oxygen. If you then fabricate it into a timber frame, and keep it dry for centuries, the post and beam home is acting as a long-term carbon storage unit.

Post and beam homes can, and often do, use less wood than stick-built homes. The figure we’ve heard is around 30% less. There are some caveats here, and it may seem counter-intuitive at first, but take a look at the photo (at left) from Stewart Elliot of Riverbend Timber framing.

Timber frame homes use big timbers which come from big trees. Here’s another counter-intuitive one. Big timbers come from big trees–sometimes old-growth trees. Big trees have spent many, many years storing carbon and producing oxygen. Today’s 2x4s are manufactured from young, small trees – trees that have not lived long enough to store much carbon or to have produced much oxygen.

What we’re doing to make 2x4s cheaply is to grow genetically-engineered super fast-growing trees, cutting them down in 10 years, and then replanting. By the way, when we replant these crop trees, we’re not doing it by hand. We’re burning diesel fuel. Is it a cheaper way to produce a 2×4? Undoubtedly. Is it greener wood? We’re not so sure.

Timber frames or post and beam homes are the best use of old trees. In our view, it is far greener to cut down a majestic old-growth Douglas Fir tree at the end of its life, and fabricate it into a functional and gorgeous timber frame that will be treasured and maintained for centuries, than to cut it down and saw it into 2x4s that will eventually go into a landfill and rot, or produce window sashes which will rot, or make paper. Better to revere these fantastic trees by turning them into an architectural solution to a structural problem that is so stunning and useful that generations of people will benefit from, and take care of the building.

Some post and beam homes are built without cutting down a single tree by using reclaimed wood and beams from old buildings and factories. Adaptive reuse is growing in popularity across the timber frame and construction industries.

Is timber framing suistanable, like in this great room? — A working cattle farm on the New River, rich in flora and fauna…a marriage of modern amenities cloaked in old reclaimed wood…while inside fine art and fine craft engage in dialogue and soliloquy.

Nearby is a photograph of one of our timber homes that utilized reclaimed wood. We love putting old wood back to work, and the timber in this project is structural and is holding up the roof.

Timber framing is a darker shade of green. Having spent a week in a photovoltaic solar class, we’d note that no building material or technology is without consequences to the environment–not even solar panels. We contend that timber frame and post and beam homes, while not an environmentally perfect building solution, are demonstrably and quantifiably greener than most other conventional building methods.

Is there progress to be made? Sure! Yet, even so, timber framing, teamed with structural insulated panels and solar photovoltaic panels, is the most beautiful, green, and energy-efficient method of building we know of.

Speaking of progress, in 2022 we installed solar panels on our new building: