This article originally appeared in the Summer newsletter of the Foundation for Sustainable Forests--
David and Margaret Yasenchack live near Cambridge Springs, Crawford County. Margaret practices veterinary medicine at the Cochranton Veterinary Hospital. David practices the craft of timber framing, often using trees gathered from their own forested land as well as the land of his clients.
It is often said that people “don’t build things like they used to.” David and Margaret Yasenchack are an exception.
The couple behind David Yasenchack Timber Framing and Design has spent 25 years constructing homes, pavilions, studios, and barns across the country using traditional timber framing designs and techniques.
Unlike conventional light framing, which uses repetitive small members (such as 2"x4"s) fastened with nails and braced with OSB or plywood, timber framing employs large posts and beams connected by mortise and tenon joinery and secured with wooden pegs.
“In most living spaces the wooden structure is out of sight, behind wall and ceiling finishes, whereas timber frames are most often exposed and reveal the structure at work around us,” says David. “Most everyone knows timber framing if they’ve ever looked up and around in any 19th century barn.”
When Margaret and David met in the late ‘90s in Ohio, David had recently purchased a portable bandmill. As the timber framing business came to fruition, several clients had their own woodlots and were eager to use their own trees in their timber frames.
Those early projects helped set the course for David’s forest-to-frame process. Margaret says, “The sawmill allowed more creativity. There were more curves and live edges and different species going into the frames, and a high degree of engagement and collaboration with clients.”
David and Margaret married, had two children, Sawyer and Isobel, and in 2004 purchased a 100-acre forest of their own near Cambridge Springs, PA.
“The land,” says David, “was a game-changer for my work.” Over the course of more years than initially imagined, the couple built a barn and a timber framed home.
Margaret says, “Moving the workshop and our family from Ohio to this beautiful place and into a home of our own making was a long road. I still pinch myself; we’re very fortunate to live here.”
In 2006, the Yasenchacks met Guy Dunkle, who introduced them to “worst first” forestry. “It was a simple idea that intuitively made sense to us,” says David.
Margaret adds, “At NWPWA [Northwest PA Woodland Association] events and FSF’s [Foundation for Sustainable Forests] field conferences, I gravitate to the bird or wildflower workshops, but the times I’ve attended Troy Firth’s forestry walks I’m struck by the humility of the approach. The Foundation’s philosophy doesn’t pretend to know the whole of the forest. That speaks to me.”
Under Guy’s guidance, the Yasenchacks completed several harvests with the aim of improving their forest’s health.
“These interactions have certainly matured my thinking around tree selection for building materials,” says David.
In 2021, Guy connected David with The Learning Center (TLC), an independent K-8 school in Meadville, PA that emphasizes hands-on, experiential learning.
TLC staff wished to build an outdoor learning space.
Together, David, Guy, and TLC’s Simon Camp, Chris Glenn, and Director Dana Hunter Yeager created a plan to build a timber framed outdoor classroom using trees sourced from the school community.
Aspects of the project’s design and construction would be incorporated into the curriculum and student experience. The frame’s assembly and raising would be accomplished by hand in a cooperative effort.
These project qualities earned grant support from Green Mountain Energy’s Sun Club.
The conversion from trees to logs to timbers was demonstrated at the school last fall. Students gathered around a birch tree at the edge of the school’s play area where FSF’s Guy and Annie described why it was appropriate to harvest and use in the classroom frame.
Shortly after, all 80 students yelled “TIMBER!” in unison as the tree was felled with a ground-shaking thump.
In a game of tug-of-war against the tree, the students worked together to drag two birch logs across the schoolyard to David’s portable sawmill. In a swirl of sawdust, they watched the tree become a beam.
“I expect that day lives clearly in the minds of the kids,” says David.
A true celebration of Pennsylvania’s hard and soft woods, the classroom features 17 native tree species. These include: white pines harvested from an Allegheny College-owned forest, an American chestnut salvaged from a TLC’s parent’s yard, locust and oak pegs, apple and beech braces, and larch flooring.
A wind-thrown walnut tree was donated by an unaffiliated community member who wished to support the project as well.
Over the winter, David worked on joinery for the beams in his workshop, while students made over 100 pegs that secure the mortise and tenon joinery.
TLC instructors taught the older students how to shape the octagonal, tapered pegs using a shaving horse, drawknives, and spokeshaves. The older kids then passed down the instructions to the younger students.
For many, it was their first experience with a sharp edge tool. Each student made their own peg and burned their initials into the end.
This May, students, teachers, parents, and builders gathered for the classroom’s raising. Students hammered in the first ceremonial pegs.
A gin pole was rigged with block and tackle to assist in lifting the heavy bents safely, and also to maximize the number of students and parents who could help.
After the bents were raised and secured, David’s crew parbuckled plates to their positions atop the posts, then placed king posts, struts, ridge beams, and rafters.
Despite the large crew, the steady rain, and the complexity of the assembly, it all went according to plan.
Margaret says, “I’ve seen many raisings. There were a lot of moving pieces to this one, and the cooperation among everyone was amazing.”
“The forest-to-frame process creates challenges to be sure,” says David. Lumber acquisition that begins with standing trees in various woodlots requires significantly more time to procure and process than purchasing commodity lumber and sheet goods delivered to the job site.
The differences in aesthetic outcomes, however, are discernible and long-lasting.
Often, unique trees provide unique structural elements that become compelling aspects of a living or working, or in this case, learning space.
Also important is a client’s heightened feelings of ownership after participating, indeed laboring, in the process.
To cap it off, the raising provides memorable experiences of collective accomplishment. David adds, “Even the shyest of folks will step forward to drive a wooden peg.”
We are so fortunate to know and be able to learn from supporters like David and Margaret.
Their work celebrates the sustainable timber economy and educates a new generation of students who may someday work within the region’s industry.
This project genuinely embodies FSF’s efforts to balance the needs of forests and people alike. And, frankly, it was a lot of fun!
Special thanks to the Yasenchacks for sharing their story. Would you like to share your story? If so, we would love to listen! Please contact Bennett Gould: bgould@forestsandpeople.org or (814) 694-5830.
For more information on programs, initiatives and upcoming events, visit the Foundation For Sustainable Forests website. Click Here to sign up for updates (top of page). Click Here to support their work.
Upcoming Foundation Events
-- August 8: Erie Gives, nonprofit fundraiser
-- August 12: Protect Woodland Streams Tour, Northwest PA Woodland Association
-- August 25: Jim Finley Stewardship Day - Caldwell Creek Watershed Conservation Area
-- August 27-29: Crawford Gives, nonprofit fundraiser
-- September 15: Friends of the Foundation Dinner
-- September 16: Loving The Land Through Working Forests Conference
-- October 1: A Walk In Penn’s Woods - Caldwell Creek Watershed Conservation Area
Resource Link:
-- Foundation For Sustainable Forests Summer Newsletter: Hubbel Hill Conservation Project; Land Story-David & Margaret Yasenchack; Much More!
Related Articles This Week:
-- Foundation For Sustainable Forests Now Accepting Registrations For Loving The Land Through Working Forests Conference Sept. 16 [PaEN]
-- French & Pickering Creeks Conservation Trust, White Family Partner To Preserve 7.5 Acres In Chester County [PaEN]
-- The Nature Conservancy-PA: PA Nature News - 240 Acres Protected; Mushroom Foraging Event Aug. 9; Blooming At The Bog; More!
-- WeConservePA Hosts Nov. 8 Webinar On Offering Successful Educational Programming [PaEN]
[Posted: August 3, 2023] PA Environment Digest
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