Mountain majesty meets the traditional colonial style

The Andover is the perfect skiing getaway, nestled into the Green Mountains of Vermont. You can count 5 different ski resorts looking out from the great room windows. The great room is particularly spectacular. It also presented the greatest challenge. Two valley rafters, composed of many varying compound miter cuts, begin on their respective cantilevered plates, and end on a purlin. The joinery at the purlin was particularly impressive. Not only does each valley have to mate to the ridge beam, they also had to wrap above and below the purlin to make a secure connection. The “scroll ends” on each of the plates are the cherry on top.

The tall cathedral ceilings, intricate roof system, large windows, and huge fireplace make for a truly awe inspiring great room. While visiting for the photoshoot, the homeowner shared a neat story with us. One day while he and his son sat in the great room, his son said, “I feel like I am being hugged by trees.” Which isn’t far from the truth. Each timber in the great room was once a tree standing in forests not far from where the home sits now. Timber framing is a sustainable building method that, when paired with SIPs, actually uses less wood than conventional stick framing.

The Ward Timber Frames team is particularly proud of this one. The entire timber frame project was tackled by three guys with a good attention to detail. They cut all of the joinery in about a month and erected the frame in another week. We are thankful for the homeowner, who not only chose us to do this project, but also let us document it and share it with you.