Designed by our own Tim Chauvin, this house is another hybrid structure and has
affectionately been named "Star" by its owners. The home was featured
in the June 2000 issue of Timber Homes Illustrated and received the most reader
comments garnered by any home up to that issue. The inspiring entry and all of the
living spaces are timber framed, while the bedroom wing is constructed of structural
insulated panels.
This unique frame features parallel chord trusses in the Great Room and "X" braces,
in addition to the more typical knee braces seen in many timber frames. The frame
is crafted from timbers that at one time were part of a river boom in Ontario, Canada.
The 14" x 14" timbers were remilled and then dried in our dry kilns. The resulting
timbers have a rich color as well as prominent character marks caused by a chemical
reaction between the tannic acid in the timbers, the water of the river and iron
rods and chains used to keep the boom together.
The adjacent Car Barn was designed to complement the home. The Car Barn is home
to a number of high-performance motorcycles and vintage automobiles. The upstairs
office/apartment has a unique deck off the back that doubles as a platform for a
high powered telescope that is hard wired to computers inside that both control
the telescope and record the images.
This frame was fabricated from kiln dried Southern Yellow Pine. To carry on the
1930’s theme prevalent throughout the entire project, we added some steel tension
rods in the car bays. Instead of using simple washers on the inboard ends of the
rods, we used antique cast iron stars that reflect both the Texas appeal of the
home and the astronomical pursuits of the owners.
 In 1999, the Texas Forestry Association
honored Tim's design of
Star with an Award of Merit for Excellence in Wood Design, Residential Category.
This is Red Suspenders' first such award in this category. The plaque now graces
the front entry way of Star and is a delight to its owners and visitors.
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