I am a member of the Westchester Historical Soc.. We are working on the restoration of an 1870's farmhouse. Contained inside this farmhouse is the remaines of an 1853 two room schoolhouse. This building was built by German Lutheran immigrents from the "Kingdom of Hannover". Recently we were told by the Concordia Historical Institute that the type of construction is most likely "Westfalian timber frame" Does this sound correct? How can I learn more about this type of construction? The building is approx. 22'x16' and was originally built of 8"x8"s, 4"x6"s, and 4"x4"s. (some of which are still present) Some of the 4"x6"s are eight diagonal braces that run - two from each top corner down to the 8"x8" sills. Do you know of any exsisting structures near us (Chicago area) that are built this way? Thanks. Lawrence Godson

FOLLOW UP
Thanks for the suggestions so far. Some things that I have learned since posting the original question:
Westfallen construction seems to be more generically refered to as "Fachwerk" It was used here in the Midwest (particularly southern Wisc.) and in Texas. It seems to be characterized by horizontal timber beams as well as the uprights and diagonals. I can not tell if we had those because almost all of the uprights are gone and the ones left are in or near the corners and so theoretically might not have had horizontals attached (according to the pictures that I have seen.) Two new questions: 1)Does anyone know if any of these buildings still exsist near Chicago and, 2) Are there any timber framing experts around the Chicago area who might be willing to come over to take a look at our structure? Thanks again.

[This message has been edited by Lawrence Godson (edited 12-14-99).]

My only introduction to Westfalian timber framing was the vernacular of a much later era, most built near Boulder by bands of "back to the land" types moving west in VW buses......

But Seriously. I'll forward your question to Jan Lewandoski. He has a much broader background in timber frame types, and the people who built them.

Very interesting.

I recieved a note back from Jan Lewandoski. He has not heard of this vernacular either. He suggests it may be German in origin.

If you have access to a digital camera you could send some photos. I can circulate them and see what comes back. A picture is worth a thousand words.

Try Simon Gnehm in Huffman, Texas. Simon is a Swiss trained timberframer who just designed and completed a LARGE workshop building with public school students as the workforce. Look under the COLTS raising report elsewhere in this web site. Included in the workshop design are a number of braces as you described.