First Place, Northeast Region
David Babson
Island Pond, Vermont

When David Babson's wife Annalei announced she was expecting their first child, he was ecstatic, and extremely pressed for time! He wanted to find a permanent home for his wife and child, since they had been renting up until that point.

David is one of six owners in a cooperative timber frame company called Old School Builders. In May of 2002, his company purchased a Wood-Mizer LT40 Hydraulic sawmill with a bed extension to allow for the cutting of longer-length logs.

When Annalei became an expectant mother, David decided to put the Wood- Mizer to the test. The young couple chose a home design incorporating very large dimensional and round/curved timbers to hold up a sod roof and snow loads.

David said, "We also borrowed ideas from the old English Cruck Design in which we took naturally curved trees, split them

lengthwise on the mill and stood them up as book matches to make an 18-foot 'A' frame." Local loggers provided large basswood logs for which they had no use.

David said, "We were inspired to again test the capabilities of the Wood-Mizer and milled it into 20" - 24" wall paneling and counter slabs which came out beautifully."

For knee braces in the home, they used as many naturally-curved trees as possible: maple, cherry, elm, yellow birch, ash, beech, cedar, and hemlock.

David said, "To match the natural curves throughout the building, we used live-edge cedar clapboards for the exterior siding. And once again, testing the mill bed extension, we milled a 42'6" x 10" ridgepole to tie the structure together."

The house was ready in March, well before the blessed event arrived. The couple then spent time putting finishing touches on the interior, such as beaver sticks lined up throughout the stairwell.

Annalei said, "We like to showcase the beauty of the natural world around us."

And they added their own bit of beauty to the world in October of 2002. Kavika (Hawaiian for David) is now enjoying the lovely home his Dad built for him to grow up in.

And David is one satisfied dad.

" Many people joke about how the house looks like a temple. It is only with praise to Wood-Mizer that we could have completed such a project."