Fall is here and its been busy!

Here is a picture of the timer frame raising the guys did this week in Janesville, MN. next week they will be in Sturgeon Lake, MN

Energy efficiency is a staple in building a “green” timber frame home

Timber Home Living has a great article to help you with selecting the right windows & doors.

http://www.timberhomeliving.com/point-of-entry/

Part of our crew had the pleasure of helping with this timber frame raising last week in River Falls, WI.

90% of the homes we have had the pleasure of providing the timber frame for have used Insulated panels instead of conventional stick framing. What are insulated panels? Our panel supplier, Enercept, Inc. has a great tutorial on their website.

http://www.enercept.com/about-enercept-sips/structural-insulated-panels-product-profile/

Its all in the details

We take great pride in all of our hand crafted timber frames.

This cold Minnesota spring can't stop us.

Here is a picture from a timber frame raising we did earlier this month in Audubon, MN

"We wouldn't change a thing"

Is a quote from one of our timber frame homeowners who were featured in the June/ July 2012 issue of Lake and Home Magazine.

Here is the whole article.

Reflections of perfection on Ten Mile Lake

By Nancy Leasman

What could be more fun for two young boys than spending a summer watching the construction of their family’s timber frame home?

Evan and Ryan Aanerud, now 13 and 9, did just that two years ago. Their parents, Jerry and Melissa Aanerud, had spent three years scrutinizing photos and architectural magazines, discussing options with Ben Miller of Blue Ox Timber Frames in Alexandria and planning the perfect home for the almost-an-acre lot on the west shore of Ten Mile Lake southeast of Fergus Falls. The boys heard the discussions and were pretty excited when the building started to take shape in the spring of 2010.

“We dug the hole on May 14, Evan’s birthday,” remembers Melissa. “We were at the construction site almost every day.” During November, the home was finished and the family moved in.

The house perches on a bluff overlooking the lake, a site that the couple spent nearly two years to find.

“We wanted the boys to go to school in Fergus Falls, and we were looking for a lake site that wasn’t too far from the farm,” says Jerry, who plants corn and soy beans on 1,600 acres in Grant and Wilkin counties.

The lot on Ten Mile Lake fit the bill but required thoughtful layout for the house to fit. “We couldn’t do a conventional two-story house but wanted a timber frame in the main living space; we were comfortable with a conventional structure for the bedrooms and office,” he explains. The timber frame portion, constructed with structural insulated panels, has 10-foot side walls soaring to 16 feet at the peak.

The Aaneruds couldn’t be more satisfied with the result of their careful planning, Miller’s design and the meticulous construction of general contractor Jay Paulson of HighPoint Homes Inc. in Alexandria.

“We wouldn’t change anything,” says Jerry. The home has 2,500 square feet on the main floor and 2,500 in the lower level, which has nine-foot ceilings. Though not a walkout, the windows look out on the lake and, with the tall ceilings, it doesn’t seem like a basement. The lower level has three bedrooms, a bathroom, a family room and storage space.

“We carefully considered what we needed and what we could live without,” says Melissa. Tops on her list was a main-floor office. She works two part-time jobs from home: children’s ministry coordinator for CrossRoads Church in Fergus Falls and unit leader with Creative Memories.

While her office is where she spends much of her time, the timber frame part of the home is her favorite. “It’s so beautiful. Ben (Miller) is more artist than construction manager. It’s perfect,” she says, referring to the sculptural architecture of the exposed timbers.

A close second for Melissa is the mudroom where four custom-made lockers collect boots, shoes and backpacks that would otherwise add clutter to the living space.

Jerry is enamored by the extra-large custom windows of the timber frame rooms and the view of the lake from the front door.

“I love it when we come home late at night and there’s a full moon reflected in the water,” he says. They may not have thought of the moon when they planned the layout, but seeing the lake from the foyer was on the must-do list.

Two of the rooms were designed with their contents in mind. The couple had a large dining table and chairs from the formal dining room in their previous home, a big old Victorian in Elbow Lake. The dimensions of their new dining room were figured with that dining set in mind. A special alcove was also made to accommodate the family’s grand piano. Jerry had 11 years of piano lessons, and both boys are also learning to play. Evan also plays the cello and trumpet.

The floor-to-ceiling stone block fireplace acts as a divider but does not obstruct the view of the lake. It makes for cozy winter evenings on the leather sofas that have both visual appeal and durability. The furniture is eclectic and appropriate for the European rustic look that both Jerry and Melissa aimed for.

The tongue-and-groove ceilings and dark timbers are lightened by cream-colored floor tile and cream glazed kitchen cabinetry. They opted against wood floors to avoid the feeling of being surrounded by wood. “Jerry has a good eye for interior design. It was a lot of fun. He’s good at visualizing, and all I had to do was approve it,” laughs Melissa.

They also did all of the interior painting, although it was right at harvest time. “We’d get up early and paint in the mornings. Then Jerry would go work in the fields all day,” she recalls. It made for some very long days but also gave them ownership after watching most of the work being done by others.

Jerry and Melissa are happy with their life and home in rural Minnesota, though neither could have dreamed that’s where they’d be when they met in Washington, D.C., in 1993. Jerry had studied political science at the University of Minnesota Morris and went on to graduate school at George Washington University while also serving an internship on Capitol Hill. Melissa had grown up in western New York, graduated from Houghton College with a degree in international studies and was working in international relations. Both were looking for a church family and found each other at a singles group. Though Jerry “came back” to Minnesota, Melissa had never visited the Midwest and admits it was culture shock to see the wide-open fields and grain elevators dotting the landscape.

While it took some time to adjust to life in Minnesota, the Aaneruds are pleased with where they are, both literally and figuratively. If for any reason they would need to build another home, they say they would go with the same team. Why mess with perfection?

Nancy Leasman is a writer from Long Prairie.

Propane Powered Vehicles

are Part of Blue Ox Timber Frames' commitment to our environment.

Follow the link below to read an article in our local newspaper in which one of our fleet trucks was featured because of its alternative fuel source.

http://www.echopress.com/event/article/id/102148/

Red River Valley Home & Garden Show

Blue Ox Timber Frames will be at the Red River Valley Home & Garden Show this weekend at the Fargodome in Fargo, ND

 

Stop by booth # C35 and say Hi!

 

For more information visit: http://www.hbafm.com/events/home-shows/spring-show.html

 

 

Lake Home & Cabin Show this weekend!

Blue Ox Timber Frames will be at the Minneapolis, MN  Lake Home & Cabin show.

 

Stop by booth # 756 for more information on timber frame homes.

 

 

 

http://www.lakehomeandcabinshow.com/minneapolis/general-show-information

 

 

 

Timber Framing is not as easy as we make it look :)

Here are some pictures taken of a timber frame raising we did last summer in West Central Minnesota.

 

 

This Weekend is the Madison, WI Lake Home & Cabin Show

Come and visit us at booth # 302 for more info on Timber Frames

 

check out the site for more info: http://www.lakehomeandcabinshow.com/madison/general-show-information

 

Come out and visit us at

The 2013 Minneapolis, MN Log & Timber Home Show this weekend.

 

This years show will be held at the Earle Brown Heritage Center.

 

We will be in booth # 48.

 

For more info please check out this link: http://www.thelogandtimberhomeshow.com/shows/123