The Heritage

Experience

For clients who can make it and are at an advanced stage of considering whether to build a timber frame home, we enjoy hosting them here on our property. We are based on Mohaka River Farm, off State Highway 5, between Taupo and Napier in Hawke's Bay. Timber framing is a fairly tight knit community - very welcoming toward new comers - and more often than not enduring friendships are made during the process of building a timber frame home together, so it's a wonderful thing spending time together. While here, see the men at work in the saw mill, see the beautiful Hawke's Bay grown timber we have here drying, meet the people, take a tour through the three superb - and very different - post and beam barn show homes we have here on our property. Building a timber frame home is a big deal - so take your time, enjoy it, and do it right.

As mentioned above there are three post and beam (mortise and tenon) show homes here on the farm. These are family homes but we warmly open them up to our friends interested in seeing what life inside a handmade barn home is like. Each of the homes is an entirely different style and size, with totally different features - inside and out. One of them - interestingly - is our newly launched hybrid design.

If you have some ideas or were inspired by what you saw inside any of the barn homes here, you might like to get a visual on how it could look. Oscar (pictured here) is one of the designers working hard here everyday for such occasions. It might be quite a simple render to begin, but it's far easier to convey a vision or idea in person than it is over the phone or by email. Especially when other key staff are around - like our engineers.

Engineering is of course fundamental to any build. Between the three barn homes here on the property each has entirely different engineering specifications such as the foundation depth, due to relative wind and weather exposure. These homes are just a kilometre apart, so you can imagine how different the engineering specifications are in different parts of the country. Many of our barn homes are built in rural settings, often quite challenging places to build but amidst scenery and beautiful landscapes which make the challenge worth it. We take care of all the engineering needs, as well as the building consents.

One of our main inspirations are the early pioneers who settled New Zealand, as well as other early settlers in countries like the U.S.A. where rugged individuals worked together to create something bigger than themselves. To this end, senior Heritage Timbercraft men like Jared, Freek, Peter and Eddie lead the way. Jared applies his academic background in forestry at university in the U.S.A. and his practical experience to sourcing the finest, hard-to-find New Zealand grown timber right here in Hawke's Bay. Often up at 3am to be at the plantation by 4am, he works overtime both mentally and physically to get the best timber for our clients. Freek, master of the sawmill runs a tight operation; always calm, on-time, and accurate. Peter is across everything - he's the first port of call in the early stages and will guide you wisely and earnestly toward wherever it is you are heading. Eddie's all-in - he's been timber framing for over 10 years now and has built a beautiful two storey barn home here on the property for his family and himself, which he opens up to guests for our log-to-home tours.

We grade the timber based on quality - characteristics like how straight the log is and the volume of branches (dead or alive) coming off the stem. Boards for roof lining and cladding are taken from the outside of the log while the centre is used as the beam - one beam representing one tree. Any outside boards below par for use in a home we use here on the property for firewood, meaning all logs in their entirety are put to use - no waste.

The beams get rated for their structural integrity and ability to meet strict engineering standards, strength tested on beam testing rig where required to validate their strength.

On completing detailed drawings for every aspect of the frames (including templates for repeatable elements which ensure the pieces are the same dimensions), we sort through the beams looking for defects and of course the best pieces, along with unique attributes of the timber. This is to put the right timber in the right place - if it's beautiful and aesthetic, it faces out, for people to enjoy. Dimensions are marked indicating where the beams are to be cut, where the tenons and mortises need to go. Essentially all the show drawings are transferred to the actual timber. Quality checking is done by someone else from the team, at which point the joinery begins with the mallet and chisel. On occasion electric tools are used, but we have a strong preference for the hand tools.

Test fitting is done. Holes drilled for oak pegs. Then the fitted timber is disassembled. Most of our clients prefer untreated timber, but a fair few like a little salt solution (which greys the timber) or some natural oils - this is when we do that, in time to dry it and package it, ready for transport to the building site.

We send a gang of 3-5 men to most building sites when it comes time to raising the timber frame. Raisings take 1-4 days and are a lot of fun. Assembling it according to our engineer's specifications means we can provide our engineer with a PSW on completion, ready to file with the local Council.