Oak Summit Farm
Timber Framing
Lucas and Dylan Aakjar honed their
skills under their father’s guidance
for more than a decade before of-
ficially starting their timber-frame
construction company in 2016. Just
down the hillside from the farm-
house, the brothers work outside
under a large gothic-shape covered
structure similar to a Quonset long
house. The roomy workspace is open
at both ends but provides shelter
from inclement weather and sun.
All of Oak Summit Farm’s timber
comes from local sawmills within 50
miles. The brothers craft their timbers
using hand joinery: wooden pegs,
holes, and no nails. Solid hemlock
and Eastern white pine timbers are
shaped, notched, drilled, oiled, and
prepared for delivery to construction
sites in Dorset, Pawlet, Rupert,
Wells, the Lakes Region, and
beyond.
“We do all the joinery, cutting,
and shaping here and then
transport the completed
timbers to the building
site,” Lucas explains.
“We typically raise a
frame in less than a
week. The beams all fit
together just like we
designed them to,
creating timeless,
strong structures.
All told, it’s a couple
of months of
preparation
PHOTOS:
PHOTOS:
The pickled tomatoes, beans, carrots and other tasty
veggies are all prepared using Melissa’s treasured family
recipes. She learned how to can and preserve from her
mother and grandmother (inset).
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