Building
Legacy

Glazed gable ends of an architecturally designed barn home using mortise and tenon joinery in native New Zealand bush

Preserving craftsmanship and heritage. Hand hewn timber homes and trusses made with Hawke's Bay grown timber. Reclaimed antique barns from the U.S. Landmark venues for weddings, retreats, and premium events.

Barn Homes for all Seasons

We hand select the finest trees available from plantations near our farm in Hawke's Bay - Douglas-fir or Macrocarpa often, but various exotic and specialty species like Japanese Cedar and English Oak also. We fell the trees, grade, mill and dry the timber in our yard. When a design is settled on, our team hand craft every piece of timber to the finest degree. We live and breathe timber. Tradition is in our blood. Simplicity and heritage are how we live. If it's worth doing, it's worth doing to the best of your ability.

Legacy

Heritage

Exterior of a striking alpine timber frame hotel built with mortise and tenon joinery in Hanmer, NZ

Generations

Modular double storey SIP barn timber frame home exterior

Designs

Browse our designs to get inspiration for your own build.

Browse

Mortise and tenon joinery on a legacy home in Hawke's Bay NZ

Architects

We co-create architectural experiences. Our expertise in mortise and tenon joinery and bespoke timber systems allows architects to deliver spaces where structure becomes art.

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What legacy are you building?

More than a few people said we were crazy when we laid out our plans to build mortise and tenon barn homes around New Zealand, the old-fashioned way with a chisel and mallet.

For generations to come.

"From start to finish, the experience has been outstanding. Even now, every time we walk through the doors, we’re still struck by the wow factor. With our strong affinity for Japanese design, we wanted to merge that aesthetic with Kiwi and Scandi influences – and Heritage Timber Craft brought that vision to life beautifully. We honestly don’t think we would have achieved this result through a traditional building company. The craftsmanship, creativity, and attention to detail exceeded our expectations at every step."

Esther, Raglan

How is value added to timber in New Zealand?

Love coming home

You spend most of your life at home, so you should probably love where you live. If you're comfortable at home, you'll be comfortable anywhere, knowing you have your beautiful personal space awaiting your return.

New Zealand's best timber truss maker, Heritage Timbercraft, use locally grown Douglas-fir or Macrocarpa and make all trusses by hand in their Hawke's Bay timber yard

Bespoke timber trusses can transform any space. Learn more.

Modern kitchen timberframe home of the year

Inside

Outside

Spectacular timber joinery by New Zealand's top carpenter based in Hawke's Bay

Details

An Immersive Experience

Building with us is a unique experience because we fell the timber ourselves from private farms here in Hawke's Bay. We grade it, dry it, mill it and take it all the way through to its final stage - your home. As such it's a real journey, and we welcome our clients to be a part of it here on our farm between Taupo and Napier.

Luxury countryside barn home with traditional timber frame and river views

Display Homes

We have three display homes which we open by appointment for Heritage Timbercraft clients and for those interested in the timber framing process. We warmly invite you to come see for yourself, what an authentic handmade timberframe barn is like up and close. Each barn is completely different in style, and price range and conveniently located within walking distance of one another as well as our sawmill, right here on our farm in Hawke's Bay.

Our display homes

Mortise and tenon joinery accentuates the quality and characteristics of the timber

Feature article - About mortise and tenon

While many modern timber houses use engineered or interlocking systems designed for speed and efficiency, traditional mortise and tenon timber framing represents a very different philosophy of building.

Read the article