Vermont Timber Frame Home: Ski Patrol

Once planned as a vacation retreat, a Vermont home proves to be so irresistible that one family decides to set down permanent roots.

By Reed Kariam

Photography by Rich Frutchey

Reprinted from Timber Home Living

The Lennox home also comes alive through the fine woodworking of their general contractor Dan Rapphahn’s company, Northland Builders, in Peru, Vermont. “I use a small crew, and we’re all trim carpenters and cabinet makers,” Dan says. Floors of red birch, hickory and ash give each room a distinct character. For the basement bar and home theater, pine harvested from the Lennox’s property adds warmth.

The house was intended as a vacation home, but while they were building, the couple’s youngest son announced he wanted to attend Stratton Mountain School, a skiing academy, and their oldest boy, also an avid skier, said he’d enjoy seeing more of his Vermont friends. The decision was simple. “We decided to make the move,” says Jeff. And now they live there year-round.

Yes, you can give into the envy now. If you’ve ever had a dream about building that perfect timber home in New England ski country, here’s a fair warning: You’re going to have deal with some envy as you read this story.

Jeff and Linda Lennox and their two teenage sons were living in Connecticut, but they regularly spent holidays in Vermont, where they had a second home. When the couple decided to build a larger timber frame home there, they thought it would be for vacations and eventually retirement. “We’d always been interested in the timber frame structure,” Jeff says, whose father built a timber home and introduced them to the concept. “We didn’t want anything quite so rustic, but we loved the idea.”

The couple found 27 acres of wooded land with a pond and a view that stretches 25 miles across verdant folds of forest to Stratton Mountain. Then, incorporating ideas they’d seen in various floor plans, Jeff sketched out a basic design. He brought it to Davis Frame Co. in Claremont, New Hampshire, after talking to company representatives at a home show.

It turned out to be a wise choice. “Our company thrives on personalization,” says Reid Greenberg, director of marketing. That would prove critical as the Lennox’s revised and worked out the details of their plan with the company. “It was the largest project we’ve done that didn’t have an architect,” says Reid.

The Lennox’s home turned out so well, Davis Frame created a model, the Forest View, based on the design and has four similar houses in the works. “We should give the Lennox’s a commission,” jokes Reid.

Simple Design, Grand Dimensions
The secret seems to be a design that captures the essential virtues of a timber frame home without seeming ostentatious. The home’s soaring great room has a dramatic walk-around central fireplace, eaves more than 16 feet high, 10-by-12-inch Douglas fir beams with chamfered edges and a wall of windows to take advantage of the south-facing view. “I love being down in the great room or up in the loft with the sun streaming in through the windows,” says Linda. “We often see beavers, river otters and all kinds of wildlife near the pond. I just love that.”

To see the Forest View model floor plans, very similar to the Lennox floor plans, please visit our timber frame website! Or if you would like to see more photos of the Lennox home, please visit our gallery.

Builder: Northland Builders, Owner Dan Rapphahn, 802-824-6769

Kitchen/Bath Cabinet Designer: Designs for Living, Owner Wendy Johnson, 802-366-1702, http://www.designsforlivingvt.com/