Print Size: 24" x 36" (Frame Size: 24" x 36") Date: Late 1700's
In colonial America forests of huge trees afforded a ready source of building material so that timber frame houses became the norm. Sometimes called post-and-beam construction, timber framing involves taking large pieces of wood, typically 8” x 8” posts set far apart, and holding them firmly together with woodworking joints in a type of construction passed down from generation to generation for some 2,000 years. As detailed in this blueprint, wood members were joined by mortise (a hole)-and-tenon (a protrusion shaped to fit into the hole), and secured with wooden pegs. It was a simple yet elegant building system of interlocking members left exposed and unadorned, truly hand-crafted, most often by the owner and a team of neighbors. Timber framing remained the most common method of wood construction in North America until the 19th century when it rapidly disappeared as the Industrial Revolution gave rise to less time consuming balloon frame construction with mass produced nails and sawn dimensional lumber.
