From Forest to Frame
We’ve all heard of the local food movement, but what about local shelter? Vernacular architecture is place-based, low- impact, durable and accessible; and timber framing was a vital part of Vermont vernacular architecture in the 18th and 19th centuries. This class will give students an introduction to the theory and practice of the age-old craft of timber framing, with a focus on 19th c. Vermont vernacular architecture. Readings, discussions and site visits to local timber frames will provide the theoretical backdrop that informs our practical work: creating a small timber frame structure. In this course students will be introduced to tree selection and felling, hewing, milling, joinery lay out, and cutting; the class will culminate in the hand-raising of our finished timber frame.

Will Wallace-Gusakov has been timber framing since the early 2000s. He has worked, taught and learned in VT, around the US, and in places like Poland, Estonia, Italy and Ghana. He has worked and lived in France with Les Compangnons du Devoir, and in 2023 was hired to take part in the rebuilding of the Notre Dame de Paris cathedral. He runs Goosewing Timberworks in Lincoln, VT./