TIMBERFRAME, POST and BEAM HOMES

NORTH RIVER - Way up on the side of a mountain overlooking the Hudson River and the Adirondack Mountains, Tony Malikowski and Linnea Newman are having their new home built in a very old fashioned way.

The couple, who currently reside in Chestertown, had been looking for the right home for several years and are finally building what they want in North River. Malikowski is a high school science teacher in Indian Lake and his wife is a veterinarian, specializing in poultry. Her job with a large pharmaceutical company takes her around the country, working with poultry companies like Tyson and Perdue. Malikowski is also a cross-country ski racer and a white-water-rafting guide, making the North River location ideal for these pursuits.

"This will be our family home," Newman said. The couple is in the process of adopting two children from Poland, and Newman said once the children come, she will stop working and become a stay-at-home mom.

The house they are building is being done in the centuries-old post and beam or timber frame tradition. Newman said the number one reason they chose a timber frame home is the energy efficiency you can achieve. "It looks pretty, but with this frame, your insulation isn't interrupted by studs," she said.

Malikowski said they also chose timber frame because they like the airy interior that goes with it. The beams of the frame will be exposed in the finished home. Newman said they chose North Woods Joinery in Jeffersonville, Vt., to create the frame because of price.

"This type of construction can be extremely expensive." She said. "We chose North Woods because the price was pretty darn close to that of a custom stick-built home."

North Woods site technician Jeff Kidder was at the house as the unique frame was being constructed.

"It's just beautiful, and it's very, very sturdy," Kidder said. "In the olden days, timber frame was the way things were built. Then people started hiding the frame behind Sheetrock walls. Now it's popular to have the beams exposed."

The hemlock frame is all wood and there are no nails, lag bolts or metal fasteners of any kind, Kidder said, just one-inch shaved oak pegs.

The handcrafted frame was crafted according to a traditional, centuries-old method and transported to North River where it was raised by general contractor Dana Cole of Indian River. Cole will complete the 2,400-square-foot home that will include what Newman called a "monster" screened-in porch to enjoy the outdoors without black flies.

"We wanted an Adirondack Great Camp look to the house," he said. They plan to have the house stained dark brown like the Great Camp at the Santanoni Preserve in Newcomb and hope to move in by summer.