Hands at Work
Southern Accents September 2000
In a rural Blue Ridge Mountain setting, the handicrafts of local artisans firmly tie a family’s second home to the area’s heritage. Download the article (see below) to learn the story behind this timber frame home.
A Story of Craftsmanship Through Timber Framing
Set on a rise in the Blue Ridge Mountains, this Southern Accents feature shows how a second home can feel truly rooted in place when it’s a timber frame home built by hand — and built locally. Architect Frank Cheney teamed with Blue Ridge Timberwrights to express regional craft in the timber frame structure itself: exposed porch trusses and living-room timbers were fabricated from 100-year-old, hand-hewn beams and assembled with authentic mortise-and-tenon joinery and pegs for an aged, time-earned character. Native stone in dry-stacked foundations and chimneys, wood-shingle siding, and a standing-seam roof were chosen to weather naturally into the landscape.
Inside, the craft story continues with reclaimed-chestnut flooring, chestnut cabinetry by Willis Woodworks, forged entry hardware by Kayne & Son, a stained-glass entry by Architectural Concepts, and a dramatic, free-form stair rail of twining oak branches by Savannah metalworker John Boyd Smith. Designer Linda Carr tied the look together with finishes such as a checkerboard-stained oak floor that nods to traditional patterns. Cheney notes that coordinating true handwork requires trust, samples, and sketches — and carries a modest premium (about 15% more for decorative work, hardware, and millwork) — but the result is a house whose beauty and authenticity made the effort worthwhile. Blue Ridge Timberwrights’ sourcing and precise fabrication of antique timbers were central to that outcome.
