Photos of simple timber frame

[Rait]

Hello everyone!
I might use some help. We (maybe its just me... :S) are planning building colonial inspired 2 story timber frame (inspired by Sobon's 'Build a Classic Timber Frame'), strawbale insulated. As we live in northern part of europe, its has not been traditional building method here, for farms its been loghouses. The german style timber frame is visible in some manors. So i have to rely more on the internet for the visual inspiration.

Problem is... my wife is really skeptical about having the timbers exposed. She says she does not like if the joists and plates/girts are exposed. I could back off on those a little - have these parts exposed maybe just on living room. However, it would be easier for me, if i could show her photos of timber frames with no horizontal members exposed. Even photos of frames where the frame is kept as simple as possible would do good.
What i'v been able to find from the internet are super big (for us at least) and expensive frames - not exactly what we are looking for

Rait

[Jay C. White Cloud]

Hi Rait,

You have set out a serious challenge, one that I have faced with clients, where one spouse likes timber framing and the other does not.  Because of my specialty, I've gotten to see many frames from the Middle East and Asia, and most frames in historical traditional homes are hidden away from view.  It is not until you get into the folk architecture, that you start to see fully exposed frames.  To find examples of frames that are half and half, that is going to be difficult.  As I locate them I will try and give you links.  Maybe some of your other readers will have some examples.  Here is one, let me know if it helps, go to Google Images and copy/paste in:
古民家建築
That should get you to some images that may be more to your wife's taste.  Sorry for the difficulty, we are not allowed to provide direct links to Google Image pages on this forum.

Regards,

Jay

[Rait]

Thanks a million for guidance. The japanese joinery seemed to do expose the horizontal timbers... maybe i should photoshop joists and pretend these to get gypsum board covered effect or something...

Any help is welcome! (a lot

[Jay C. White Cloud]

Hi Rait,

The Asian designs just seem to appeal more to folks like your wife.  I haven't ever been able to put my finger on the exact reason and clients have given me a broad rage of, "why they think so."  I can tell you this, I have had clients, male and female, that absolutely did not like the look of large timbers inside their living space.

So we are left with the challenge of designing a timber frame for a couple, where one "HATES," timber frames.  Now comes the interesting part, 8 times out of 10, when showing them different versions of Asian style timber frames, not only did they have less objection, some actually started to warm to the whole architectural style of a timber frame.

Personally, (of course this is the style I work in, so it's my favorite,) I believe that the lightness of framing members compared to the European styles and the lack of visible oblique bracing, is the key factors.  I could be wrong, but those two elements are the largest visible difference that most laypeople notice.

Keep us informed, as you refine you concepts.  Good Luck

Regards,

jay