In part one about our East Coast design team manager Kyle Barber’s new home, we shared the beginning of Barber and his wife’s journey designing and building a legacy passive home that will ensure a safe life, free of harmful VOC’s and full of clean air and comfort for them, their kids, and generations to follow.

Recently, Barber and his team’s attention turned to “drying in” the home so that the slab and interior work could be completed. “The enclosure went up, then as soon as the roof went on, windows went in and we were dried in allowing us to do all of the layers for the slab.”

After closing the house in with a metal roof and high-performance enclosure (our weather resistant and vapor controlling open cavity wall system with 2X framing, 100mm layer of wood fiber continuous insulation, and pre-installed strapping), high performance windows shipped from Europe (supplied by Zola) were installed to complete the enclosure. Once windows were in, the concrete-free slab was able to follow. 

With the concreteless slab, you have to worry about water and rain on the plywood subfloor a lot more since its sitting right on top of the vapor barrier and can only dry to the top side. For this reason, Barber says, “We had to wait until we were dried in to perform this work.”

Barber continues, “The biggest thing that happened since last time was, we installed the foam under the slab. We have two layers of four-inch EPS insulation, so eight inches total. This will be the only foam in the entire project. Gives us about an R35 below our feet.

Our Farmington, New York campus recently had a visit from Tennessee clients who are looking to move from their current dwelling and into a hybrid timber frame home high in the Blue Ridge Mountains. We love taking folks through the shops and talking wood with families who are on their home building journey.

Our clients purchased 400 acres of Appalachian Mountain property bordered on both sides by National Park lands. Their dream is for a high craft home that exhibits their love of elegance with the privacy and rustic opulence of a mountain chalet.

New Energy Works West Coast Architect David Shirley explains, “We’ve been working with these clients for over a year now, as the site work is completed, to get prepped and brainstorm the design. The clients wanted to build on the top of the mountain, so instead of leveling the summit of the peak, they built a retaining wall system to create a large flat landing space for the home. There is a huge amount of engineering work and roads, plus the retaining walls needed to make this project feasible.”

“The house will feature 360-degree views at 3000’ above sea level. Directly behind the home is a National Park to the North. The South goes down to the main valley and up the other side of the mountain to more National Park lands—so it’s sandwiched in nature.”

The home is in its formative stages, with collaboration and idea sharing the central focus. The clients really wanted connection to the land and people who live there. It turns out Shirley, who grew up in Tennessee is very familiar with the build location. It turns out that as a kid he spent much time four-wheeling on the land where the clients are building their dream home.

“Our vision was a modern mountain home where clean lines and the raw materials of the engineered structure were part of the finished palette of the home. The black steel I-beam spans the width of the home west to east, and supports the Douglas fir glulam timber frame rafters,” says Pete Heintzelman, Method Architecture Studio architect and homeowner.

The blending of these disparate materials is the foundation of a low lying, high volume modern mountain home in Vermont. Eschewing the more traditional elements of a timber frame, the house’s structure deftly mixes light large scale industrial elements with the softer biophilic feel of natural wood, seamlessly marring different genres of design into a unified building.

“My favorite materials to work with are exposed wood and steel. I knew from the beginning that we were going to do a timber frame or exposed structural elements,” says Heintzelman. “I love the color of Douglas fir with its clear coated richness, and how you can interact metal with it.” 

These interactions play together throughout the home providing a contrast between the rustic and the modernized, the sophisticated and unrefined.

Our friends over at Fine Home Building featured our Sand & Salt project that we completed last year with Interior Designer Eliza Silva. Find the issue below. 

When the owners of this recently completed lakefront residence began their journey to build a custom timber frame home in the Finger Lakes, they relied on the experience and comprehensive design + build services offered by New Energy Works, based in nearby Farmington New York.

For over thirty years New Energy Works has been crafting sustainably minded timber frame homes throughout the Finger Lakes region. In that time their expertise and service offerings have grown to include in-house Architects, interior designers, and general contracting/ construction as well as a fine woodworking division known as NEWwoodworks, and their sister company Pioneer Millworks – who manufacture reclaimed and sustainable wood products, all of which were utilized to construct this one-of-a-kind home.

The homeowners came to the project with a previous connection to New Energy Works through the company’s fine woodworking division, who had done extensive remodeling work for them on a different property in the past. But building a brand-new home on one of the Finger Lakes can present unique challenges, which Architect Kyle Barber RA, CPHC – the head of New Energy Works design team knows all too well.

Recently our founder & CEO Jonathan Orpin wrote a "SPEC" editorial for our friends at Fine Homebuilding Magazine about TimberHP's new domestically manufactured wood-based insulation product TimberFill. This series is where the magazine explores new products and solutions for crafting fine homes from the perspective of respected professionals in the industry. 

TimberFill is a loose fill insulation product from TimeberHP that can be blown in or dense packed for high performing, affordable, fire-resistant, and carbon negative coverage in attics, wall cavities, floors, and ceilings.

For homeowners Mary & Eric, building a responsibly sized and environmentally sound retirement home was a priority for them as they looked toward their own future, and the planets. Utilizing as many environmentally friendly building materials as possible, the couple were equally concerned about the homes short term impact on the environment, as well as its long-term energy use and performance.

“Eric is a scientist-type personality and Mary is a cool artist-type personality, and juxtaposing those two points of view together into a finished home was the challenge here. We worked with them and added more timber into the building, opened some windows, and worked with the couple to minimize the square footage of the space down to what was essential to their lifestyle. It was quite the task to meet the needs of both clients, with Mary being focused on the craft and beauty of the home, and Eric being very concerned with material selections, sourcing, imbedded carbon, and performance. It was a winning combination though, and both were willing to compromise when needed to make things work and stuck by their guns when necessary to get what they wanted. In the end we came up with a very nice design that was a beautiful compromise to what they each wanted out of this home.” - Architect David Shirley AIA, NCARB

“When we looked at the New Energy Works website and read about how the company crafts high-performance enclosures that pay very close attention to a home’s thermal envelope as part of their Design + Build process, we were very impressed that the team makes sustainability a normal part of how they do business,” Eric shared. “To our mind that is the kind of company we want to support.”

Our friend Brian Libby recently wrote this budget breakdown overview of our CLT Home project in Oregon for DWELL Magazine.

See our case study: Cross Laminated Timber Home | New Energy Works

Project Credits:

Architect: Alan Morris Architect

Builder: New Energy Works

Photography: Noel Adams

Our friends at Rochester Home Magazine honored us with a detailed cover editorial featuring our east coast design team.

Written by Helana Shumway

Project photos by Tim Wilkes

Read the whole issue online: September//October 2023 Rochester HOME Magazine by Featured Media - Issuu

This New Energy Works project in North Georgia recently appeared in a feature editorial by our friends at Log & Timber Home Living in the August 2023 Waste Not Want Not issue, which focuses on sustainable modern home designs.

Featuring an interview with our own David Shirley AIA, NCARB from our west coast team, the sweeping feature touches on almost every aspect of this New Energy Works project including design, timber frame, and high-performance enclosures.

Photos by Garey Gomez

See more: Fine Homebuilding Magazine

Project Credits: 

Solar Partner: SunCommon

Timber Frame: New Energy Works

Engineer: Sellers Treybal Structural Engineers 

Now available in New York & Vermont

Coming soon to the West Coast U.S.A.

See our case study: The Solar Canopy | New Energy Works

(585) Magazine recently covered one of our favorite recent Design + Build projects in the Finger Lakes Region of New York. This project combined all our related services, Timber Frame, Design + Build, HPEz, fine woodworking from NEWwoodworks, and our sister company Pioneer Millworks.

More from (585): (585) magazine - Rochester, NY (585mag.com)

Related Content:

Long-Term Lake Front | New Energy Works

Natural materials for a custom home: Design Q&A | Pioneermillworks

Project Credits:

Architect: New Energy Works

Builder: New Energy Works, High-Performance Enclosure: New Energy Works

Engineer: Fire Tower Engineered Timber 

Reclaimed Wood: Pioneer Millworks 

Anthony Venezia  has been spending his weekends this past year building a highly crafted high-performance home in Canandaigua New York. This construction project is designed to be a modern and sustainable home for Anthony and his family and features dark stained Douglas fir timber accents as well as two-tone Shou Sugi Ban exterior siding and white oak flooring & stair treads from our sister company Pioneer Millworks.

Most importantly, the home utilizes our High Performance Made Easier ™ (HPEz) enclosure system which enabled Anthony and Luke to construct the home to the efficiency standards they wanted to achieve with the project. 

Now that the family home is nearing completion, we caught up with Anthony to discuss how the project got started, why he wanted to build sustainably, and what it was like building a home for his family with a high-performance enclosure system that was manufactured off-site.

Q: How did this high-performance construction project get started?

Affectionately referred to as “Trout Point” by the homeowners, the timber framed addition to this family home was built with recreation at heart. Seamlessly integrating with the existing house, the bar and game room is a place where the homeowners and their friends can kick back and relax while enjoying Keuka Lake in the Finger Lakes region of New York State. 

Featuring a custom woodworked bar, dart board, wine storage area and integrated shuffleboard court crafted by NEWwoodworks, this space allows for year-round fun with family and friends. The entire project allowed for creative expression in its design and execution with results that the homeowners describe as a dream come true.

Because of the homeowner’s willingness to freely embrace the talents of the design and build teams they assembled for the project; these clients are regarded by everyone who has played a role in the addition as dream clients for creating an atmosphere where creativity could flourish, and partnerships thrived. We caught up with a few of the key players who shared their experience on this most beloved of projects.

Recently we raised a pavilion/carport for Tom Kime and his wife Karen as part of a large-scale renovation project of their property on Seneca Lake in New York. Tom is the president of Lyons National Bank (or LNB), who has worked with New Energy Works on projects large and small for many years. We caught up with Tom & Karen recently to talk about the raising of the pavilion, their remodeling project, community partnerships, working with likeminded folks, and the goodwill a well-made pie can bring to a jobsite.

The renovation project itself is part of a group of connected family properties the couple enjoy with their adult children and grandchildren. Bringing in contractors with longtime business ties to LNB to work on the property is nothing new for Tom & Karen, they have long believed that close relationships are the key to doing good business and that a sense of community among vendors leads to better results.

“Most everyone we work with are customers of the bank.” Tom says. “We like doing business with people who are customers of ours and that relationship goes both ways.”

Our friend Randy is building a new house, or maybe two, as he is planning a little house/big house progression (more on this later). I plan to chronicle Randy’s journey over the next year or so with a small number of posts, starting with this one, the beginning.

Randy’s building a new home because his burned down. Put together a week without electricity (storm damage), a kerosene lantern, a cat named Barnie who jumps up on a table, outstretched hands too late to catch the spill and the house went fast. Randy got out with little but the cat and some clothes. Eventually an insurance settlement and some steel resolve provided his path forward. Not to get ahead of ourselves, but the idea is to first build a tiny home, so he can get out of the dang RV fast, and then build a larger forever home. More on this next post.

Randy tends to think so far out of the box that I often wonder if he even knows the box exists. I wasn’t surprised, then, when he called to say he wanted to cut down one of the trees in his woods by hand, old fashioned, as a symbolic start to his building process. Wouldn’t miss this, says I, so wife Maxine, friend Ari and Luca the dog get into the camper van one Saturday morning not long ago and head to his place for the weekend. We’ll be joined later when son Jake and his friend Javier arrive back from motorcycling in Canada to find they might miss this fun?  No way. Add my friend Bill, Randy’s friend Alex along with his builder Andrew, and we have a party.

For homeowners Ben & Kate and their three young children, the seven-year journey to their forever home just outside Ithaca New York was a long and winding road filled with life lessons, dreams, and joy.

“For our entire adult life, my husband and I, we always dreamed about building a house. We just wanted to build a home that we would live in forever that would suit our own needs and come from our own ideas.” Says Kate. “Seven years ago, our dream started to become a reality when we found this plot of land and we really fell in love with it. It was all woods, and we cleared a section of the land, but we needed to save to build our dream home. So, we decided to buy a double wide trailer and live in that, in the corner of the property, while we continued to plan and dream.”

When the Kate & Ben began this process and took a leap of faith into trailer life seven years ago, their youngest son (who is now 5) hadn’t even been born yet. As the happy family grew and evolved over time, albeit in tight quarters, so did the design of their future dream home.

In the Gilded Age a tradition was spurred by Avery Rockefeller and Alfred Vanderbilt for residents of New York City to build rugged mountain family vacation homes away from the hustle and bustle of the city. Many families made the most of the rolling hills and rocky heights of the Adirondack Mountain chain north of the Hudson Valley. Keeping the trend alive, one Manhattan family, along with their architect Steve Marchetti, have crafted the perfect timber framed get away. Inspired by mountain ski lodges beloved by the family and tucked away in the hills surrounding Lake Surprise in upstate New York, this vacation home provides the perfect environment for peace and quiet.

The choice to use a timber frame for this vacation home was easy, according to Marchetti, because the family wanted to emulate the look and feel of a mountain ski lodge and timber framing lends itself to a feeling of rugged comfort, relaxation, and a sense of permanence.

We often say that the land, the building site, teaches us how to design the home. This is simplistic. There are many inputs that are needed to start the design process, including:

Who will live here?

What is their lifestyle?

What are their tastes? Their loves? Their feelings about Home?

What are the needs and have-to-haves?

What is the budget?
 

We’re fortunate to have a variety of landscapes within New York State. Those who are passionate about the outdoors, mountains, lakes, and the accompanying passions of skiing, hiking, water sports, and more, can find a bit of it all “upstate”. The Adirondack Mountains, the Finger Lakes Region, and even Western NY each offer opportunity for these pastimes. Shane and his family found their East Coast calling near Old Forge in the Adirondacks. 
 

Upon purchasing a special plot of land, planning and projects began. Beginning with a garage that included a living space, the family then spruced up the grounds, rebuilt the boathouse, and in the final stage, turned attention to creating the main house. 
 

This particular design project utilizes six salvaged trusses that were reclaimed from a church demolition and serve as the bones for the “A” frame shape of the 17/12 pitched roof.  Our architects sketched the trusses in such a way that the two areas created a twin main volume, connected by a glass breezeway.

Taking inspiration from modern design aesthetics, we incorporated steel and strapping on the reclaimed trusses to accentuate the existing hardware and character of the wood.  Each volume was then treated with a different finish material in order to provide a visual delineation.

This 3,600 Square foot design offers a split floorplan with the great-room, kitchen and accompanying loft on one side, while the bedrooms occupy the other.

Guest Author: New Energy Works, Dave Cratty

We all have those dreams of wanting to leave it all behind and live off the grid.  Find a place in the Adirondack mountains, on a remote lake, and just surround yourself with nature and the outdoors.  The question is, how do you deliver and raise a beautiful timber frame lake house to a location that no roads have touched?  The answer, by boat.  

Our New Energy Works timber frame crew spent seven tireless days, traveling back and forth by barge to deliver, off load and raise by hand, this beautiful 1361 square foot bungalow.  The homeowner’s plan to utilize this location in the warmer seasonal months, created a unique opportunity to use a 3x tongue and groove design for the walls, while every door frame and window were outlined with timber.  The layout offered an open floor plan and offering visitors an unobstructed views of the private lake from this cozy, secluded cabin.

Take a peek into some custom timber frame home plans from our design + build team.

On the lake in New York:

The narrow, tapering site in the Finger Lakes Region of NY presented a challenge for maximizing views of Canandaigua Lake. Following the setback as closely as possible for the bedrooms while pushing the layout in on each side of the living space gave way for a large deck as well as private deck space access with lake views from each bedroom. 

Taking a bit of inspiration from Pacific Northwest and modern architectural styles, opposing shed roofs help lower the overall mass of the southern facing side of this home, allow for high windows between the roofs, shade from summer sun (yet allow winter sun in), and shelter the main level deck.

A covered porch forms the welcoming entry leading to a tall vestibule with a quick corner turn to glimpses the surrounding landscape, then into a light-filled hallway with picture frame views of the lake. Approaching the common area the views keep expanding until you are immersed in the living space. 

A Letter from the Founder of 

New Energy Works and Pioneer Millworks

The end of one decade marks the beginning of the next. I, for one, don’t have a language that embraces this expanse of years. Both New Energy Works and Pioneer Millworks have changed and will change a bit more. As I sat to write this, I stopped to reflect on all of the work we’ve done over the last 10 years and it really gave me pause.

My daughter Sierra, who works with us in Pioneer, recently asked,”Dad, did you ever imagine that these companies would grow so large?” I hadn’t really. Yet, it’s not that I DIDN’T think such a thing. We work hard every day, do the best we can, follow our hearts and gosh, we find ourselves…here.

Today we are over 130 craftsmen, artisans, designers,and makers. 

Yet the feel of the place remains personal. I like this about us. We know our coworkers, our clients, our partners. When you call, a person answers, and that person now is most likely an owner. We officially became an employee-owned (ESOP) company in 2018 and this means that the folks who have long acted like owners, are actually owners. They can partake more fully in the rewards, have their voice truly heard, and be part of their own work-life destiny. This transition makes sense to me.

We have doubled down on our commitment to the Triple Bottom Line.

I remain convinced that businesses like ours can make the difference we need: a world that places a more sustainable earth and a more evenly shared economy on equal footing with earnings. We’ve known with absolute certainty that everything we do, every choice we make needs to take the environmental impacts into consideration. This was our planet’s hottest decade ever recorded; it is imperative that we continue to push forward, to do all we can to shift the winds to help our home, our Earth.

Quality design is the thread that weaves through all we do, beginning with architectural plans. Whether you are the designer or architect, or you come to us with a professional design, or you hire us to design your project, it all starts here.

The focus of our design efforts has many branches including: efficiency–both in energy and how the home functions for the family–comfort, durability, and future needs. “A home should inspire a better way for us to live,” shares Ty Allen, AIA, our design/build manager. “It should respond to your needs today and also stir us to live better, to do better tomorrow.”

We find designing shelter in this way is both a challenging and an exhilarating process. Ty: “When we begin the design process we ask a lot of questions and we do a lot of listening. It is important for us to get to know our clients. Who they are; how they think; the patterns of their daily lives; the subtleties of how they live. We want to understand their vision, and how they envision themselves living in their new home.”

With this understanding, we become an extension of them throughout the process of designing and building their home so that in the end, they have a home that simply fits.

When we met Nancy and Larry to first chat about their timber frame home aspirations, we learned that Larry is a beekeeper and suddenly we were as full of questions about beekeeping as we were with answers to home designing and building. The couple shares a special affinity for nature, much like our various teams (if you’ve ever read our bios, you’ll see a reoccurring theme of ‘hiking, biking, and being outdoors’). Taking a look at the bucolic piece of farm and woodlands near Ithaca, NY was one of the first steps to designing the couple’s home. Ty Allen, AIA, our design build manager and architect, met with Larry and Nancy on their site to explore the possibilities. Ty shared with us a bit about the overall project and process:

“When we walked the site it became clear we could create a design that would give Larry and Nancy a home which engaged with both the surrounding woods and open spaces. We knew they wanted something of manageable size and easy to maintain where they could enjoy their retirement,” Ty shared.

The owners of this timber frame lakeside retreat enjoyed the original lake farmhouse on the site for many years. When it became apparent that their beloved lake house had outlived its use, they made the bittersweet decision to deconstruct it in favor of a new home.

The land, the lake, and home’s impact there was a driving force in the design. Our design team started with respecting the local vernacular and maintaining existing trees and then included advanced enclosure and mechanical systems, FSC-certified® and reclaimed wood flooring and siding, roofing made of recycled wood fiber and rubber, and a geothermal heat system—all resulting in energy efficiency and reduced environmental impact.

In keeping with local vernacular, the road side facia of this cottage home is modest and welcoming.

The broad stroke design of this home harkens to sap houses and agricultural structures of the Northeast and the flare of mountain homes for a balance of rugged and modern aesthetics. Forms evoke the traditional, such as the clerestory and the cylindrical stair tower but are tempered within via the non-traditional great room space and helical, modern stairs.

“Often I find the most beautiful designs are when you can see the function of a structure. I enjoy thinking of a balance of the purpose of a structure and function, and how the builders achieve that goal,” shared Shannon, homeowner of the Circle in a Square project. “I enjoy seeing the inner workings of things. That’s why I love timber frame structures. Take a home and its many reasons for being; there is an endless way of accomplishing the goal. You need a roof and walls and other parts and ways for them to be held up and attached. The timber frame is probably one of the most unique ways of showing how that can be done.”

Much of our design and construction planning focuses on reducing the energy our projects consume, not only to the benefit of those enjoying the home, but to the larger community and the planet. One of the best ways to influence this: special consideration, planning, and detailing of wall and roof systems (aka: the project’s envelope). I chatted with Ty Allen AIA, our design-build manager, who took us a bit deeper our current innovations and processes with our home enclosures:

Megan: Thanks for walking through this, Ty. I’m curious, what do you think are the key things to consider when you are designing the building envelope for a high-performance home?

Ty: Air leakage is one of the biggest areas of energy and efficiency loss. Think of it this way; you can have as much insulation you want, but if you leave the front door open, it doesn’t matter. Add up all of the thousands of potential points of air leakage, and it can quickly turn into a big energy and efficiency loss.

Generally, when we think about envelope design, one of the most fundamental things we want to do is define the pressure boundary. In other words, the line throughout the building in the wall-makeup where you’re creating airtightness. If there’s a break in the pressure boundary, say cold air leaking through the floor system into the living room, performance is lost.

Onlookers huddled in their coats and chatted excitedly on a cool breezy day in upstate New York while our craftsmen raised the frame for Jim and Tina’s home on Cayuga Lake. Multiple generations of the family were joined by a few guests at the site. Seeing the timbers come together and their home take shape brought plenty of smiles from Jim, Tina, their children, and grandchildren.

While there are very few flat build sites available around the Finger Lakes these days, the couple found a special spot on Cayuga Lake that is not only flat but includes a point, known locally as Allen’s Point. Open in a 180-degree expanse, our design group explained that the home’s layout is intended to make the most of the sweeping north, west, and south lake views. With plans calling for a modified “L” shape, the position of the home on the site collects those views as well as links together the north beach side with the south boat dock side of the property. (It also allows private spaces to reside in the long straight of the “L”, separate from the open public spaces.)

With the foundation in and first-floor framing in place, it was time to put the frame up. Raising days are momentous occasions, a culmination of years of dreaming and planning. We’re always glad to join these significant days as the excitement is infectious and there’s nothing quite like going from an open site to a full frame in the span of a day or two.

Designing your timber frame home starts from the outside in. Ty Allen, AIA and our design/build collaborated with Timber Home Living on a short article about the beginning of this process. Read the article below or, if you’d like an original, pick up a copy of the December 2017 issue of Timber Home Living magazine.

“No fish and no gum today?”

I was sorry to disappoint Pete for our design discussion, but I was indeed empty handed except for my notebook and pen. I reluctantly shook my head. With his usual cheer and chuckle, Pete continued, “That’s okay, Megan. Next time…both.”

I had sequestered Pete on the porch this sunny afternoon to learn more about a large lake home project the team had designed. It was raised late last year on Smith Mountain Lake and, rumor has it, is steadily nearing completion.

“I can’t say I’m feeling very linguistic today,” Pete admitted. It turned out he had been doing sheer wall calculations, which meant crunching numbers, all morning. Regardless of a head full of figures and formulas, we managed a good conversation diving into details of the design/build for this family vacation home. I even learned a new term:

Thanks, Phil and Rocio. Little did you know how perfect your timing was when you came to us and asked for a “small but perfect home”. Fertile ground indeed, and my mind raced with the many recent thoughts about working on something like a precious gem, or what we’re calling a NEW Jewel.

So many of our clients now are building smaller homes because they simply don’t need a bigger one. Seems smart for many reasons: less vacuuming, less heating and cooling, less taxes. And for many, less strain on the finances as we get to the point where retirement shines bright and hopeful.

I’ve closely followed the whole Tiny House thing, and a few of my friends have been drawn to it. There’s plenty about it on the web, but simply put they’re tightly designed and crafted homes of 200-400 square feet, often built on a chassis and wheels. Cool idea, but hard to live in for most, I’d reckon. For the jewel of a home in my own mind, I wanted to start with 1,000 square feet. Enough room for a pleasant common area, a couple of away rooms for bed and work, a couple of bathrooms and yes to a mudroom and pantry. (For Phil and Rocio’s, we ended up with 1,140 square feet.) 

While site constraints are common with any project, this particular building site on Otsego Lake demanded that any new structure fit within the previous camp’s footprint – no larger, no change in orientation, no closer to the shore. However, there was opportunity to play with the height of a new project and always room for thoughtful use of space.

The Southeast side of Ostego Lake is forever wild. The Northeast is home to a state park, the Western side is a large, privately owned estate. Thanks to good timing several years back, the client purchased this site with an existing three-season camp, on the Northwestern end of the lake. Removal of the old three-season camp revealed a tight 24′ x 31′ footprint.

When we last visited Dan & Laurie’s project on Canandaigua Lake, Pete, one of our design group architects and the design leader for the home, walked us through the site planning. I nabbed Pete again, this time to take a look inside the project at the design considerations for creating the layout and formal floor plans.

Just like last time, Pete made a quick inquiry about little orange fish crackers. I had to let him down softly; I had nothing. Looking disappointed for a beat, he moved on reminding me that Dan & Laurie’s site overlooked the lake and came with strict site constraints (not uncommon to building near water) including height restrictions, erosion/sediment concerns, setbacks, and more. He explained that the constraints drove the overall siting of the house and garage, but there were still the interior spaces (and floor plan) to negotiate.

“Dan and Laurie’s project is meant to be a multi-generational home that will act as a central gathering spot for family and friends. Overall the home has an open floor plan with the public spaces centralized on both the main and lower levels which can easily accommodate larger gatherings. Balancing that are private spaces on the ends of the home which allow folks the opportunity to enjoy their quiet space or step inwards to join the party.”

In our experience, homes are most successful when they adapt, age, and grow with their inhabitants. It’s always pleasing when we can plan ahead for changes, such as transitioning a weekend vacation space to full-time home. Hank and Julie have given us such an opportunity. The couple has a delightful build site in Vermont and enlisted our team to design their vacation home, which will eventually become their full-time retirement retreat.

Sublime views between ski areas to the north and south guided the overall home orientation, and specifically the great room layout, for Hank and Julie’s project.

Careful consideration was also given to the traditional Vermont farmhouse vernacular. The design acknowledges this aesthetic with a main gable roofline that intersects with an asymmetrical salt box gable roofline. It incorporates the couple’s desire for mountain-rustic style with mixed exterior materials and subtle timber elements. The corner of the home’s “L” shaped layout is defined with a stair tower that has evenly stacked windows and will feature shou sugi ban siding.

With a combination of woodlands and open agricultural space, the site will allow the home to be set partially within the trees at the end of a curving drive through open land. A banked garage is angled into the hillside, giving the front of the home a modest street-side facade.

The design for Jim and Regina’s home on Oseetah Lake (connected to lower Saranac Lake in NY) is affectionately referred to as a modern take on Adirondack style architecture. Oseetah Lake is well-known for paddling and fishing, as it has a mean depth of 3 ft. This build site is one of nine lots on a 500 acre privately owned natural preserve around the lake. The home will be situated on a small swale off a ridge with lake views.

The couple referenced both contemporary and traditional mountain style architecture as they described their vision to our team. Adding to our road map for design was their design questionnaire – one of the most thoroughly completed we have ever received. These questionnaires are an invaluable tool when we’re beginning the design process.  Many thanks to Jim and Regina for sharing their time and attention to detail!

The resulting first draft plan is very open with with overlapping living spaces. The form of the home calls for opposing sweeping lines in a contemporary, ‘lighter’ timber frame full of natural light and lake views.

Timber Home Living magazine documented the Olsen’s journey to building their family retreat in the Berkshires from 2014 to completion in 2016. What happens during a custom home building project? Starting with our design team join the story from the Olsen’s point of view as we craft the timber frame, enclosure, and custom woodworking. Click through each part of the eight part series below to get the inside scoop.

The Olsen’s story, and the Welcome Home Series, begins with the land…

Part 1: From Dream to Design
The Olsen’s begin designing their dream home on land they’d been spending vacation time visiting for 10 years. Harmony with the land and the family was a must.

Part 2: Laying The Groundwork
Breaking ground – an exciting day, especially with a few last minute modifications.

Part 3: Built to Last
Our team raises the frame and the Olsen family watches their dream home take shape.

“I definitely think we designed the right size house with the perfect layout. The house lives on the land and captures views. We’re so happy we decided to build this house and we’re so happy we decided to work with New Energy Works.” – Greg Olsen.

We can’t thank Greg enough for his kind words, but we can try! Many, many thanks to Greg and Dee for working with us and becoming part of our community. Designing, raising, enclosing, and completing the fine woodworking for their home was truly a pleasure. Please enjoy this final article by Timber Home Living magazine of the Olsen’s retreat home journey. (And if you missed the others, click here.)

Re-use and reclamation:

Refreshing older timber frame structures to meet modern vernaculars and layouts is an interesting challenge. It reminds us what an extremely flexible building method timber framing is. With the frame carrying the load of the enclosure, interior walls are free to be moved and adapted.

Daniel and Sheri asked for our help in redesigning their 1980s timber frame. The layout and fenestration wasn’t meeting the needs for their large family. The re-design for the existing frame has created modern, open layouts. One major change was the window design for the front fascia. Removing a beam and replacing it allowed more light and wider views from inside the home.

Many of our clients want a connected space that works well as the living room, kitchen and dining area, and are looking for this in a more intimate volume than some of the bigger great rooms we often see in timber framing and other large houses. We call this the Commons. Done well, it can feel just as comfortable when two sit down to read for the evening or twelve come for Easter dinner.

Timber Home Living magazine is covering the adventure of building a timber frame home from the ground up with the Olsen family. In this second installment, we raise the frame:

Timber Home Living Magazine is documenting each step in the design/build process for the Olsen family’s reclaimed Douglas fir timber frame home in Austerlitz, NY. Online and print articles will cover the home’s journey from architectural planning, to the frame raising, to enclosure, to completion.

Part 1, below, can be found in the October issue on sale now.

The Oregonian wrote an article on The Vermont Street Project our timber frame showhome in Portland, Oregon. The piece is packed with great design highlights and tips, images, a slideshow, and floor plans. Read it all here.