TimberHomes LLC

We strive to:

• Work collaboratively to determine and refine client needs, and then develop designs to meet the need, using timber frame and tree-form elements structurally and in creating the visual effect.
• Use local materials as much as possible, ideally from the jobsite
• Design for maximum energy efficiency and on-site solar utilization, and
• Give the most possible care to solid, weatherproof design, to minimize maintenance and maximize future flexibility.

Buildings are investments, and they will pay off to the extent that they are attractive, useful, and minimize carbon and dollars over as long a lifecycle as possible. That is our goal.

Who we are:

Timo Bradley:
After graduating from the University of Vermont, Timo has worked in a variety of construction related fields for over ten years. In addition to timber framing, he brings to the table knowledge of framing, finish carpentry, landscaping, plumbing, and logging. With TimberHomes he enjoys a wide mixture of tasks and an important mind/body balance.

Owning land adjacent to the TH shop, which is used by the business as a staging/storage area, Timo's vision for the business's physical and economic place in the sleepy village of Vershire is concrete. By employing local materials and craftsmen, he hopes to see TH become a focal point and economic engine for the town and area.

Timo resides at the nearby Mountain School with his wife Brigitte, a teacher, and their son Cedric. In his free time, he enjoys ice hockey, mountain biking, forest management, growing Christmas trees, and studying French.

Sean Dalton:
Raised in Sewanee, Tennessee Sean began at a young age to groom himself for the building trades. He spent countless hours inside modeling villages, medieval forges, and island hideaways with the best available technology, Legos, and outside lashing together tree forts and crow's nests in the maple trees behind his house. However, his passion for building and working with wood wasn't fully realized until, many years later, when he was finishing up an Associate's Degree at Paul Smith's College in Environmental Studies; he knew then that he wanted to pursue a career in sustainable building. During the journey that ensued Sean found himself learning the art of log building restoration and Swedish Cope log building in the Adirondacks, interning at the Yestermorrow Design/Build School in Warren, Vermont, and building a timberframe barn by himself with traditional hand tools. Carpentry aside, Sean's other interests include flat-water paddling, skating, drawing, potlucks, and contra dancing.

David Hooke, and the origin of TimberHomes LLC:
David got into building early, with his crafts-instructor father leading him into a succession of rafts and tree forts. Arriving at Dartmouth in 1980 he became an avid member in the Outing Club, and devotee of log building. He repaired, built or designed over a dozen trail shelters and cabins over his undergrad years and then 10 years as a facilities manager at Dartmouth in the 1990s. Moving to Vershire (pop 650) in 1994 where his wife Kathy teaches at the Mountain School, he became involved in the life of the town. A half-year sabbatical in Ladakh in 2000, teaching in a school with Kathy and seeing the strength of community life in that remote area convinced him to leave Dartmouth and focus on Vershire.

While working on community projects, he was hired by the Mountain School to facilitate design of a cow barn, a seemingly simple project that had nonetheless stymied the school for years. Knowing nothing of cows or timber frames David found this design process challenging but exceptionally satisfying, concluding in a timber frame building, framed entirely by students using hand tools. Josh Jackson was hired to be the timber-framing instructor, and the two became fast friends as they saw this work through.

Fresh from this success, the two collaborated on the Hookes Haven project and then on a small guest cabin in Vershire. By 2005 they decided they were ready to form TimberHomes and build the Vershire Spec House. Sean and Timo joined the partnership in the winter 2006-07. Together they collaborated on the Crossroad Farmstand project that gave the partnership marvelous local visibility and clients.

David, son Benjamin, and Kathy live in Vershire. David serves as Moderator of the Town meeting, helps organize the annual Cabaret, and sings with the nearby Thetford Chamber Singers. He sees TimberHomes as a key part of Vershire's long-term commercial life.

Josh Jackson:
Josh received his BSME from Yale University in 1989 and promptly bicycled across the country to San Francisco where he pursued an interest in alternative energy and worked for Pacific Gas & Electric on energy conservation programs. A desire to bring head, hands and heart together led Josh to the Heartwood Owner/Builder School in Massachusetts where he fell in love with timberframing and ecological building during two summers as an apprentice, and has pursued these paths through a wide variety of natural materials, handmade paper, stained glass, and of course timbers of all shapes, sizes, and species. He delights in the creation of homes that nourish community during the building process and that provide healthy, soulful, beautiful shelter. Josh continues to teach timber framing workshops at Heartwood School, Yestermorrow School, and Rocky Mountain Workshops. Before co-founding TimberHomes LLC, Josh was partnered with Ben Yeomans in Humble Abode - see that site for additional projects. Winter often finds Josh and his wife Geraldine menacing the ski trails of Morse Farm near their home in Middlesex, while summers just wouldn't be the same without biking and blueberries.