I probably heard of the concept of a timber framed house when I was in my teens, and I was watching 'This Old House'. And I had followed the blog of a US builder of new timber frames for years - who was promoting them for their sustainability features (it's a flexible structure that can be repurposed over the centuries). It seems Patrick had similar experiences, and he brought up the idea of building a timber frame house about 2 years ago - thinking I would poo-pooh it, he was surprised that I actually knew what it was and wanted to do it.
There are basically four variations of a theme if you want to do something with timber frames.
1. BUY EXISTING AND RENOVATE ON SITE
You can buy a piece of land that already has an old (and probably falling down) timber frame barn on the property already, and then restore it.
Sounds crazy, but these barns are more common than you think. At one time they were across the midwest every 40 acres. Most have been lost (once the roof goes, it's pretty much downhill), but if you drive around the countryside and look for them, you'll still see them.
We actually thought about buying a piece of property that had a barn on it - for about 5 minutes - but it's pretty hard to find the right size land, right barn, and right price.
2. MAKE NEW
You can have someone build you a barn to your own specifications out of new timbers (usually Douglas Fir), and they'll even put it up for you.
We thought about that for about a month, until we realized how incredibly expensive it can be (~$100K for a 30'X40' structure ... I'm talking just the frame ... you still need to put up walls, HVAC, windows, etc.). Keep in mind, we're talking about something that is strictly aesthetic ... like choosing marble tile over ceramic tile, or putting a painting on your wall ... so $100K is a big chunk of change.
3. FAKE IT
You could get the timber frame look by buying some timbers from an old barn and then attach them to the walls somehow.
I've actually seen this done in production homes to make them feel homey. I personally hate the look, it just looks fake (like the plastic window shutters that are too small for the windows). And, of course, they aren't structural.
4. MOVE ONE
The last option I can think of is to find someone who already has a barn (and doesn't know what to do with it), dismantle it, and then move it to your location.
But be warned, it's not as easy as it sounds - since construction is all about the details and fantasy hitting reality like a hard brick wall.
We actually did option #4 ... despite the risks, we would rather save a barn than have something new - and saving some cash didn't hurt either. Once we got into it, we realized that these barns are really about our history, and they are rapidly disappearing. The issue is that their original purpose (raising animals on a small farm) is now essentially gone - so unless we give them a new purpose (in this case, a house), then they will eventually all be gone - those roofs don't last forever.
We originally were thinking of moving a barn of one of our friends, but unfortunately, it didn't work out. Even if you get the frame itself for free, there are still some significant costs in just dismantling. And although many have tried to just pull it down with a chain and a truck - they just roll over.
So advice on timber framing ... find one that's already been taken down ... and for that, just do a quick google search. You'd be amazed at the number of people who have frames sitting in another barn somewhere.
Although an already dismantled barn has distinct advantages over other options - you are also introducing an awful lot of risk - which I look back now on and think what was I thinking. The main risk is that you have to trust the current owner that the dimensions are correct and that it can be put back together in one piece. Usually those barns are taken down for a reason - like a rotten timber - so make sure part of the deal is that the guy you're buying from has to put it back up.
We did end up making some alterations to the barn ... we had to increase the slope of the roof in order to make the second floor more liveable ... so that required extra timbers. One timber in particular that I had to find was a 40' long ridgebeam - not very easy to find, let me tell you.
But all in all, it went very smoothly. Just be well aware of the risks involved and some of the hidden costs (transportation, crane rental, etc).
So here's the barn in its original location, which was actually the NE corner of Ohio.
Turns out the barn was built sometime between 1840 to 1850, so it was the first in the area. The timbers are hand hewn and they are significantly larger than barns built just a few decades later when the saw mills were cutting standard sizes - so some beams are 14" square instead of a more typical 8".
We kept the original footprint of the main part of the house ... so that's roughly 30' X 40' ... we had ended up changing the roofline in order to make the second floor more useable. And we bagged the side section (we need to replace some of the rotten timbers).
So here's the barn up in our property in Indiana. The 2X4's are just for safety, and temporary stability. But it also gives you an idea of how big the actual timbers are.
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What about the walls? That's the next post on structural insulated panels ...
1 Year Update: It was a crazy idea and it could have gone horribly horribly wrong at a couple of key moments, but honestly - the consensus is that it totally makes the house - and it was totally worth it. It's a good feeling when you're lying on the couch and you look up at a beam that took you a year to find, and realize it would still be rotting in a field somewhere, if you didn't find a use for it.
