TIMBERFRAME, POST and BEAM HOMES

North Woods Joinery specializes in timberframe construction, handling projects across the country and here in Vermont. The company’s Cambridge model home -- designed by architect Sam Scofield of Stowe -- is a showcase for these handsome techniques. The office and library is designed to resemble an old-fashioned new England sugarhouse, with exposed rafters and a lofty line of horizontal windows below the high ceiling. A vertical line of picture windows faces east and allows for a shifting interplay of light and shadows on the red birch floor. Decorative stained-glass lighting fixtures line the sides of the custom oak bookshelves. “It’s a very pretty room,” says Larry Kruse, who co-owns North Woods with Peter Kolchalka.

Elsewhere in the home, potential clients see trusswork (in the kitchen and dining room) and the hammerbeam style (in the great room). The contemporary house has cedar siding with a natural stain.

Right: the library is a showcase for timberframe construction. Above: a red oak tree is built into the wine cellar. An oak staircase winds around the trunk. The floor is etched concrete with a terra-cotta stain.