timber frame house

[canoehead]

Nine years ago my wife and I headed out from england to portugal, to try and be as autonomous as we could. 

 

we didn’t have much money, but we had bought a piece of land with some natural resources, and I figured if carpenter/builders like me could build houses in the new world of North America, 300+ years ago, with little more than the tools they had and some knowledge, why couldn’t I?

 

obviously, on the side of the mountain, access is entertainingly hopeless, and everything had to be carried by hand from the road side, or barrowed off site.

 

I built the house on my own (entirely), not initially as some crazy imperative to go it alone (I worked largely on my own previously in England) but because money was so tight I couldn’t afford labour or much materials. It took months to clear and salvage the site of the existing stone buildings by hand, then hand dig the footings in rock. according to my wife, i had obsessive crafting disorder, as i had to make everything i could by hand with just site tools. i felled the trees, milled then made the frame, the shingles, the weatherboard, doors, windows, flooring, stairs, and the kitchen. If I didn’t make them, we couldn’t have them, or a house. what little money we had went on insulation, plasterboard, winging and plumbing, fixings and lumber i didn't have.

 

(just after i'd finished putting the shingles on)

 

 

Intermittently, I built things for other people, from stairs to massive timber frames, just to try and fund my build costs. 

 

(house, nearing external completion)

 

(weatherboarding)

 

 

(window trial fit)

 

 

(top flight kite winder stairs, walnut)

 

 

 

(couple of shots of the kitchen during installation)

 

 

 

2 weeks ago, just as I’d finished plumbing, we had the 3rd, in one summer, of ‘once in a lifetime’ fires rip thru this region. None of the fires were accidental, everyone knows the companies that plant eucalyptus forest are responsible, but no way of either proving it, or preventing it from happening again. this time, the implications were catastrophic for us. along with a number of other houses in the region,  our house got burnt down.

 

 

92% of the district/county suffered. it looks like a war zone. untold miles of 30m+ trees reduced to stumps.

 

This isn’t a political rant, or a please feel sorry for me post,  I just wanted to update a thread I started a few years ago, and one I had been asked to share, but hadn’t kept up with. I just wanted to thank everyone on this site for their support whilst I built the house. You have no idea how much your kind words meant to me, how they spurred me on, how they gave me hope and encouragement when there was often little to be found elsewhere. 

 

I cannot begin to tell you how difficult the whole build was, not just for me physically and mentally, but for both of us emotionally as well. It was, until the fire, the most stressful thing in our lives. it had taken 7 years before we were finally living in the (unfinished) house. we wrote about the build and life here, in this bit of portugal in a blog,  ourlifehandmade.wordpress.com

 

We lost everything in the fire, the house, pretty much every single tool I owned (which was a lot) and all our other possessions, all the things that mattered. Its been a hard couple of weeks, we are getting through it though. I have a plan to build again, when I can find another place, and get some tools, and try and start again, although I’m not religious, it is a thing of faith and hope, the stuff of life. 

[Gary Prentice]

Reading through from the start of the post and looking at the photos of the build and the beautiful interior, with some real quality workmanship, I was thinking how idyllic the setting was and how satisfied you must be with the results.

 

I can't imagine how you must now feel, to pick up the pieces and even to consider starting over again.

 

You have my sympathy and a great deal of respect & admiration. 

[kevinjohnsonmbe]

I'm lost for words fella!  I hadn't seen the previous thread but was mesmerised and massively impressed to see what you had achieved.  I had no idea the pictures were going to go down that path to the final one.  Before seeing that final picture, I was going to ask about the awesome chimney...  My heart sank when I saw the final pic and read to the end.  

 

I don't know what to say.  That was a work of art - of passion - of commitment - of skill - of determination.  Stay strong brother!

[sloth]

Wow, words can't explain it. You're obviously a damn determined family, and I'm sure you will get through it...

[Steve Bullman]

Gutted for you mate, but admire your attitude!

[Stubby]

You and your wife are incredible people . To have achieved what you did only to have it snatched away in this manner and then to consider starting again  . There are no words . 

[Sequoia]

Dear Canoehead,  I don't know your name, but you remind me of a chap called Richard Proenneke who is the subject of a book called One Man's Wilderness: An Alaskan Odyssey.  Like you, he was a true craftsman with impeccable eye for detail, the sort of chap I wish I was, but fall oh-so-short.  Let me have your address and I shall send you a copy and I hope that it will, in some way, inspire you to get up and carry on through what is arguably a complete tragedy for you and your wife.  I really feel for you mate.

[Ilnumero]

I can only guess at your emotions right now. To spend such a part of your life building something so sublime, only to see it go up in smoke must have been so harrowing.

 

I have rebuilt our own wooden house here, almost single-handedly and know what a toll it takes on you. I took about a year to recover mentally from it.

 

Your positive attitude is to be greatly admired. To take seven years to achieve something so beautiful, have it destroyed, and then to decide so swiftly to start again is so unbelievably inspiring to anyone. I wish you so much success for whatever you build next. You deserve it.

[CDMR]

I am in awe of your positivity and wish you as much good luck as possible to minimise this dreadful blow. Stay strong.

[chuck norris]

Dam shame, but if you built it once you can build it again