Timber Framers Guild Forums Archive Archive -- Barns/misc. Frames to visit in MA

I'm a Guild member, and I'll be visiting MA on business mid December. I have a full day on Sunday, the 16th, and would love to see some of the historic frames in that part of the country. Can anyone suggest some public places that I should see? I'll be staying in Andover, but since I have a whole day, I don't mind driving some distance. Thanks for your expert advice, CB.

Old Sturbridge Village has a nice collection of period homes and barns. Makes for a nice day trip!

Hancock Shaker Village is also a must see. The round barn is fabulous, but there are lots of other timber framed buildings. It was also the site of the first Guild conference!

The Old Ship Meeting House In Hingham is one of those rare 17th Century must sees open for public viewing as is a house just down the road in Plimouth, the name of which I can't bring to mind, but the brochures are out there.

Both the town Topsfield and Rowley Historical societies have old timber frame barns. I’ve helped them with siding for both. They aren’t far from Andover, but I don’t know their phone numbers or if they will be open on Sundays. Shaker village has a web page, but I can’t find it right now. Good luck, Jim

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions. I really appreciate it. Since I had only one day, I could only visit one site, and I chose Old Sturbrigde Village. I was not disappointed! There were so many wonderful old barns and mills with the framing exposed. I saw many examples of joinery from Jack Sobon's recent series on traditional joinery. In particular, there was an example of an interrupted plate with canted purlin posts, including the struts parallel to the rafters. In Jack's article, he says that his drawing comes from a barn that was relocated. Any chance it's the same barn? CB.