Finally Bought Some Land

[ides1056]

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Some more photos, since you like traditional Japanese, hence timber-framed, buildings. I built this barn for my wife, a broken-back salt-box. The frame has very simple joinery, through tenons, wedged and pegged. The floor joists sit on the bents, instead of being mortised. My neighbor cut the frame to my design. Once it was up, everything was square, level and plumb, and I could life every other stick on my own to finish it. Of course I would up with wicked tendonitis, but it healed.

Metal roofs will hold snow depending on the aspect, pitch, and color. Doors are better situated at the gable ends.

[ides1056]

Just went up the hill and took these to explain what a cruck frame is.

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The most spectacular examples are tithing barns in England.

The bents are A-shaped, instead of the typical H-shaped, and use scribe rule rather than square rule to lay out.

sorry if this is TMI

[lumpy]

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Some more photos, since you like traditional Japanese, hence timber-framed, buildings. I built this barn for my wife, a broken-back salt-box. The frame has very simple joinery, through tenons, wedged and pegged. The floor joists sit on the bents, instead of being mortised. My neighbor cut the frame to my design. Once it was up, everything was square, level and plumb, and I could life every other stick on my own to finish it. Of course I would up with wicked tendonitis, but it healed.

Metal roofs will hold snow depending on the aspect, pitch, and color. Doors are better situated at the gable ends.

That looks beautiful, and absolutely bomber.

I don't know what the average annual snowfall is for Pittsfield, I think it's more like 60 or 65? But we got something like 47 inches in January 2011, which is when our crappy garage, which was so rotten I was afraid to jack it up and fix it, gave up the ghost. Lots of other barns and garages came down that month too.

I think the record annual snowfall is something like 145 inches.

Hillsdale can't be that different?

[xjoex]

My average snowfall is 139" and I have a metal roof, so far no problems.

In my desert place I have a flat roof, but the average rainfall is 9".

-Joe

[j44ke]

The weather is weird. It is affected by the Hudson River to the west, which at that point acts like a big lake. And then there are the Taconic-Berkshires to the east. Hillsdale is just below the top of a valley that opens to the south and becomes this beautiful sheltered grasslands beneath on its way to Dutchess County. So while obviously with an annual average of 40 inches, it gets snow, I think it could be slightly different than areas east and north. I've watched the weather from afar since November, and when I've thought for sure there would be snow, there has been rain and when expecting rain, then it snows. So I plan to study it carefully and ask locals whenever I can questions about the weather!

I think 2010/11 was when we got a couple big dumps of snow in each of those winters. 2010 was the bad one in NYC where ambulances got stuck while transporting people to the hospital etc. The city got almost 3 feet or something.

We looked at three properties (among the many) that had timber framed barns on them. They were each tempting in their own way. Here's one of them. Looks like it is still for sale. Property is nice. The western edge of the property is a dead drop off. 75-100' down? You can see the barn location here if you turn on satellite, but if you look on the topo to the west, you can see the cut that creates the drop off.

[ides1056]

According to one site, 50 inches of precip, 80 snow for Worthington. This can vary wildly year to year.

[ides1056]

I figured the barn would be beat, but no, it's totally renovated. That's very fair price from where I sit.

[j44ke]

I figured the barn would be beat, but no, it's totally renovated. That's very fair price from where I sit.

I even checked to see how much it would cost to move it, and I guess the number didn't sound horrible because I don't remember what it was.

[Mabouya]

I just came across this story on the BBC web site, so of course I thought of this thread.

THIS is living out in the woods. (and not in a old City of Fairbanks Transit System bus)

One family's life in the wilderness - BBC News

In the US state of Alaska, the Atchley family are the only people who live anywhere along the 250-mile (400km) length of the Nowitna River.

Over the past 18 years, only a handful of people have ever visited them in their remote location, 100 miles from the nearest town, Ruby.

Photographer Ed Gold went to meet the Atchleys, who spend 11 months of the year in isolation.

[vertical_doug]

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I went the opposite direction- hand hewn log home.
This is western red cedar. I had the logs cut in BC then shipped to Japan and finished into the house. (Japan locally really only has spruce and the logs are not as big)

The house is super relaxing, the wood keeps it smelling great and it is very warm in the winter.
The only drawback is hornets and wasps also find the house very relaxing and love to build nests.

Like Joe, I have a metal roof and the area gets between 140 to 250 inches of snow a year. Hence the high foundation.

Below is the road to Tateyama which is about 30 minutes from my house on the other side of the mountain. It acts like a snow fence. This is what 66 feet of base looks like in May.

My buddies place in Niseko gets around 600 inches a year, so everyone can stop complaining about shoveling. It makes you appear weak.


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[j44ke]

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I went the opposite direction- hand hewn log home.
This is western red cedar. I had the logs cut in BC then shipped to Japan and finished into the house. (Japan locally really only has spruce and the logs are not as big)

The house is super relaxing, the wood keeps it smelling great and it is very warm in the winter.
The only drawback is hornets and wasps also find the house very relaxing and love to build nests.

Like Joe, I have a metal roof and the area gets between 140 to 250 inches of snow a year. Hence the high foundation.

Below is the road to Tateyama which is about 30 minutes from my house on the other side of the mountain. It acts like a snow fence. This is what 66 feet of base looks like in May.

My buddies place in Niseko gets around 600 inches a year, so everyone can stop complaining about shoveling. It makes you appear weak.


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Whoa. That's some kind of snow. Mind boggling. In a way, the area is lucky it isn't rain, because there would be a lot of flooding, wouldn't there? One thing I've always wondered about places that get massive amounts of snow - what do the snow plows look like? That snow has to be an accumulation not one snowfall, but how do they preserve the walls along the roadway without a giant cornice developing that threatens to bury the cars?

My sister-in-law and her husband retreated to Providence Forge, VA to live on the Chickahominy River for daily kayaking. They didn't build their log home - the previous owner did - but they like it. And they have issues with carpenter bees and carpenter ants who've decided that their house is the mother of all log piles. They get the outside of the house treated periodically and the bee holes filled. But it has been good for them as a challenge to stop obsessing about controlling everything and relax, which is why they moved out of the city in the first place.

BTW, the people we rent a house from in Italy own a lumber company in Washington that sends almost all their product to Japan. They set up their facility to mill everything to the dimensions & style required by Japanese building. I can dig up their info if you are interested.

[vertical_doug]

Baywest Log & Timber Homes

These are the guys I used.
They shipped about 4000 homes to Korea, Japan and other places. They do mostly 8inx8in milled homes. Those are pretty nice too and something to consider.


Hakuba also gets 74 inches a rain a year, and periodically if a typhoon crosses the island, you get hammered.

[davids]

Can you guys wake me up when you finish talking about barns?

Thanks!

[j44ke]

Can you guys wake me up when you finish talking about barns?

Thanks!

Haha - okay.

I was looking at these. Interesting house shapes. The first couple are in Norway and by the same architect.

Stepped roof creates viewpoint atop Norwegian retreat by Lund Hagem

Concrete canopy shelters Lund Hagem's holiday home

This one is in Thomas' neighborhood. Not very interesting shape, but the interior is well done.

GIAN SALIS ARCHITEKT – WOHNHAUS AM HANG

A minimal Japanese house. Weird site on which to build a house (trees?) but appropriate built-in shade and tremendous cross ventilation!

villa921 - Architizer

This is the work of Olson Kundig. Slightly over the top but pretty spectacular nonetheless. Watch the video for the full effect.

Island Escape: Experience 24 Hours In Olson Kundig's Spectacular Transforming Beachfront House - Architizer

Kind of nifty multi-unit but single house design in Sweden

https://architizer.com/projects/villa-n1-1/

Nice house in Naramata, BC. (video)



For those joining late, this is my favorite house so far.

http://www.jeanverville.com/projet/f

Shoji screens, tatami, Japanese cabinetry, etc. in NYC.

http://www.miyashoji.com

In terms of landscaping and gardening, this seed supply company has really interesting mixes for a variety of soils, including reclaiming land that has been strip mined. I found them through Storm King, the art park near Kingston NY. The landscaper there recommends their seed mixes. These are not your "meadow in a can" mixes with germination rates under 20%. These are full on high germination percentage multi acre mixes like highway departments (or Storm King) use.

http://www.ernstseed.com

[vertical_doug]

Haha - okay.


A minimal Japanese house. Weird site on which to build a house (trees?) but appropriate built-in shade and tremendous cross ventilation!

villa921 - Architizer
]

They probably bought the lot and if you don't control the contractor in Japan they will clear cut and flatten. The Japanese have a reputation for liking nature but in reality, they have never seen nature they don't want to spray concrete on.

You can see the crazy tetrapod concrete blocks on the coastline or the sabo dams in the rivers. Concrete everywhere.
(They wrecked my favorite swimming whole with their latest sabo dam in Hakuba.)

It may look modernist, but have enough concrete and all you get is an eyesore.


Iriomote is hot and humid as hell. Even with the cross ventilation, I doubt the design works. In the background, you can see traditional concrete block mansions (apartments) with people hanging their futons over the railings.

[davids]

Ahh, much better!

I like that second Lund Hagem house - the one with the concrete canopy - a lot. Plus your favorite, the one that's going to keep you & your wife sprightly with all those stairs!

And that seed company - wow! Thanks. Now that we've realized we want a little lawn, I'd like it to be kind of lush. Well, lusher than it is. This place can almost certainly help me.

[j44ke]

Ahh, much better!

I like that second Lund Hagem house - the one with the concrete canopy - a lot. Plus your favorite, the one that's going to keep you & your wife sprightly with all those stairs!

And that seed company - wow! Thanks. Now that we've realized we want a little lawn, I'd like it to be kind of lush. Well, lusher than it is. This place can almost certainly help me.

Landscaping is a long way off except that you have to landscape the septic and the driveway and the design of the house may include plantings, so maybe not such a long way off - but we do have an open area that I think would make a great meadow. I'd like to have spring to fall blooms if possible. And have it be a complete riot with nicely laid paths and an area to cook and eat outside. So now that I think about it a bit, it probably is sooner rather than later.

My only concern is ticks. I really don't want to encourage ticks. But I hiked through a lot of fields looking at land, and the ones that had ticks always seemed like they should have ticks, while some other, even though they had armpit high hay grasses we had to wade through, didn't have a single one. Must be a way to do it without increasing the ticks. So I will probably consult with someone who knows more about that than I do. County ag, dept of health, local scientist, etc.

[echelon_john]

In the vein of joinery/woodwork, there are a ton of very cool videos of Japanese joinery techniques. Benefit being that you could deconstruct the whole thing and move it if you want!

Here's the starting point; others linked on Youtube:

[davids]

Landscaping is a long way off except that you have to landscape the septic and the driveway and the design of the house may include plantings, so maybe not such a long way off - but we do have an open area that I think would make a great meadow. I'd like to have spring to fall blooms if possible. And have it be a complete riot with nicely laid paths and an area to cook and eat outside. So now that I think about it a bit, it probably is sooner rather than later.

My only concern is ticks. I really don't want to encourage ticks. But I hiked through a lot of fields looking at land, and the ones that had ticks always seemed like they should have ticks, while some other, even though they had armpit high hay grasses we had to wade through, didn't have a single one. Must be a way to do it without increasing the ticks. So I will probably consult with someone who knows more about that than I do. County ag, dept of health, local scientist, etc.

Landscaping is (ahem) new territory for me after 3 decades in apartments and condos. I started mentioning it to friends last year and was astonished to find out lots of folks I'm close to know lots about this subject. We'd just never talked about it because it wasn't a common concern. Kind of like trying to learn French and finding out all your friends are already fluent...

We tore up half the lawn and, after mulching it for 10 months, will plant a whole bunch of stuff in a couple weeks. The other half will remain grass, behind some kind of fencing, to be a private-ish yard.

I've got 7000 square feet in an urban corner. You'll have different challenges!

[j44ke]

We had a large front and back yard in Phoenix, and I ripped out the grass, laid down desert soil, made a patio and walk, and planted the hell out of it with cacti, aloe and euphorbia, plus creosote bush and several other kinds. Everything was about microclimates - 6" one way or another could spell success or failure for some of the plants. Water, sun, evaporation, morning light, evening light, etc. etc. etc. I learned a lot. These are the only photos I have digitized, but you can sort of get the idea.