The Purceville home will be situated on nearly 20 acres of rich farmland, with an abiding red barn located on the property. The owners, a 747 pilot and his wife, a real estate appraiser, were very active in designing their dream home.

The owners will also be acting as general contractors and providing much of the labor for the project themselves. This strategy will help keep the overall construction costs for the project relatively modest. Their post and beam home is designed to have capacity for their 3 teenage children as well as one colossal elk chandelier.

In fact, the chandelier was so immense that the house had to be redesigned to accommodate it! This Purlin framed home was initially intended to be of hybrid design in order to conserve material costs. The owner/general contractor determined that the expense of merging the timber framing with conventional construction would not necessarily be a cost saving effort, so he opted to use Timberpeg traditional mortise and tenon construction for the entire home —all 6, 000 sq. ft. A three car conventionally built garages attaches to the main house by a breezeway amidst traditional post and beam accents.

The southern exposure of the home takes full advantage of the sun exposure, drawing in natural light and showcasing the natural beauty of the outdoors. The owners chose to make use of the natural resources of the land by milling the trees removed from the building site and use them as flooring for the home.

This frame raising is scheduled for April, 2006.

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