Stone is such a durable and desirable building material. We wanted to incorporate some into Underhill House. Helen and Scott Nearing, pioneering back-to-the-landers, who built their house and farm buildings from stone on their Vermont land, were rich in a flinty sort of igneous rock formed from cooling lava. Unfortunately, […]
Fitting together the timbers for a whole tree, forked timber frame house is a very creative process that involves a good grasp of geometry and physics in the bargain. This week the three exterior porch pillars were set in place, and it was fascinating to watch. For each of the […]
guest post by Doug Hansmann We always planned to have a mass wall between the kitchen/dining room and the den. It was designed to soak up sun on sunny days and heat from the wood stove on cold nights and cloudy days. But over time we began to realize that […]
In my first post on our timber framing process (Whole Tree Timber Framing Begins at Underhill House ) I stressed the patience required to start a whole tree timber frame project. A week later, I’m still trying to catch my breath after a whirlwind ride (literally and figuratively) as the […]
When we think about living sustainably, we need to factor our medical demands into the equation. Going to a hospital, taking a lot of medicines – these things don’t tend to be particularly easy on the environment. When we take good care of our health in the obvious ways of […]
Building a whole tree timber frame house is an exercise in patience. We have been working with these timbers for almost a year now — selecting them from our 44 acres last summer, peeling and felling them, then working out a master plan for how their individual branching natures could […]
Friday the concrete was poured for the main floor of Underhill House. Doug and I set the alarm for 5, but when we got to the house site at 7:15, the pour was already underway. They needed a pumper truck to get the concrete high enough and far enough out […]
Here is a press release I received from the UW-Madison recently about organic lawn care. It’s got some good points, but also raises a few questions we all need to ask ourselves. MADISON – When homeowners talk about growing greener grass these days, it’s a good bet they’re not talking […]
This Friday May, May 25, we’ll be having the first open house at the Underhill construction site for anyone who is curious about this project. Underhill House is a fusion of conventional, green and natural building techniques and materials with the goal of making a house that has a small […]
For everyone who loves peppers, it’s time to decide what to plant, and we have more peppers to choose from this year than ever before. David Baumler, UW-Madison scientist and chili pepper enthusiast has outdone himself. If you live in the Madison WI area, you can attend his workshop from […]
Digging in the Driftless 