Wild Rose Timber Framers

Article Tools

Image Gallery

Print

E-mail

Comments

RSS

The Wild Rose Blossoms

Three years after their collaboration began, the Wild Rose partners tackled their first commercial job. They also settled into a true partnership as their business model. They decided early on, based upon compatibility and shared values, to remain a collaboration of three and to make all decisions by consensus. Dealing directly with clients and doing nearly all the work themselves, by hand, became central tenets of the business.

This approach dictated that they explore available forests and select, cut and mill their own timber. By doing their own logging, they discovered firsthand what kinds of wood best met their needs. Over time, they realized that they enjoyed the design process and the handwork more than the grunt labor of timbering. By selecting reliable, environmentally responsible local loggers and sawmills to provide most of their raw material, they freed up valuable time to concentrate on the work they loved best.

Some of the timber frames Wild Rose has built over the years are open structures such as park shelters. But most, whether studios, shops, cabins or houses, are enclosed and finished after the frame is up, leaving the beauty of the timber frame exposed inside. In their early days, the Wild Rose team did the finish work. But, as with logging, they refined their business model even further and decided to concentrate on frame construction only. Now, with the exception of some fine interior woodworking such as stairs or banisters, they leave the finish work to other contractors.

Any environmentally conscious person seeing a massive timber frame going up might rightly ask if such a building consumes more wood than standard construction. “Yes,” say the Wild Rose partners. But what brings their work in line with their value of sustainability is that all the wood is local, and 80 percent of their hardwood is selected from the resource stream that supplies disposable pallets and railroad ties (much shorter term uses). Most of it is white and bur oak from a two- or three-county area, but they also use black cherry, walnut and black locust. Lower grade trees from these supply streams are perfectly suited for timber framing and do not compete with trim, flooring and furniture grade hardwoods. White pine timbers come from plantation-grown trees in Wisconsin about 80 miles away. They also offer clients the option of using timber from the client’s own property.

Respect for sustainability influences the way Wild Rose works with potential clients. As much as individual taste and circumstances allow, all three partners work closely with homeowners throughout the design process, from site selection to building design. They encourage designs with energy-efficient advantages, such as southern exposure for maximum solar gain. Some have been off-the-grid houses. In fact, Kittleson built and lives in an off-grid, energy-independent home. Because they design frames around the size and kinds of wood available locally (as opposed to often much taller western-grown conifers), their structures tend to have smaller footprints. Timber frame homes are so solidly built that they will have a lifetime far longer than that of pallets and railroad ties, which the same wood might have been used to make. And if local history is any indication of the future, the timbers will eventually be re-used in other structures. Many local homes have been built or remodeled with recycled timbers from old barns or pioneer log cabins.

RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print

GET MORE INFORMATION ON THIS TOPIC:

TIMBER FRAMING FOR THE REST OF US '

ROB ROY

Paperback

Our Price: Price: $22.95

• Browse Recommended Products