Tara & Tyler's Grindbygg Workshop

I met T&T when they came to North House Folk School to construct the frame for their 10x16 straw bale enclosed starter home in the summer of 2012. The following winter, they contacted me about a design for their workshop with the following parameters: straw bale enclosure, living roof, minimally processed logs from their site for the frame.

We quickly settled on a Norwegian Grindbygg style frame which has a long history of incorporating natural wall systems, strong roofs to support sod or thick slate, and round or only partially hewn logs. After some discussion of just how to accomplish the frame construction, we decided to make it a class on-site at T&T’s homestead in Vermont.

T&T recruited students from as far away as Mexico and Texas for the course in August 2013. This was a large and challenging project for me and the students. We extended the course by 2 days to complete the main frame. T&T finished off the rafters in the weeks following the course. It is a spectacular structure - the round logs and natural curves give a wonderful softness which belies its scale. See more great photos here