I’ve
always loved travelling to places where the architecture has a story. Where the fingerprints of time and hard-work,
aided by elements and years spent in God’s presence, created a home that held
it’s own history and left you wondering what stories it held. From old barns with hand hewn beams that hold
untold hours of work from farmers hands to tiny stone bungalows that held
families who ran on cold floor boards to warm morning fires…there is something
beautiful those aged axe marks and moss covered stones.
And the struggle we found as we set pencil
to graph paper is how do we create a new home, that looks like it belonged here
before we came along…that wasn’t marked by latest trend, that would feel just
as relevant fifteen years from now as it would have fifteen years previous. The
hope that our home would make others feel welcome, like it was built to house
memories shared with family and friends,
and coffee with a neighbor…
Planning itself began with the aid of
internet searches and pinterest boards. I specifically love the aspect of
design and have probably always had one or two “what if” houses on paper
somewhere. So when we knew we where
building the actual process of planning was probably one of the most amazing
creative things I’ve ever gotten to do.
We had originally hoped to build a timber-frame structure, but soon
found that financially and creatively it came with a few too many challenges
for us. As an alternative we decided to
use timber without the structural component on the interior and structurally
for posts on the exterior. That also
freed us to design just about anything we desired with the floor plan. We took our inspiration for an exterior shot
of an old farmhouse online and began working on a floor plan that would meet
our needs and create an exterior that modeled the look we were trying to
achieve. I enlarged the design on a
large sheet of cardboard and hung it in our room, a sharpie near by waited and
anytime over the span of about six months I thought of a change that would function
better, we would mark it on the plan. So
by the time it went to the draftsman it was pretty well tweaked down to the
last square foot.
I think one of the most important elements
for us was the reclaimed wood we used in the house. And then from that we choose material that
would compliment it. Deciding where to
place the timber was a combination of looking at pictures online that inspired
us, and creating something that felt our own...My father was a sawyer and so
beams and timber bring back memories of my childhood, and although we love the
look of wood we wanted to be careful not to let it overwhelm the house…so every
place we put it would feel special.
We love how the authentic nature of the
Windswept Weathered Wood
The result for us has been something we
love. From thanksgiving with our big
extended family to coffee with new friends, we have gotten to enjoy the moments
we hoped to in this house already. I
love the way the materials pulled together, to make the house melt into it’s
surroundings. It already holds memories
we brought with us, like the turquoise door from Lorne’s grandparents
homestead, and has begun already to house new precious moments. How special it is to walk up the drive coming
in from the fields, or rounding the bend from a long day hauling children or
groceries, and feel the smile in your soul as you “come home”.
Glen Ehrhardt, President
Harvest Timber Specialty Products
PO Box 59
Lakebay, WA 98349
p. (253) 884-6255
f. (253) 884-6256
email windsweptwood@gmail.com
