INTRODUCTION  |  DESIGN  |  BUILD  |  INSTRUCTION  |  ABOUT BRAD  |  NEWS

 

I grew up in a renovated barn, with my father’s architecture/construction firm located in the adjacent stable.  From an early age I was sketching houses and visiting construction sites with my father, and learning from the tradespeople that surrounded our family.  At the very end of my undergraduate college years, three friends and I built a fully scribed log cabin lean-to in the woods with only a chainsaw and axes.   In graduate school I found myself yearning to work with my hands again.  While attending a timber framing course in western Massachusetts, my family and I came upon a circa 1823 timber frame fixer-upper for sale.  It was too good of a deal to pass up, so we bought it on the spot.  I moved back east, attended the timber framing apprenticeship program at the Heartwood School (link), and started work on the house.  Before the house even had a roof, I was asked to work on other local projects, and Uncarved Block was formed. 

Brad’s training:

Brad is fully devoted to continually educating himself on building and woodworking.  Beyond reading everything he can get his hands on from modern energy codes to the history of hand tools, Brad has extensive training in extremely specialized (and occasionally obscure) fields of study.   While at the Heartwood School (link), Brad took courses in timber frame design and engineering, square rule timber framing, rigging and raising techniques, scribing, and timber conversion.  In addition he has training in superinsulation, natural plastering, traditional Japanese hip roof framing, eyebrow dormer framing, medieval geometric proportioning, tangent handrailing, curved timber roof framing, Japanese woodworking, carving, hewing, cruck framing, and several courses on compound joinery.  Brad is also part of the brand new Department of Labor apprenticeship program of the Timber Framers Guild, and recently became one of the first journeyman timber framers in the country. He is the only certified journeyman timber framer in Western Massachusetts.