As of March 2023, this timber frame kit has been discontinued. We originally introduced this and other timber frame kits in March 2020, motivated by the idea that if one of our crew becomes ill, or if we have to close the shop temporarily, our crew can load their pickups with wood and tools and make the kits at home. We just wanted to keep everyone working.

Three years on, our crew is busier than ever and we’ve made the decision to concentrate on what we do best: custom timber framing projects. If a custom timber frame home, barn, great room, entryway, or other structure sounds like something you’d like to explore, we encourage you to view our work and see some of the projects we’re particularly proud of.

Timber Frame Outdoor Kitchen

Glory to the Grill!

If you’re considering a timber frame covered outdoor kitchen there are two general approaches. One is to keep it super simple: a grill or an open fire pit, maybe a smoker with some camp chairs. Our Patio Shade Structure could work nicely for this concept. At the other end of the spectrum is a completely covered outdoor kitchen with a sink, refrigerator, stove, and a full range of grilling options. I’ve wanted to build one of these for years, which is part of the motivation for the Covered Outdoor Kitchen kit, the one I call the “G2G: Glory to the Grill!” I secretly figured that if we designed and engineered it, I’d finally end up building it!  

What’s the big attraction of an outdoor kitchen? Well, part of it is the caveman romance of cooking over a wood fire, and then there’s sheer practicality of minimal cleanup when grilling direct to flame. And of course, some dishes can only be prepared in the open air, like barbecued Thanksgiving turkey, and my favorite, the “Eisenhower Steak,” a 4″ thick boneless ribeye, dusted with a coffee, ancho chile, salt, pepper, and brown sugar mixture, then grilled directly on a bed of hot coals at about 1,000 degrees. No way you can do that inside. My wife loves the G2G concept because it’s a guy thing – the boys can head outdoors with their martinis, loud voices, and bad jokes while she and the ladies get on with their part of the meal in peace.

The timber frame covered outdoor kitchen you see here is one we built for clients on their spectacular home site overlooking the mountains in Tennessee. It’s a home intended to be in the family for generations, so the parents asked the children – all grown with families of their own – if they wanted a swimming pool.  “No” they answered upon consideration; they wanted a timber frame covered outdoor kitchen – the ultimate family gathering place. This one has it all, even a full fireplace and a wood-fired pizza oven. That is some glorious grilling!

Want to understand the technical terms behind our timber frame kits? Check out our Timber Frame Glossary for clear definitions and explanations.

As of March 2023, this timber frame kit has been discontinued. We originally introduced this and other timber frame kits in March 2020, motivated by the idea that if one of our crew becomes ill, or if we have to close the shop temporarily, our crew can load their pickups with wood and tools and make the kits at home. We just wanted to keep everyone working.

Three years on, our crew is busier than ever and we’ve made the decision to concentrate on what we do best: custom timber framing projects. If a custom timber frame home, barn, great room, entryway, or other structure sounds like something you’d like to explore, we encourage you to view our work and see some of the projects we’re particularly proud of.

Tower pavilion kits, aka “The Fire Tower”

how high will you want to go?

As a kid, I dreamt about living in a fire tower. Heck, even as a grown man, I still think it would be way cool. And judging from the number of fire towers for rent on VRBO, lots of people have the same dream. I seriously considered building a fire tower on my Maine island property to capture the 360° view of the islands and mountains. But first I had to renovate the house, then I built a workshop/barn, then a garden shed for my wife, and, well, life got in the way and I never realized my childhood dream. Interestingly, Eric Morley had the same dream: 

“This kit started out as a 3-story tower addition for my house (which, secretly, I thought of as ‘the fire tower’). Well, like a lot of us in building, I never got around to finishing it. To my credit, however, I did get the timber frame designed, drawn, and fabricated, but then the project stalled for a number of years.  I stored the frame in my garage for a while, and then in our timber frame shop, and every time I looked at that stack of finished timber, I sighed. One day while talking with my neighbor, he mentioned that he was looking for just this sort of timber frame structure for his home. One thing led to another and he decided to build it. He calls it a Pavilion, but we know what it really is: a Fire Tower!”

This timber frame pavilion kit really is modular. Take the legs off and it becomes a lovely Pavilion perfect for even a smallish backyard. You can still run a ladder up to the “observation deck.” Add legs, like the original, and it’s a two and a half story Fire Tower! This kit is filled with possibilities—for you, your kids, and your grandkids. Don’t let life get in the way! Seize the moment, realize the dream, and be a kid again!

New to timber frame kits? Visit our Timber Frame Glossary to familiarize yourself with the key terms and components involved.

As of March 2023, this timber frame kit has been discontinued. We originally introduced this and other timber frame kits in March 2020, motivated by the idea that if one of our crew becomes ill, or if we have to close the shop temporarily, our crew can load their pickups with wood and tools and make the kits at home. We just wanted to keep everyone working.

Three years on, our crew is busier than ever and we’ve made the decision to concentrate on what we do best: custom timber framing projects in North Carolina and beyond. If a custom timber frame home, barn, great room, entryway, or other structure sounds like something you’d like to explore, we encourage you to view our work and see some of the projects we’re particularly proud of.

Timber Frame Pergolas

the ultimate indoor-outdoor living experience

Sitting under a timber frame pergola is like sitting under a luminous cloud. You’re outside but not exposed, inside but not closed in. If you train grapes, wisteria, roses, or clematis up the legs and across latticework on top, you’ll feel like you’re living inside your garden. One of the great pleasures of a timber pergola is watching the movement of the shadows cast by its rafters as the sun makes its way across the sky.

This is one of my favorite kits, for a couple of reasons. First, our pergola kit offers a lot of bang for the buck.  It can be installed in any flat spot in your garden, and it doesn’t require extensive preparation or finishing—a roof, sides, water, or electricity—to start using it. All you need is table and chairs for morning coffee, evening cocktails, and al fresco meals anytime. I set mine at my front door, to create an elegant entryway.

Second, it’s really straightforward to assemble. Having lovingly—but very laboriously—built my own pergola from scratch, I can tell you a kit is the way to go. Building mine progressed over the course of days. You could put this one together in a weekend or two.  

Our pergola timber kit makes a good family project. None of the pieces are heavy, and the assembly can progress in several stages over a weekend or two, with a celebratory meal beneath the pergola when it’s all done. Western red cedar, Thuja plicata, is one of my most favorite wood species. The trees are a majestic 150 to 200 feet tall, and their wood is straight-grained, rot- and insect-resistant, and highly aromatic. Cedar ages to a tawny brown in most climates and will last for decades. When I renovated my island house in Maine I used it extensively on the exterior. It was expensive—but only once!

New to timber frame kits? Visit our Timber Frame Glossary to familiarize yourself with the key terms and components involved.

As of March 2023, this timber frame kit has been discontinued. We originally introduced this and other timber frame kits in March 2020, motivated by the idea that if one of our crew becomes ill, or if we have to close the shop temporarily, our crew can load their pickups with wood and tools and make the kits at home. We just wanted to keep everyone working.

Three years on, our crew is busier than ever and we’ve made the decision to concentrate on what we do best: custom timber framing projects. If a custom timber frame home, barn, great room, entryway, or other structure sounds like something you’d like to explore, we encourage you to view our work and see some of the projects we’re particularly proud of.

Post and Beam Shed Kits

“the little building that could”

Given the compact footprint and the incredible versatility of this building, it’s one of my favorite kits—my wife’s, too! Ironically, it’s that versatility that started lots of trouble in my house, with much discussion about what the post and beam shed “could” be. We’re showing it here as a firewood storage shed, and it’s perfect for that. But just add sides and doors and it becomes an outdoor garden shed (or She Shed?), with plenty of space for racking up garden tools on one side, and shelves for smaller tools, seeds, bulbs, fertilizer, etc., on the other. With big swinging doors you can access it all. At our shop, we use it as a Grilling Shed (see photo below). You might even set it up as a backyard chicken coop! The structure is certainly stout enough to keep Mr. Fox out. Here’s even another idea: a roadside stand where you can sell the produce from your garden!    

The timber frame shed comes complete and ready to assemble in Eastern white pine, with a pressure treated base structure for building directly on a patio, driveway, or crushed stone pad. We can also build timber framed shed kits in Western red cedar, if you prefer.

Assembly of our timber shed kits is straightforward (video here), and everything is pre-cut and pre-drilled for the pegs. At just 6′ x 10′ overall, none of the pieces are that large or heavy, so this would be a good project to take on with your family.  And because the assembly process is modular, you don’t have to be in a rush—tackle it over a series of weekends: first the base, then the wall framing, finally the roof rafters.

In my house, the utility discussions continue. I’m pretty sure I can talk my wife out of the chickens, but not the garden shed. She’s an avid gardener, and working out of a plastic locker isn’t doing it for her anymore. Maybe she’ll let me steal one corner of her shed to store a couple tools. Wait—a tool shed! Why didn’t I think of that before? 

New to timber frame kits? Visit our Timber Frame Glossary to familiarize yourself with the key terms and components involved.

As of March 2023, this timber frame kit has been discontinued. We originally introduced this and other timber frame kits in March 2020, motivated by the idea that if one of our crew becomes ill, or if we have to close the shop temporarily, our crew can load their pickups with wood and tools and make the kits at home. We just wanted to keep everyone working.

Three years on, our crew is busier than ever and we’ve made the decision to concentrate on what we do best: custom timber framing projects. If a custom timber frame home, barn, great room, entryway, or other structure sounds like something you’d like to explore, we encourage you to view our work and see some of the projects we’re particularly proud of.

Wooden Mailbox Post

Got mail? Got a mailbox post you love?

“Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.” 

This is not the “official” motto of the United States Postal Service, but architects McKim, Mead & White had the quote, attributed to the Greek historian Herodotus, inscribed above the entrance of the New York City Post Office they designed at 8th and 33rd. There might not be quite enough space on our DIY mailbox post whole quote, but it’s beefy enough that I bet you could come close.  

This classic mailbox with a post kit makes a great weekend project for you and your family. And if you’re thinking about moving up to any of the other kits in the collection, and want to dip your toe in the water, this along with the Scrappy Bench would be a great place to start.   

The toughest part of the endeavor will be digging the hole for any DIY wood mailbox posts you may build now or in the future – be ready for a workout. After that, you assemble the frame, drop it into place, plumb it side to side, level the mailbox beam front to back, and then backfill the hole. Pretty much instant gratification. I bet your neighbors all stop by and ask, “Hey, where’d ya’ get that mailbox and post?” Do it with your kids, and every time they turn in the driveway in the minivan they’ll remember how cool it was to assemble it. And every visit home from college, it will still be there. It’s made from naturally rot-resistant White Oak, which, over time, will turn gray and look better and better. Send the message to your neighbors that you treat everyone as First Class—even your junk mail!  

Our DIY mailbox post comes in 2 versions: an 8″ x 8″ heavy-duty version and its big brother: a 10″ x 10″ super-duty version (pictured above outside our timber frame shop in West Jefferson).

Curious about the terminology used in timber frame kits? Explore our Timber Frame Glossary to learn more about the craft.

As of March 2023, this timber frame kit has been discontinued. We originally introduced this and other timber frame kits in March 2020, motivated by the idea that if one of our crew becomes ill, or if we have to close the shop temporarily, our crew can load their pickups with wood and tools and make the kits at home. We just wanted to keep everyone working.

Three years on, our North Carolina crew is busier than ever and we’ve made the decision to concentrate on what we do best: custom timber framing projects. If a custom timber frame home, barn, great room, entryway, or other structure sounds like something you’d like to explore, we encourage you to view our work and see some of the projects we’re particularly proud of.

Reclaimed Wood Dining Table

family life unfolds in the kitchen

If you think back to the really great times you’ve had with friends and family, I’ll bet they centered around the dining table. After all, the heart of the home is the kitchen, and the heart of the kitchen is the table. For 27 years in the kitchen of our 1700s-era Colonial in Salem, Massachusetts, we had a big, old farmhouse table. It wasn’t as terrific as this one, but it witnessed everything from our son’s first birthday celebration through the filling out of his college applications. It bore the patina of age (and some graffiti carved on the underside!), and that patina spoke of the history of our family–Christmas and Chanukah, Easter and birthdays, celebrations of our friends’ children’s weddings, memorials for departed friends. 

A really great farmhouse table is with you for decades, if not generations. It’s a member of the family.  When we downsized, we gave ours to a dear friend, who really, really wanted it. So you see, it’s still in the family, and even today she still treasures it. 

Our Farmhouse Table is simple and strong, and honest to the essential integrity of the wood it’s made from. You have a choice of two noble species: Eastern white pine from the forests surrounding us here in North Carolina, or reclaimed Douglas fir, from a building that was dismantled and the Doug fir logs left to rot–until we rescued them. These tables are simple and robust, with the wood itself making the design statement. Lovely dovetail connections between leg and top are the icing on the cake.

The table you see here is a big one—12 feet long! But since we build them to order, we can do a custom length to fit your kitchen, dining room, or Dining Pavilion. We finish them with Heritage Natural Finishes, a 100% natural oil finish made by a friend of ours. It’s FDA-certified food safe and nontoxic, and it really is the best finish for wood I’ve come across. It protects the wood while letting it breathe, and you can replenish it yourself as your reclaimed wood table is used.

Need clarification on timber framing terms in your kit? Our Timber Frame Glossary offers straightforward explanations of the terms you’ll encounter.

As of March 2023, this timber frame kit has been discontinued. We originally introduced this and other timber frame kits in March 2020, motivated by the idea that if one of our crew becomes ill, or if we have to close the shop temporarily, our crew can load their pickups with wood and tools and make the kits at home. We just wanted to keep everyone working.

Three years on, our crew is busier than ever and we’ve made the decision to concentrate on what we do best: custom timber framing projects. If a custom timber frame home, barn, great room, entryway, or other structure sounds like something you’d like to explore, we encourage you to view our work and see some of the projects we’re particularly proud of.

Timber Frame Gazebo Kit

integrated with the outdoors

The word gazebo is thought to have been introduced to the English language by William Halfpenny, an English architect and builder, in 1755. (Ref: Rural Architecture in the Chinese Taste, 1775). The term is a play on the verb “to gaze,” and while ours is a bit simpler than Halfpenny’s pictured here, it does serve the same lovely purpose: providing shelter for being outside and viewing the landscape in any weather.

We built this particular gazebo kit for a client who wanted a full outdoor living/dining room with a fireplace, lighting, and a flat screen TV for movies and football games. They use it all the time, and it’s no wonder given the harmonious feeling the space imparts.  

American home design places a premium on raw square footage; it seems to be axiomatic here that bigger is better. But successful design is as much about the space between the rooms as it is about the rooms themselves. Architects and designers call these “transition spaces.” One of the reasons the Gazebo was so successful is that it (like all of our kits) is detached from the main house, and that requires a deliberate transition to the space. You don’t just wander in there, you go there intentionally, and that changes the way you enjoy the space. 

And then there’s the strong appeal and tactile experience of just “being in” the structure—the aroma of the Western red cedar timbers, the whiff of smoke from the crackling fire. It all takes you back to your grounding spot as a human being.

This timber frame gazebo kit, like all our kits, is a departure point. It could be used as an alternative design to our Outdoor Kitchen, a screened porch, a covered grill area, or a tiki bar for the adults to hang out in while the kids are in the house playing video games! If this were my gazebo, I’d be out there all the time! 

Want to understand the technical terms behind timber frame kits? Check out our Timber Frame Glossary for clear definitions and explanations.