Cascade Vintage

01/22/2016

We're hiring residential framers on Seattle 's eastside. If someone's interested send us a message. Looking for all skill levels for single family homes.

11/01/2015

A new Seattle project...outdoor patio pavilion with coastal redwood timbers

07/26/2015

ITS A POWERFULL FEELING TO TAKE A TREE AND CREATE A TABLE

A couple weeks ago a friend of mine had a white pine tree that had blown down in his yard. Last Saturday I milled the trees into beams and Sunday I timber framed this table from them. The top coat is a varnish/oil blend with just a touch of beeswax. Next week it's going to the street market here in Seattle as our show piece...then hopefully we'll be taking more orders for custom tables.

05/02/2015

I started my long trip back to the West Coast on Tuesday. It's both a good and a tough thing at the same time. I'm looking forward to checking in on the landscape through Wyoming and Montana, but mostly I'm just ready to be back, and to get the ball rolling on crafting some more timber frames. This building has provided a great, calm, and close personal connection in many different ways...building a structure in the honor of both my father and the land of that region has been a one of a kind experience...and the experience of a truly handcrafted building...taking trees and turning them into this...with my two hands, the gathering of family, friends and loved ones, and a huge dose of humility.

04/19/2015

In the time that I've been back in the Midwest I've seen a lot of changes...both in the landscape around me and inside myself. I've always loved that about this part of the country...there's a distinctive boundary between seasons and without a doubt a person can begin to sense when things are changing. Over the past 7 weeks I've spent a tremendous amount of time in and around the landscape...harvesting timber, milling beams, walking trees. I've always known from a young age that the landscape of this region impacted me...when I was a teenager I began to feel an incredible connection to the land and to the James River Valley...I enjoy the space, the distance.

Naturally, and despite myself, I believe the landscape of this James River area has reflected itself in the frame of this building. I think that's just part of the artistic process where the body of work, if given the freedom to develop in its own way will emerge in the fashion in which it was intended to. My part is to just be here...to use my hands, to listen to the timbers, to work the beams. The character and personality of the frame will ultimately work itself out.

Last week we raised the barn. That was the big payoff for me. That morning when I got in my truck to start the day...I was overwhelmed and emotional. I couldn't stop thinking about the handful of times I truly thought I was going to give up on this project..."I can't do this, there's no way I can do this". Certain days I would have to bury my head and just dig in...most often when I was fighting or resisting something either about myself or about the timber. Acceptance is the key. The sooner I'm able to accept certain facts about myself and about the timber, the sooner I can move on and get busy creating again.

04/13/2015

Read the full article at http://www.mitchellrepublic.com/news/local/3719776-building-legacy-back-home

In his mind, it was Patrick Sibson's turn to build a structure meant to last on the family farm. His grandfather did it. His father, David, did, too. And even though he had been away for the past seven years, Patrick said he was next. So he's building a 16-foot by 24-foot tool shed building...

03/11/2015

If I take the time to listen in the mornings I always have a better chance of getting in sync with what's going on around me. On the plains it's a great time of the year...the landscape and the mood is changing. Last week was well below zero and working conditions were tough...now, in the 60's I can smell the dirt. I've been listening and watching the geese...all day they fly overhead in the thousands and at night I can sometimes hear large flocks moving north. I see several bald eagles on a daily basis... usually chasing hawks. Occasionally a group of turkeys can be seen...always close to trees and moving through the tall grass.

Early last week I felled most of the trees that I need for the building. Since then I've spent my days milling wood...turning the trees into beams. It's been an interesting process...slowly developing but is quickly beginning to take shape. I like the close connection with the wood. I like the full process. Every beam has a place. At times it can take a little while...but ultimately every tree will let me know where it needs to be. That process happens much quicker when I listen.

It's not only about the wood. Old neighbors will stop by and talk to me in the trees...either curious about what I'm doing or they've heard what I'm up to and want check in on things. It's been a while since I've "shot the s**t" on a gravel road while a deep dusky sky barely holds on.

Things are starting to come together. At the end of this week I'll have all the beams I need to complete the building...and Monday I'll begin joining the beams together to construct the frame.

02/23/2015

TODAY...I TOOK A WALK THROUGH THE TREES ...

"Up North" of the farm there's a particular stand of trees situated above the James River Valley. We spent a lot of time there as kids...dad farmed the land on either side of the trees and kept cattle in the valley below. The land always held some sense of mystery for me...fairly secluded for the area with no roads for at least a mile on each side. The seclusion makes for a quiet, undisturbed, special stand of trees...a sanctuary.

The trees are old. As a kid I remember feeling the mysterious qualities of them...too young to understand that feeling...but innocent enough to not need to. In my adult life I sometimes find that the only thing complicating a pure connection between myself and the people and things around me...is me.

The land has since switched hands...from my father to his brother and finally to his brother's sons...but the connection still remains. I feel the need to harvest timber from those trees. I think for some...and at least for myself...there's a primal need to connect with the wood for this building at as deep of a level as Life and Nature will allow. My family has accepted me well through all this. Reconnecting with them has been a pleasure and the proposition for harvesting timber has been well received. So today...alone...I took a walk through the trees.

02/21/2015

About four months ago I asked my father if he'd let me have the privilege of building him a traditional timber framed workshop on the farm. I was born there 35 years ago and my father 35 years before that. My grandpa had his hands on several buildings there...most of which are no longer standing...nonetheless the bloodline still remains.

dad's a south dakota farmer...a cattleman. My first memories of carpentry were gripping a large hammer with both hands...driving nails through boards and into posts as we repaired wooden fences for the cattle. I remember how satisfying it was to step back at the end of the day and appreciate what we had done....the sun would set, the wind would die, the cattle would calm...eventually, another day would begin.

I've built hundreds of homes for families all around the midwest and west coast. The most rewarding is always building for my own family. It's taken some convincing but my father has agreed that this building may be a good place for him to get his priorities straight. In the spirit of old craftsmanship i'll harvest timber from around the farm for his building...and use traditional pegged joinery that early barnwrights practiced.

at the moment I have a truck full of vintage tools...a dog and about 1700 miles to go on eastbound i-90. ......

11/27/2014

Cascade Vintage | Winter Dusk on the Road to Michigan

11/26/2014

Cascade Vintage | Late Fall Trip Toward Michigan

It's that time of the year...Seasons and Landscapes are changing all over our Country.

11/13/2014

Laggan Church - by Sandberg Schoffel Architects