Timber Framers Guild Forums General General Forum Questions Timber Frame jetties / overhangs

Hi Tim,

As luck would have it I do believe that Richard married a girl from Maine quite a few years back and so he would probably be more than familiar with local Maine timber frame building styles and practice as well as the dusty old English ones. Who knows in retirement he might well be tempted to pen a book on your topic.

Your local observations about departed houses and the peoples who used to inhabit them sent a shiver down my spine. I have seen this type of thing before in various parts of New England where field walls are now buried deep in the now regrown woods and barn basement foundations made from large rocks cleared from the fields. There is an excellent "diorama" (model) at Petersham (Harvard Forest) in Massachusetts where the process of clearance, settlement, abandonment and regrowth is ably demonstrated. Sounds like a new wave of colonisation is taking place but this time with the filofax and UTE rather than the plough and horse.

Regards

Ken Hume

Tim:

Yes, "raised-ranch" is another common reference to the style. How odd that Ken has not heard of the split foyer?!?! Garrison too for that matter... I'm sure some of the folks reading this topic have been snickering about me bringing up the split foyer here on a Timber Framing blog... it's kind of like ordering a hot dog at a fine restuarant!

But I was thinking about jetty and wealden and a light bulb went on-- THE SPLIT FOYER!! It has both forms of architecture!

I mentioned it to Ken because it is so common here. And it's a good thing to point folks to who are wondering about the obscure English terms here.

I think reasons behind alot of "jetty" in split foyers/raised-ranches of the '70s was just for increasing square footage while keeping the excavation/foundation costs down. A big consideration for a developer in a subdivision who might be building 15 of them.

But I can see the style has roots in the "old country."

Ken:

I feel kind of foolish adding "split foyer" to the glossary. Garrison should be there I guess, but split foyers are/were all about stick frames/plywood and vinyl flooring. Maybe a Chevy Chevette parked in the driveway. The Family Feud on TV, etc... They're hardly synonymous with quality or enduring building practices.

But it's a good reference for wealden and jetty, just the same, so I'll add them.

Hey everybody, very interesting. I would like to see a picture of interior jettying if anyone has one. I'm not sure what you mean but If i am thinking of it right it would occur for the same reasons for exterior jettying: to create different space from that below. I am going to speculate on the exterior jettying of middle ages.

It was a dark world with the Visigoths, Vandals, etc roaming the countryside. People huddled in cities for security if however disillusioned. The streets were there and residences were added. Now they typically did not build very tall so if you can't go up and up, go up and out. The jetty then did not interfere with street space, added more square footage, and created some security in closeness relating to strength in numbers, and the upper ground.

Yes, interior jettying sounds different. We need a photo (Ken)...

Is it me or is the glossary unable to be edited from letters A-G?

I just tried ammending Garrison. "Split Foyer" has been added.

I just lost a post in cyber space. I was going on about house cellars and model T's found in such. And grant monies to fund the study as well, for there is no income in looking for the fun of it. But I can't help it, I am drawn to them for some reason.

Mo's photo reminds me of Halloween for some way. I am in agreement with Mo on the speculation of jetties. Tim

Hi Guys,

Sorry about the delay in posting pictures but I did try yesterday and met with an "exceeding personal allocation" message on my website where I make my posts.

Thanks for the photo MO and I appreciate that it might appear that you have good reason to arrive at your conclusions on town jeties but how does that explanation translate to the countryside where buildings are built in standalone positions without the same pressure on building space ?

First thoughts such as they are:

Foundation work, smaller foundation,less work/cost, more living space, city or country, for the same smaller foundation. Foot print of the building.

Could these buildings have been moved to the country? Taken down and re-erected.

Richard points out they were a sign of wealth.

These buildings most likely have a infill system in the walls, clay. The jetty would offer some weather protection for the ground floor system. Tim

Tim:

Weather protection is a great reason for jetty.

I see the Halloween thing, too... also Jekyll and Hyde.

What can others say regarding the split foyer/ raised ranch (link to a photo is in another of my responses upthread).

I got to thinking perhaps this type of "modern" home may be only New England-based. If it is, then its wealden and jetty are most certianly influenced by history and settlement features "coming back" in fashion (mid-late 20th century)....But if the split foyer is all over suburban America, then its form is likely due to economics (less foundation cost, etc).

My carpentry experience has been limited to the New England region, thus I've always assumed the split foyer to be all over America. Does anyone know if it's regional or more widespread?