Wisconsin's timber frame structures (houses, barns, granaries) are both hand hewn and sawn. Barns are usually of the three-bay style, ranging in size from 30'x40' up to 40'x60' or even larger in unusual examples. If hewn, they are usually made of oak, ash, tamarack, or maple. Sawn frames are most often pine, tamarack, or hemlock, although we have found several made of hard woods. Granaries usually measure about 16'x24', 20'x26', 20'x30', or 24'x36'. The advantage to this type of structure is that as they were designed to hold the grain upstairs, they are usually quite sturdily and heavily constructed. These post and beam buildings make interesting and versatile frames for both homes and outbuildings. They can be covered with stresskin or foam panels for energy efficiency.  Click on the links below to see photos and more information about any of these structures.

Hand hewn hardwood barn frame measuring 36'x50', circa 1870, originally built near Sullivan, Wisconsin, and dismantled in 1996.

Hand hewn oak and tamarack barn measuring 30'x40', circa 1870, of German original, dismantled in 1998.

Hand hewn oak half timber barn frame being dismantled and reassembled, measuring 32'x46'.

3 bay threshing barn from 1860's, reconstructed as a house.

1890's Czech barn 42' x 100. Rebuilt as a storage barn.

Hand hewn cedar and hemlock Czech granary measuring 20'x30', moved to Grafton, Wisconsin, in 1997, to serve as a shop for beekeepers.

Hand hewn hemlock granary measuring 22'x30'.

Other Examples of Timber Frame Structures