Tag: Timber Frame Cabin Plans

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Minimalizing: A How-To in Two Parts

Our ready-to-buy timber frame cabin plans are designed for the outdoors. Their aesthetic reflects their surroundings. From exposed log beams to stone hearths and granite countertops, most components are natural. And though we feature some more modern timber frame cabin designs (those outfitted with modern appliances, outdoor fireplaces, and plumbing), all of our designs hearken to the past – especially our Historic Cabin Collection. Now, these older, more classic designs are notably smaller and more simplistic. Take the Davy Crockett Cabin plan, for instance. This 600 square foot home is little more than a loft, a hearth, and a handful of rooms (elegantly arranged of course). With the floorplan at 300 square feet per floor, this cabin design is simple, and delightfully minimalistic; yet it has all the amenities you need to thrive. It’s simple without sacrifice. I suppose that’s the point behind a minimalistic lifestyle. Simplifying doesn’t equate to loss. In fact, less may just be more. That’s why, for today’s article, we’re taking some time to talk about the minimalist lifestyle, and some tips to attain strip away some of the excess that has become so common in American living. We have quite a few tips, and quite a bit to talk about, so this how-to article will be chopped into two parts – be sure to stick around for part II!

Take The Year Test

There’s a test you can perform to help pare down items that you don’t really need. Now, this test works best with clothes, but it can be applicable to most of our other possessions as well. When you take a fresh look at your wardrobe, ask yourself, “When was the last time I wore this?” If the answer tips past a year, consider donating that item of clothing – you probably don’t need it. Note, there are certainly exceptions to this rule. Take those ski pants of yours, for instance – you just didn’t get time last winter to hit the slopes; you’ll surely ski next winter though… It’s alright; there’s no need to donate your ski pants.

OK, it’s time to apply the same test to items around your home. Scrutinize each possession. When was the last time you used the stair stepper (boy it has accumulated a lot of dust)? What about that waffle iron? And that fishbowl in the garage that has been empty ever since Darby escaped? It’s a simple, yet effective litmus test that’s sure to aid you in decluttering.

It’s OK to Quit… Sometimes

Next, it’s time to take a real look at the projects that you’ve started. Do you think you’ll ever finish restoring that typewriter? What about the motorcycle that you’ve torn apart and can’t get back together? Oh, and that collage of Lenin isn’t going to finish itself. If you’re going to abandon projects, you might as well commit to fully quitting. It’s time to scrap the motorbike and typewriter, you may get a few dollars for their metal. The collage of Lenin, that might just have to go altogether.

Next time you’re thinking about starting a project, consider this adage: It’s far easier to read one book, finish it, and move on to the next than to read six at the same time. Pick a few passion projects and see them through to the end! And if you find that a project falls by the wayside, don’t hesitate to quit with reckless abandon; it’s liberating.

Break the Tech Loop

Nowadays, we’re all tied to our TVs, phones, computers, and other smart devices. While that’s OK, it can be a time trap. Take away the temptation, and cut down on the devices around your home. In an era where your phone can do pretty much everything, that tiny device may be all the technology you need. Donate your tablet to a school, and cut the cable on your TV. Get outside instead. Or make more time for those passion projects in your life. Don’t just Facebook chat that friend that lives two states over – pile in the car and go for a road trip. You can use a vacation anyways. After all, you can always catch the news on the radio, including the weather for the week. Does the rest of it matter?

Value Experience, Not Property

Speaking of road trips, consider your valuation of experience versus property. Do you value time in the garden more than you value your marble collection? Wouldn’t you rather spend time cooking for friends and family than cleaning and polishing your antique furniture?

Strive to detach from material possessions, and spend more time experiencing the real world. Place value in experience and making memories, not the possessions that surround you…

Well, that’s all for today. Catch our next article for more information and tips to capture the minimalist lifestyle! And take some time to check out our cabin designs. Winterwoods Homes cabin plans are luxurious and contemporary, yet perfectly suited to the minimalist lifestyle.

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Designing Your Cabin’s Loft

The loft is an architectural feature that’s historically prevalent in cabin design. Since timber frame cabins feature a triangular roof, the loft is a common top-story feature. Due to their irregular shape, lofts are cozy, and uniquely characteristic of timber frame cabin designs. They can be utilized for a vast variety of applications, including all of the following programmatic uses:

Bedroom

Most often, cabin lofts are utilized as bedroom space. Large lofts can accommodate the master bedroom, while smaller lofts are ideal for guest beds or children’s beds. When implementing the loft as a bedroom, it’s important to consider who will be staying in the lofted bedroom. After all, the loft resident will have to climb stairs, or possibly a ladder, depending on the design of your cabin.

Coffee Nook

If you’re a caffeine fanatic, your new loft might be best utilized as a coffee nook. Wake up and start anew with a cup of joe, a crossword (or the sudoku if you prefer), and the sun rising through the circular window on the eastern face of your loft.

Library

If you’re a bookworm, turn your loft into your personal library. Outfit the walls of your loft with plenty of shelves to hold your archives. Be sure to lug a few of your comfiest chairs up to the loft. If you have low ceilings, you can custom build a low sofa into the corner(s) of your loft. Or, if you prefer something a bit more versatile, you can go with some Lovesac modern bean bag chairs. Don’t forget the blankets and pillows.

Study

If you need a workspace, your loft might be ideal. Tuck a desk into the loft; install shelving along the walls. What about the lighting of the space? Do you prefer to have the desk facing the window? Or do you work better when the desk is buried in the corner? How about a blackboard? You always work better with a blank slate. And you’ll need a cork board too, you like to pin up your favorite projects and works in progress.

Kid’s Fort

If you have kiddoes, you may have to sacrifice your beautiful loft space on your kids’ behalf. You’ll need a space for crafts. Plus a toy bin. Also, plan some room for a small table, board games, and tea time of course. Your children read as much as you do, so you’d better tack on a bookshelf or two. Is there still room for a of bunk beds? Perfect.

Indoor Garden

You’re a horticulturist at heart; you minored in botany back in school. You’ve decided to turn your loft into an indoor garden. Natural lighting is key. You’ll need a few skylights, and a big window at the far end of the loft. Next, you’ll need shelving. Carpet won’t do for the floors, but you’re comfortable enough with a watering can to opt for hardwood. You’ve hung a few wires from the ceiling for your vine plants, good. And you’ve built an herb planter to hang out the far window. Maybe you’ll tack a hummingbird feeder to the side of the house as well. Now that you think about it, it’d be best to have a full-blown outdoor balcony with enough room for a table, chair, bird feeder, and a dozen herb pots.

Bathroom

When your abode’s plumbing will allow for it, your loft may serve best as a master bathroom. If your priority lies in having an at-home spa treatment, transform your loft with a jacuzzi, steam shower, and vanity (with two sinks of course).

Storage

It’s far more utilitarian than the previous options, but you need the storage. Where else are you going to stow your six person tent (plus six sleeping bags and sleeping pads to boot)? Where’s that camp grill going to go? And you need a spot to store your kayak. What about the mountain bikes? And your carpentry supplies? Maybe it’s best to build another bay into the garage.

Winterwoods Homes Cabin Designs

Here at Winterwoods Homes, we love our lofts just as much as you do. You can see a few of our favorite lofts in our Cabin Creek collection of cabin designs and our Antique Cabin collection, among our other cabin plans.

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The Utilitarian Aesthetic

As Louis Sullivan – the late American architect – put it, “Form follows function.” And though aesthetic is an integral part of good design, it’s difficult to argue that it’s the most important part of architecture. After all, a building serves a utilitarian purpose: Its roof keeps you out of the rain. Its walls keep you warm. Its windows and spaces provide comfort. Sullivan derived this concept from Marcus Vitruvius Pollio, a Roman architect who noted that an edifice should embody three qualities: Firmitas, utilitas, and venustas – which is to say, a building should be solid, beautiful, and useful. Sullivan’s expansion on this concept states that form follows function as a law. He notes that this law is as true in nature as it ought to be in design: “Whether it be the sweeping eagle in his flight, or the open apple-blossom, the toiling work-horse, the blithe swan, the branching oak, the winding stream at its base, the drifting clouds, over all the coursing sun, form ever follows function, and this is the law.” Now, Sullivan’s quote might imply that an architect ought to place more weight in the “usefulness” and “solidity” of an object, over its beauty. One might say that a designed object must be utilitarian before it is beautiful. In this school of thinking, an architect should consider the function of a building before assessing its aesthetic.

Now, this idealism flies in the face of aestheticians, such as John Ruskin and William Morris, two prominent Arts and Crafts era designers. Arts and Crafts thinkers embrace the beauty and dedication inherent in producing art. Kenneth Clark – a British historian, author, museum director, and broadcaster – identified some of the Arts and Crafts ideals which his forerunner John Ruskin originally described:

  1. “Art is not a matter of taste, but involves the whole man. Whether in making or perceiving a work of art, we bring to bear on it feeling, intellect, morals, knowledge, memory, and every other human capacity, all focused in a flash on a single point. Aesthetic man is a concept as false and dehumanising as economic man.
  2. Even the most superior mind and the most powerful imagination must found itself on facts, which must be recognised for what they are. The imagination will often reshape them in a way which the prosaic mind cannot understand; but this recreation will be based on facts, not on formulas or illusions.
  3. These facts must be perceived by the senses, or felt; not learnt.
  4. The greatest artists and schools of art have believed it their duty to impart vital truths, not only about the facts of vision, but about religion and the conduct of life.
  5. Beauty of form is revealed in organisms which have developed perfectly according to their laws of growth, and so give, in his own words, ‘the appearance of felicitous fulfilment of function.’
  6. This fulfilment of function depends on all parts of an organism cohering and co-operating. This was what he called the ‘Law of Help,’ one of Ruskin’s fundamental beliefs, extending from nature and art to society.
  7. Good art is done with enjoyment. The artist must feel that, within certain reasonable limits, he is free, that he is wanted by society, and that the ideas he is asked to express are true and important.
  8. Great art is the expression of epochs where people are united by a common faith and a common purpose, accept their laws, believe in their leaders, and take a serious view of human destiny.”

Clark speaks about “good art,” “great art,” as well as both form and function. So, while dogmatically utilitarian architects place more weight in “utilitas” (or usefulness) and aesthetic idealists like Clark and Ruskin embrace the value of “art” or aesthetic, neither party can separate themselves from that which they present as the opposing end of the spectrum. In effect, you cannot have Sullivan’s form without Ruskin’s aesthetic, and vice versa. After all, the quality of any object, designed or natural, can be assessed for its utilitas as well as its aesthetic. This begs the question: Must these two ideals compete? And is there really a spectrum that divides utilitas and aesthetic?

Let’s assess two buildings in terms of utilitas and aesthetic.

The Pompidou Centre

The Pompidou Centre, or Centre Georges Pompidou, is a Parisian building that is the very definition of postmodernism and high-tech design. The architects, Richard Rogers, Renzo Piano, and Gianfranco Franchini, transformed utilitas into aesthetic. Like most modern buildings, the Pompidou Centre is comprised of hundreds of technological facets that comprise its infrastructure. There’s no shortage of pipes, electrical implements, structural beams, and the like. However, these components aren’t hidden in wall cavities behind a thin layer of sheetrock. In the Pompidou Centre, these components – the utilitarian components of the building – are entirely exposed. So in effect, form truly follows function. There are no unnecessary frills. There is no ornamentation.

Yet, the infrastructure becomes the ornamentation itself. The eye is drawn to criss-crossing exposed beams. Green and blue pipes front columns of red metal panels. An external stairway is just that: a stairway. Somehow, however, these exposed utilitarian structures accumulate to form a beautiful aesthetic. In this way, the Pompidou Centre compresses the utilitas-aesthetic spectrum; function is beauty, there is no inbetween.

The Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio

Now, let’s transition from a post-modern tech-monument to the humble home of one of the most famous architects in the world: Frank Lloyd Wright. Frank Lloyd Wright is a household name that’s synonymous with good design. Frank Lloyd Wright, who was actually a student of Louis Sullivan’s, borrowed from the concepts of form following function as well as the arts and crafts aesthetic. In his Oak Park home, he strove to blur the lines between utilitas and aesthetic. Take the living room fireplace, for instance; here, Wright employs simple, subtle ornamentation around the mantle of the fireplace, meanwhile, the craft in the arched brickwork of the opening to the hearth has just as much beauty. Here, utilitas doesn’t compromise aesthetic. The children’s room of the Wright Home is similar; a simple semicircular painting reflects the arched roof of the room. The aesthetic of the painting reflects the utilitarian lines of the ceiling; utility and aesthetic complement each other. In this way, the whole is greater than the parts, and once again, the utilitas-aesthetic spectrum is compressed.

In short, good design isn’t purely utilitarian, just as it isn’t purely aesthetic. Good design is both; utilitas and aesthetic aren’t mutually exclusive.

Winterwoods Homes Design

Here at Winterwoods Homes, we strive to provide the best in both utility and aesthetic. We specialize in designing log and timber-frame homes. Winterwoods Homes designs are functional, providing comfort and accommodation. But we don’t sacrifice aesthetic, our designs are warm and natural. With every detail, we design just for you. Take a look at our existing timber frame cabin plans, or learn more about our custom designed homes.

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The Dream Deck

Here at Winterwoods Homes, we have a passion for design. You can see that passion in our large timber frame cabin plans, our small history-inspired cabin designs, and our more modern productions.

So what makes the dream deck? Well, it’s never just one thing. In our experience, it could be any and all of the following:

The View

The view may be the first thing you want to consider when designing a deck. After all, if you’re going to spend hours on end basking in the glory of the world around you, you may as well take advantage of the natural sites and splendors that surround your abode. It’s always best to work in situ (or within the site) and adapt your home design to meet your surroundings. More about that next…

 

Working In Situ

Consider the landscape upon which you are placing your home. If you have a sloping landscape, your deck can be built to cantilever over the landscape, providing you with a full view of the expanse of foliage that pours out beyond the confines of your deck. Or, if you prefer, you can build multiple levels of decking that cascade down the slope of your landscape.

Keep in mind that trees and other natural features can frame your view or block it, and plan accordingly. Take advantage of your landscape as best you can! If you have a big boulder that’d provide great seating for guests, don’t hesitate to incorporate it into your landscape design. If you have a magnificent tree that shoots up right where you’d like your deck to sit, build your deck around that tree, don’t lop it down. You can make an existing tree and integral part of beauty of your deck. Just be sure to give the tree plenty of room to grow over the years.

Gardening

If you’re a fan of foliage, you can bring the landscape into your deck with planters and pots. Incorporate a planter into your decks fencing structure or seating area to give yourself further integration with nature.

Seating

A deck just isn’t complete without plenty of space to lounge around. You can incorporate built-in seating into your deck if you’re looking for a permanent seating solution, or you can simply leave yourself plenty of room to post up a few patio chairs. Regardless of your choice, it’s important to sort out seating and dining space as you dig into your deck design.

Cooking

If you’re the ultimate outdoor chef, you’ll need the ultimate outdoor kitchen. Build in a grill, marble countertops, cabinets, a cooler… you name it. If you’re a fan of classic cooking techniques, tack a wood-fired oven to your open-air kitchen design, and don’t forget to build in space to store your hand-selected cherry and hickory woods. Don’t forget, if you’re going to be cooking outdoors, you’ll want to include outdoor dining space to cater to guests as well. Oh, and speaking of hosting, don’t forget an outdoor bar. And since you have everything else, you might as well throw in the kitchen sink. The possibilities are endless for us grillmasters, entertainers, and outdoor cooks.

Privacy

You want privacy in your outdoor oasis. After all, it’s yours, not your neighbors. Tack on a trellis and plant vines to give your patio a natural privacy fence. Or go with a slatted cedar fence to make your space bright and warm, yet cozy and intimate. Don’t forget, you can use trees and shrubs too, they’re nature’s privacy fence. You can make your deck a getaway without sacrificing sunlight or aesthetic.

Other Amenities

Are you a green thumb? Build a greenhouse. Looking for elegance and grandeur? Go gazebo. Like to lounge? Hang up a hammock. Seeking the spa experience? Add an in-ground hot tub. Game fanatic? Build in a chess table… or a backgammon board, if you prefer. Again, the boundaries are limitless, so build a deck with an inspired design!

Winterwoods Homes Design

Here at Winterwoods Homes, design is our passion. We bring that passion to each cabin design, each detail, and, of course, every deck. Take a look at our Balsam Mountain collection, or our Cabin Creek collection for some of our best deck designs, or heck, check out our whole cabin design collection. Take note, we provide custom cabin design work, and we can modify our current cabin plans to meet your unique needs, including deck designs.

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Are Log Cabins Flammable?

It’s a common question, and a major concern for log cabin builders: Are log cabins flammable? Well, yes. But not as much as you might think. A traditional log cabin design carries less of a risk of catching fire than a traditional stud and drywall home. Let’s take a look at why.

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lc-image1Log Cabin Designs

It makes sense that people assume log cabins are susceptible to fire. After all, a log cabin is a massive pile of wood… and there’s certainly one thing that you learn in boy scouts: Wood is the best natural source of flammable material in the world, and it’s excellent for preparing marshmallows. However, wood doesn’t ignite immediately; this is especially true for bigger logs. Think about how you build a fire. You start with a bit of newspaper or some shredded wood scraps. Then you add sticks or thin splinters of wood. Then, once the fire’s alight, you can add a bigger log or two. You start with material that has a huge amount of surface area, and then you work up to a log that has very little surface area. It takes effort to get a full log ignited, and that log will burn very slowly compared to the scraps, sticks, and splinters you’d used to start the fire. The same is true of the logs utilized throughout a log cabin design. You’d have to hold a flame to any log in a log cabin for quite a while to get it to ignite and stay lit. That’s why the Log Home Builders Association states that “Log homes are actually safer than stick frame construction when it comes to house fires.”

Stud & Drywall Home Designs

The same article notes that there’s an important design difference between log cabins and stud and drywall homes (or “stick frame construction” as the article denotes): Stud and drywall homes have cut timber. Split timber is more flammable than whole logs. Plus, dimensional lumber (i.e. 2 by 4s) have more surface area by volume than round logs (Remember that a sphere has less surface area than a cube of the same volume and a circle has less circumference than the perimeter of a rectangle of the same area. Since full logs have circular cross-sections and 2 by 4s have rectangular cross sections, 2 by 4s have more surface area by volume; more surface area means more room for a flame to catch and thrive.). Due to these factors, stud and drywall homes are rated more flammable than log cabin homes. As the Log Home Builders Association puts it, “Because of the low surface area to volume ratio of large logs, they’re difficult to light on fire. The 2X4s that are used to build a conventional home are much smaller and much more exposed when near a flame, making them easier to light.”

lc-image2An Additional Benefit

There’s an added benefit to the log cabin design. Log cabins can be reclaimed after some minor fires. Since it’s unlikely that a log will burn all of the way through, logs can be reclaimed by pressure washing the wood, sanding, and refinishing the surface. When a fire strikes a stud and drywall home, you’ll probably have to demolish it and start from scratch.

So if you’re on the fence about building a home with a log cabin design due to a fear of fire, consider the facts: Log cabins are safer than stud and drywall homes, and they’re more apt for reclamation should a fire occur. If you’re looking for the best home designs, you can count on Winterwoods Homes. We provide log cabin and timber frame home designs.

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The Advantages Of A Timber Frame Cabin

Timber frame cabin designing is an art that’s here to stay. While contemporary ideals surrounding architecture mean shifts in modern design, the classic timber frame cabin stands the test of time. Timber frame cabins are warm, inviting, and they appear to grow naturally out of, and in symbiosis with, the landscape. They reflect our undeniable connection to nature, as well as the unique acuity of human design. Timber frame homes are a green solution, with an unbeatable aesthetic and incredible potential for design.

The Green Solution

Wood, like any plant material, thrives on carbon dioxide that permeates our atmosphere. As wood grows, it “traps” carbon that is within the atmosphere; meanwhile, oxygen is released. This process is beneficial for our atmosphere and it reduces the impact of global warming. Building with wood ensures that more carbon is removed from the atmosphere than produced. Producing other materials – namely, manmade materials – produces more airborne carbon than it arrests. Thus, timber frame cabin design is a far more green solution. Plus, unlike utilizing wood for fire (a nearly carbon-neutral process), building structures with wood is a carbon-positive process.

The Aesthetic

Timber frame homes are simply gorgeous. Each wood member is unique, featuring grain patterns, knots, and coloration that is distinct to that wood member in and of itself. Wood timbers give a home life and character. Timbers catch the light and reflect the beauty of natural, exposed wood.

Mixed Media

Thanks to the advent of industrial fasteners, a modern timber frame cabin can be built to meet more demanding designs. While old joining techniques, like dovetails and mortise-and-tenon joints, are perfectly apt building techniques, modern machined joints liberate the traditional timber frame home design. With a few scraps of steel, we can build with new height and greater openness, and we can build more quickly. While a single dovetail joint can take hours of planning and precision engineering (especially with a warped wood member), a steel joint can be bolted into place to reinforce your timber frame without a second thought. That means an increase in the potential for timber frame cabin designs.

The Potential

Technological advances like the steel joint free architects to design bigger timber frame cabins. We can have more expansive spaces, taller structures, and these structures can be built in a fraction of the time. In addition, structures can be build with more windows. Modern timber frame cabins can be constructed with bay windows that let in loads of light. Modern timber frame cabins can embrace the best of both contemporary and classic building techniques, and that leaves us with enlightened, liberated design.

At the end of the day, timber frame cabins work well and they look great. There may be no better design than a timber frame cabin. It is strong yet warm. Cozy and comfortable. Tried and true. If you’re looking to build your own timber frame cabin, we can aid you in creating a design. Here at Winterwoods Homes, we specialize in timber frame cabin design. Have us start from scratch with a custom design, or make our plans your own.