Greetings from Green Mountain Timber Frames! Here at GMTF, we care deeply about regenerative practices, and this extends well beyond our passion for saving and restoring old agricultural buildings. We strive to foster in our own lives an attentiveness to the wisdom and teachings of past generations who lived, worked, gardened, and farmed in the barns that we restore. We are inspired by people right in our own community doing amazing things and working incredibly hard to bring back a healthy connection between our food sources, the land, and our community.  In this spirit, we a ..read more

Greetings from Green Mountain Timber Frames! It has been such a busy few months of barn restorations. Now, at this quiet time of year, it has been good to take some deep breaths and to reflect on a very special project and the many people whose support and help made it possible. We have wrapped up work on the restoration of the Reuben Waite barn at our very own shop location. Back in July, we had our barn raising. You can read about the barn’s first life, and our preparations for the structure, here. The raising was a success, thanks to our amazing team, family, and friends. The restored bar ..read more

As we arrive at the darkest time of the year, and as the temperatures here in the Vermont hills have begun to dip below zero, our team has had the opportunity to slow down, rest a bit, and reflect. It has been a year very full of restoring timber frames and, especially after back to back barn raisings in Virginia and Georgia, we were ready for a break. So, what was an appropriate way to spend these past couple of weeks as the darkness encroached and the thermometer went low? One of the ways that we have caught up, both pragmatically and spiritually, was to give some attention to our arsenal of ..read more

We have had a very special project for Green Mountain Timber Frames in the works for over a year. Despite some delays in light of the current coronavirus outbreak, we are moving forward with raising the barn that will become our very own craftsman workshop!  The Reuben Waite Barn Last year, we became aware of a barn that needed saving. It was in very rough condition on the outside when we first visited it. The family that owned it had done what they could to keep it standing and shedding water, but it had no foundation to speak of, and it was beyond the possibility of being repaired in pl ..read more

It was “raising day” for a beautiful little corn barn that Jonathan Atwater built almost 200 years ago! On his 227th birthday, the Green Mountain Timber Frames team was putting the original roof boards back on the restored frame. The day was sunny but cold, and as my family took our normal morning walk to school, we took a detour through the town cemetery. We were there to pay our respects and visit the grave of Jonathan Atwater, born on February 8, 1793. Exploring the History of this Wonderful Timber Frame  We are very fortunate that the history of our very own Middletown Springs is re ..read more

As we arrive at the darkest time of the year, and as the temperatures here in the Vermont hills have begun to dip below zero, our team has had the opportunity to slow down, rest a bit, and reflect. It has been a year very full of restoring timer frames, and especially after back to back barn raisings in Virginia and Georgia, we were ready for a break. So, what was an appropriate way to spend these past couple of weeks as the darkness encroached and the thermometer went low? One of the ways that we have caught up, both pragmatically and spiritually, was to give some attention to our arsenal of ..read more

“Mr. Perry procured a deed of one of the original proprietors of the town of Tinmouth in 1777 of a large piece of land, then in that town, now Middletown.” So begins the story of one of our most magnificent barn frames for sale. How do we know this? Because this history of our very own Middletown Springs is recorded in a series of lectures that were delivered by Barnes Frisbie, a resident of the nearby town, Poultney Vermont. The lectures were given in 1867. What a treasure of a book, and a true gift to those of us here that seek to find the human and architectural stories in our history ..read more

I am excited to share a little update about life here in Middletown Springs and what we’ve been up to. This blog was written by my amazing partner, Sara Young. We have had a sweet year, indeed, and we want to tell you about a brand new venture that’s brewing… “It has been just over a year now since we made a dream come true! With a leap of faith, some hard work, and support from family and friends, we were able to purchase a 52-acre property here in Middletown Springs to serve as the new home base for Green Mountain Timber Frames. The property provides Luke and his crew the space the ..read more

Recently, we wrote about our crew’s journey to Vermont’s North East Kingdom, where we disassembled 4 old barns from the Daniels’ Farm. In this sequel, I’ll explain how we removed the siding from the timber frame structures, show images of the beautiful marks we found on the wood, and share some details about the history of the area.  How We Removed the Siding from the Gunstock Frame After we disassembled the 26×50 cow barn, we moved on to the large gem of a barn in this Waterford “family.” It is a magnificent 32×42 foot timber frame that we will be restoring and relocating. We started by ..read more