In March, we sent a group of our newer carpenters to Whippletree Timber Framing in Peterborough for a timber framing joinery workshop to learn a bit about this historic craft. Some of our other team members had previously taken the course and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. 

As members of the Timber Framers Guild we were looking for a way to implement our timber framing skills, so we had a team building day raising a timber frame woodshed just outside of St. Marys.
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A rather important element in the construction of a new house is the very first step - design. In the not too distant past home design followed set rules of form and proportion, and the result was homes that made sense to the eye and were pleasing in form. The plans may have come from an architect, an experienced builder or even a catalogue or pattern book. Certainly there were designers who thought outside the box so to speak, but they did so in logical and thoughtful ways. More recently we have the "I can design my own house" mentality - and we certainly are not richer for it!

The result is homes like this - designed by builders where the bottom line is key and a draftsperson is paid minimally to design something "unique". With five different exterior wall finishes, a column holding up nothing but a stuccoed beam, and a walk out roof deck above the double car garage. How bizarre. 

Another in the same development, oddly jutting forms, a collection of mismatched window styles and sizes, and this use of cheaper vinyl siding on side walls has to stop - we can see it from the front and it just screams "I was built on a budget". 

And right around the corner, as if to emphasize that this development can indeed have "oh so many" poorly designed houses, sits this garage with an entry way tacked on the side. I could not determine why the roofline above the garage is so high, no windows indicating living space above it - and that is another design rule - if it doesn't make visual sense to the casual observer, it cannot appeal. This one certainly does not!

We are drawn to houses such as these for very basic reasons - they make sense - the porch is for sitting on, the front door is prominent and logically used to enter and be greeted, the large window is a sitting room, the upper gable windows are bedrooms, etc. The detailing is pleasing and shows that these homes were built by craftsmen who were proud of their work and took care with the construction. We have so many examples of how to do it right, that our insistence on doing it poorly by reinventing the home and "improving" it is a real head shaker.

Rory McDonnell is a General Contractor, Licensed Carpenter and Architectural Designer with Build, a construction firm in Stratford, Ontario, specializing in new custom home builds and renovations.

Pillar Six: Craft with Natural Materials

Fine craftsmanship and natural materials are timeless and are meant to endure. Less likely to be replaced by wear or trends, contributes to saving money and a healthy environment.
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Pillar Seven: Create the Patina of Age

The popularity of salvaged materials is proof that people enjoy the beauty of well aged and natural. New materials have a more convincing antiqued appearance if aged by natural weathering processes.
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Pillar Eight: Incorporate Modern Conveniences

We don’t expect you to live as if it were the early 1900s! You will need your modern conveniences and there are many ways to integrate and hide them to maintain the illusion of a vintage house.
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A new "old" house is a new home tailored for modern living but designed within the style and proportions of a traditional house. Designing and building a new home steeped in tradition is high on Build's builder bucket list. The majority of new houses lack the care and thoughtful design attributed to master craftsman of the past and instead rely on imbalanced design and cheap materials. Education and intuition is important when designing a home but there are also rules which can be applied to the process. 

Architect Russell Versaci’s Eight Pillars of Traditional Design are a helpful guide and compliment Build’s philosophy of Modern & Traditional Heritage Builders which we incorporate into all of our design projects. The following are the first four pillars and examples from our own portfolio:
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Pillar One: Invent Within the Rules​
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Stay within the rules of a style of architecture. Invent using this traditional language, especially with additions and restorations, follow the cues of the style and proportions of the existing house.

Pillar Two: Respect the Character of Place

Every geographical area has local building traditions often based on the land, climate and history of the people who migrated there, the design and materials should reflect this history.
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Reading that Perth County Council in all their supposed wisdom is even considering tearing down the former Land Registry Office / Archives building was enough to cause a sharp intake of breath followed by a rise in blood pressure and overall shaking of my head in disbelief.

To reflect on the shortcomings of the new building housing our archives whilst being told the original may be demolished is truly dismaying. I am no great fan of moving heritage structures from their native locations, but was this even considered before the rush to design the building which passes now as an acceptable home to our treasured collection of historical items?

I cannot fathom where we as a society have gone astray in our seeming disregard for the physical built elements of our past. They are, with few exceptions, wonderful examples of the determination of an earlier generation - of their desire to build for the future while at the same time leaving a tangible example of their craftsmanship and ingenuity. These buildings have lasted the test of time in a way few more recently built structures will, and yet some consider them disposable. We need these links to our past. Its that age old adage thing again - about knowing where you've been - a prime example of something we should cherish and hold onto. 

The Perth County Courthouse is a sister building to the old Land Registry Office - sharing elements and style, let alone location, with this wonderful building. If this ones goes, is it not logical to worry about the fate of the courthouse next to it? To have three significant heritage structures next to each other, including the jail, is rare indeed, in this day and age. This needs to be nipped in the bud. Fingers crossed that the residents of Stratford, and their elected representatives, show more concern for this building than the residents of Perth County are demonstrating thru the public statements of their politicians. ​

This is simply wrong. There are innumerable examples of thoughtful and imaginative ways to repurpose and honour old buildings such as this...

, …a wonderfully crafted example of how we have strayed off the path of sustainable and thoughtful building, of proper proportion/scale, detailing and style. It is simply wrongheaded and shortsighted. Something to consider for "Heritage Day" on February 15th.
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Rory McDonnell is a General Contractor, Licensed Carpenter and Architectural Designer with Build, a construction firm in Stratford, Ontario, specializing in new custom home builds and renovations.

This 1848, Queen Anne home in Woodstock, has a variety of special features. The two large verandas with decorative details are particularly charming. As well as the pretty gable dormer above the front entrance. But the most distinctive is the segmented brickwork around the central, ellipse transomed, front door which creates a perspective effect drawing you in to this grand old house.

Rory McDonnell is a General Contractor, Licensed Carpenter and Architectural Designer with Build, a construction firm in Stratford, Ontario, specializing in new custom home builds and renovations.

Ed Grundenberger, a furniture refinisher, built this house in 1899, where he lived with his wife and daughter. This Ontario Gothic Cottage has simple arched windows and a lovely rounded gable decoration. The elaborate portico is particularly nice with its double columns and turned balusters.

The one and a half storey cottages allowed for two levels at a lower tax rate which made them quite popular in Stratford and St. Marys. The symmetrical layout was also efficient and easy to build. This particular cottage is so tidy and pretty, one can not help but be charmed by it.

Catherine Cassidy is a Designer with Build, a construction firm in Stratford, Ontario, specializing in new custom homes and renovations.

I think we can all agree that the before photo shows a great old building in Philipsburg, Ontario with well thought out and executed detailing. The trim board above the windows connects them visually and the red faux brick siding lends old time character to the simple barn shape.

​The second photo shows a "ruining" in progress. The bland grey board and batten as an improvement is truly puzzling. I have admired this building for many years and so it is sad to see such an interesting example of the carpenter's craft being spoiled.

Rory McDonnell is a General Contractor, Licensed Carpenter and Architectural Designer with Build, a construction firm in Stratford, Ontario, specializing in new custom homes and renovations.

David Scrimgeour built this house in 1896 where he lived with his wife Sarah, and six children. He and his older brother formed Scrimgeour Brothers Avon Planing Mill manufacturing building details. They were also contractors who did construction for businesses and residences in Stratford. He spent many years in public service and was city tax collector until his death in 1906.

This popular Queen Anne Revival style features an asymmetrical facade with a traditional sunburst patterned pediment over the front entry and beautifully detailed porch pillars. Another feature of note is the decorative yellow brick over Romanesque windows, as well as the two-storey bay.

Catherine Cassidy is a Designer with Build, a construction firm in Stratford, Ontario, specializing in new custom homes and renovations.