Designing a home for your parents? Charles Patterson was up for the task and created this modern, clean-lined timber frame home for his folks in Pennsylvania.
“It was quite a journey designing a home for my parents,” explained Chuck, AIA LEED AP at Schamu Machowski + Patterson Architects. “Timber framing was a contextual idea; we wanted a simple, clean, modern house but didn’t want to create something that was foreign to residential Pennsylvania. The rich warmth and scale of a timber frame or barn-like structure was logical to serve as the bones of the house.”
The streamlined form of the two-level home is highlighted with crisp exterior materials and tones. White oak timbers were the choice for this frame—they have a gentle texture and tones that grow warmer and softer as the wood ages. Desiring a natural look and feel, the timbers were left unfinished. The frame design eliminated traditional corner braces furthering the clean lines and allowing each post and beam to take center stage.