Guest Blog & Photos by Kelsey Boyer (Timber Frame Project Engineer on our West Coast Team)

As the weekend grew closer and closer, the forecast looked more and more ominous. Despite the onslaught of snow that had arrived the previous weekend shutting down roads and stranding drivers, warm weather threatened the glorious conditions for backcountry skiing in the Oregon Cascades.

Anxiously awaiting the reports of conditions, my co-worker David and I decided that the rain was brief enough, the weather just cold enough, and the overnight snow that had fallen would be enough. Out into the wilderness we would go seeking adventure.

As we put on our boots, strapped ourselves into our skis, equipped with avalanche beacons and rescue equipment, we started our trek. An hour and a half of skinning (a ski term that refers to walking with skis that have strips of material, or “skins”, attached to the underside to provide traction while not traveling downhill) later, we reached the base of the area we hoped to ski down.

On a recent weekend I visited 21 sites in New York from Friday night until Sunday evening.  I was touring with some west coast-based members of our timber framing team.  The goal is sharing, connecting, and learning from recent and ongoing projects as well as some from our long past.  I think I’ll write more about this trip in an upcoming post, as we were all deeply affected, with a Friday night ride on the Buffalo Heritage Carousel and ending with an acapella performance at Christ Church in Rochester and touring the Baroque period organ project there.

The tour left us all pretty stunned.  Even for me, who had been part of these projects.  Seeing it all together like this was magic, if a bit overwhelming.

Towards the end of Sunday, we were at our longtime clients Tom and Karen’s place in the Finger Lakes when Tom said, “Hey our neighbor Larry stopped by and when he heard you were coming was adamant you guys visit him as well.”  Wow, a total warm wind of memory whipped right through.  Larry H.  We built for him in 1988.  And when his name comes up, so do the stories…

Affectionately referred to as “Trout Point” by the homeowners, the timber framed addition to this family home was built with recreation at heart. Seamlessly integrating with the existing house, the bar and game room is a place where the homeowners and their friends can kick back and relax while enjoying Keuka Lake in the Finger Lakes region of New York State. 

Featuring a custom woodworked bar, dart board, wine storage area and integrated shuffleboard court crafted by NEWwoodworks, this space allows for year-round fun with family and friends. The entire project allowed for creative expression in its design and execution with results that the homeowners describe as a dream come true.

Because of the homeowner’s willingness to freely embrace the talents of the design and build teams they assembled for the project; these clients are regarded by everyone who has played a role in the addition as dream clients for creating an atmosphere where creativity could flourish, and partnerships thrived. We caught up with a few of the key players who shared their experience on this most beloved of projects.