Houses and Barns by John Libby Begins Construction on Great Island Boat Yard After Devesating Fire

In November of 2008, an electrical fire ripped through the boat shop and office spaces of the Great Island Boat Yard in Harpswell, Maine, destroying the 2,000 square foot building. In January of 2009, Steve Rowe, owner of the Great Island Boat Yard hired our design and construction services to begin construction on a new 3,200 square foot timber frame structure.

Views of the devastation.

Design begins.
We constructed a model to study the roof framing of the new 40' x 60' building.

Cutting the timber frame in our Freeport Shop.

Ground breaking: Excavation and foundation work begins.

Stay tuned for shots
of the timber frame
raising in March!

For additional information or questions, please contact John Libby

Lobster Lunch at the shop

On November 7 & 8, 2008 was the 24th annual Eastern Conference of the Timber Framers Guild, of which John Libby is a founding member.

Timberwolf Tools, which is co-owned by John Libby and David Powell, decided to treat their customers to a lobster lunch at the Freeport, Maine shop which they share with Houses & Barns by John Libby.

Marc Boutan, Product Manager of Timberwolf Tools, headed up the cooking of the lobsters.

Customers who came by also had the chance to try out some tools if they wanted to. Here Marc holds a beam while a customer tries out the Mafell Z5Ec 12" Bandsaw.

Finally, the lobsters were ready and everyone sat down to eat! There were about 15 people in all.

The Timberwolf Tools folks had to head up to Rockland, ME soon after eating to set up their booth as a vendor at the conference.

(from the left: David Powell, President and Co-Owner; Andrew Powell, Shipping and Receiving Manager; Kate Libby, Sales and Marketing Manager; Marc Boutan, Product Manager)

For more information on Timberwolf Tools and its staff, please click here.

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For additional information or questions, please contact John

Building an outhouse on an island

Building an outhouse on an island could be a tricky thing.
The location alone makes it difficult.
Particularly this one, located over 20 miles off the coast of Maine!

The crew gets a ride of a lifetime, on a lobster boat!

But first, the timbers have to be prepared in the shop. Master Timber Framer Peter, cuts them.

It's a pretty remote place, hence the need for an outhouse!

All painted and ready to be assembled

Peter and Jamie work on assembling the pieces

It's coming together nicely

John gets a few things accomplished with a drill

Dave bringing lunch to the crew

Lunch time

Near the harbor of a neighboring island

The finished product

A picturesque spot for such a building, isn't it?

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For additional information or questions, please contact John