Blue Ridge Timberwrights - Chateau Morrisette Winery, VA

Salvaged Douglas fir timbers were used throughout this timber frame. More than 1,200 timbers enveloped more than one million cubic feet of space. Among the largest timbers were 14-foot long 20-by-20-inch columns and 30-foot long 15-by-30-inch summer beams in the wine-tasting area as well as 40-foot-long 17-by-17-inch columns in the main tower of the visitor's center.

Douglas fir timbers in the wine tasting and retail areas of the timber frame were salvaged from a variety of old dismantled buildings across North America. Eleven of the largest timbers in these areas, including the huge summer beams, came from a circa 1905 waterfront warehouse in Seattle, WA.

The majority of the timbers used in the production area were boom timbers salvaged from the St. Lawrence Seaway, which flows between the United States and Canada. For many decades the pulpwood industry in that region used the large boom timbers, originally from old-growth forests, as walkways and barriers to move and store pulpwood on its journey down river to the mills. The timbers have a tight grain, intense color, and exhibit holes and stains left by the chains, spikes, and metal straps of their previous life. The black streaks in the finished timbers reveal the places where they were chained and bolted together. After being in the water for half a century, the iron from the bolts leached out into the timbers streaking the wood in the process.

		RETURN TO COMMERCIAL GALLERY Chateau Morrisette Winery & Visitors' Center - Virginia
"Experience the Craftsmanship of Our Timber Frames" Blue Ridge Timberwrights P.O. Box 30 Christiansburg, VA 24068 ph 540.382.1102 fx 540.382.8039




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		Built in 1998, this timber frame was created for Chateau Morrisette, a winery located in Meadows of Dan, Virginia off the Blue Ridge Parkway. The timber frame consisted of a 40,000 square-foot production facility, visitors' center featuring a wine-tasting area and a retail area to showcase the Chateau's excellent wines. The goal was to design a timber frame that would blend naturally with its surroundings along the beautiful Blue Ridge Parkway and evoke the feeling and grandeur of old-world architecture. In the summer of 1997, BRTW’s design department began work on the design, in concert with North Carolina architect Hugh Sutphin and structural engineer, Grigg Mullen. By October, timbers were sized, sawn, and planed, while skilled timberwrights began hand cutting the thousands of joinery details the project eventually required. In a little over a year BRTW completed the design, creation and raising of the frame, installation of tongue and groove finished ceiling materials, decking and second-story flooring. BRTW also applied structural insulated panels in the roof and exterior walls.
Boom timbers salvaged from the St. Lawrence Seaway		Salvaged Douglas fir timbers were used throughout this timber frame. More than 1,200 timbers enveloped more than one million cubic feet of space. Among the largest timbers were 14-foot long 20-by-20-inch columns and 30-foot long 15-by-30-inch summer beams in the wine-tasting area as well as 40-foot-long 17-by-17-inch columns in the main tower of the visitor's center. Douglas fir timbers in the wine tasting and retail areas of the timber frame were salvaged from a variety of old dismantled buildings across North America. Eleven of the largest timbers in these areas, including the huge summer beams, came from a circa 1905 waterfront warehouse in Seattle, WA. The majority of the timbers used in the production area were boom timbers salvaged from the St. Lawrence Seaway, which flows between the United States and Canada. For many decades the pulpwood industry in that region used the large boom timbers, originally from old-growth forests, as walkways and barriers to move and store pulpwood on its journey down river to the mills. The timbers have a tight grain, intense color, and exhibit holes and stains left by the chains, spikes, and metal straps of their previous life. The black streaks in the finished timbers reveal the places where they were chained and bolted together. After being in the water for half a century, the iron from the bolts leached out into the timbers streaking the wood in the process.

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