Community Building

Enriching Community Through Craft

Working in Your Community

The Timber Framers Guild is committed to connecting with communities and people, sharing the story of timber framing, and learning and teaching through doing. 

To that end, we work with localities, non-profit organizations, and coalitions of organizations on educational programs that lead to beautiful timber frame structures that will benefit and strengthen the people and places where we work and live - as well as those far from our own homes. These structures enrich not only the lives of the people we serve - offering new gathering places in the form of farmers' market pavilions, amphitheaters, bridges, and community centers - they also enrich the lives of our members as we build skills and knowledge, meet new people, and rally behind a worthy project, working together to bring it to life.

Since 1988, the Timber Framers Guild has organized programs that have led to over 100 timber frames for communities across North America and beyond. Most structures are for public or non-profit entities, such as towns, local, state, or federal agencies, land trusts, and community organizations. The participants include members new and old, and the local partners and projects fall into one of five categories: local agriculture; recreation, including bridges and pavilions; worship and contemplation; educational institutions and non-profit programs; and historic preservation and restoration.

Community Builds are collaborative efforts involving the Guild, the partner, other entities in the local area (such as donors or sponsors), and passionate people. Projects may take 4-9 months from initiation to execution, with the training and raising requiring a week or so and involving 20-50 people, including members of the Guild and an array of interested locals.  

This year, we celebrate our 40th anniversary with small, member-led projects through our 40 Frames for 40 Years program! Learn more HERE.

If you are interested in hosting a Community Building Project, please contact Steve Lawrence, Community Building Projects Program Director, or email the Guild office at info@tfguild.org.  

Click for a Listing of Past Projects

View Project Portfolios

Past Project: Champlain Canal Region Gateway Visitors' Center

The Gateway Visitors' Center in Schuylerville, New York, was completed in partnership with the Historic Hudson-Hoosic Partnership. Culminating with a raising and celebration in June 2017, the project expanded the skills of more than 50 timber framers from across North America, who traveled to the region to learn from a team of instructors led by project manager Neil Godden, who is now executive director at the Heartwood School. 

Schuylerville NY Timber Frame Guild Community Building Project from Carolina Timberworks on Vimeo.