Digging in the Driftless

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By Denise Thornton on July 17, 2012 • ( 2 Comments )

MANY BABY STEPS MAKE A GIANT STEP FOR UNDERHILL HOUSE

Wow! Building a hybrid home, combining natural building materials and practices with green, high-tech materials and practices can make for some very full days on the building site.  The pace seems to be picking up, which is a challenge when the temperature tops out above 100 degrees, as it has […]

By Denise Thornton on July 13, 2012 • ( 7 Comments )

TWO WASTE CONTAINERS YOU WON’T FIND ON THE UNDERHILL BUILDING SITE

When we begin building our straw bale walls next week, they will go on a strong and beautiful foundation – the second round of slip-form stone wall in Underhill House.  This wall has something that the first one didn’t. As Doug and I have worked on the slip-form stone walls […]

By Denise Thornton on July 10, 2012 • ( 1 Comment )

BRACING OUR ROUND TIMBER FRAME FOR BIG WINDS

It was a fascinating process to watch the branching timbers that form the structure of Underhill House sprout a few new branches last week. If you would like to learn more about why we believe building with branching timbers is one of the most ultimately environmentally friendly ways to form […]

By Denise Thornton on July 6, 2012 • ( 2 Comments )

STRAW BALES FOR UNDERHILL HOUSE AND WHERE THEY CAME FROM

It was July 4.  The crew was taking a well-earned holiday, but Doug and I were out at the land pouring carefully measured out yogurt containers of water onto the parched garden plants from the six 5-gallon buckets we filled from our garden hose in town.   Our little pond is […]

By Denise Thornton on July 3, 2012 • ( 1 Comment )

TALE OF TWO OPEN HOUSES: UNDERHILL HOUSE AND BASCOM PLACE

We hosted two open houses this past weekend.  On Friday, we invited friends and many others interested in alternative building paths to come out and see how Underhill House is progressing. On Sunday our realtor, Tom Tarrolly, held an open house to put our Madison home on the market.  The […]

By Denise Thornton on June 29, 2012 • ( 2 Comments )

FLYING HIGH FOR A BIRDS-EYE VIEW OF UNDERHILL HOUSE

We had a crane back for hoisting Underhill House’s rafters up into place.  Unlike two weeks before when Dan had used his crane to fly the bents into position, we did not finish the work day earlier than anticipated.  Fitting the rafters in place made for a long, physically taxing […]

By Denise Thornton on June 26, 2012 • ( 3 Comments )

WHERE THE WILD PLACES ARE: GET LOST IN DANE COUNTY

Here is a story I had a great time researching and writing that just appeared in Isthmus, Madison’s edgy weekly. Summer is a classic time to get away from the asphalt jungle, but that doesn’t mean you have to make reservations and pack your bags. Anyone in Madison is just […]

By Denise Thornton on June 22, 2012 • ( Leave a comment )

UNDERHILL HOUSE WHOLE TREE TIMBER RAFTERS HIT THE SKY

Last spring as we were peeling, sanding and painting the timbers for Underhill House, the question of how we would get the roof rafters up on top of the bents was often on our minds.  In previous houses built by Whole Trees Architecture and Structures,  rafters have been hoisted up […]

By Denise Thornton on June 19, 2012 • ( 4 Comments )

SOMETHING FISHY ABOUT OUR 400 MILLION-YEAR-OLD-FOUNDATION

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, […]

By Denise Thornton on June 15, 2012 • ( 4 Comments )

THE PERILS AND PLEASURES OF OUR PORCH PILLARS AT UNDERHILL HOUSE

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 […]

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