With some thought and planning, you can visually communicate your timber home's aesthetic appeal to the world. Here are strategies designers recommend to bring architectural vitality to the outside of your home.
Entry Appeal
The front entry area is the most logical space to announce you've invested in a timber home, says Architect Katherine Hillbrand with SALA Architects in Stillwater, Minnesota.
Some entryways feature trusses (decorative or structural), such as a king post with curved struts, a queen post or a hammerbeam. The latter is used to span wider spaces. Any of these trusses mounted above a porch or front door can give visitors the feeling of entering a magical forest of sturdy trunks and graceful limbs. Other places to throw in timber elements:
- Porches
- Frames of windows
- Gable trusses and decorative brackets between the eaves and the walls
- Porte-cochere
Outside Elements
- Timber home owners are adding an entry gate to their drive with enchanting results, naming their property or even attaching a logo or replica of their brand if they're ranchers.
- Another favorite option among recent home buyers is the out building with timber accents. This can run the gamut from a barn, garage, pool house, boathouse, hot tub or barbecue shelter to sunrooms, patio shade structures or a portico that links a garage to the backdoor.
- For timber highlights that are a little easier on the pursestrings, try lampposts, trellises and even timber-accented furniture to add a rustic appeal to your surroundings.
Read the full story in the August/September 2005 issue of Timber Home Living.
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The Art of Hybrid Timber Framing
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