Thanks Bob, I am aware of that fellow's work. It's not timber framed, and not trying to be authentic (and I know he doesn't care about that), but it does appeal to some folks.
Joe posted on the JLC forum last year trying to get advice on how to do a curved roof, a discussion I participated in - I was a bit of a hard ass in my judgements about his take on Japanese carpentry, to be honest, but that is, for me, side-effect of being a both an admirer and practicioner of Japanese timberframing. I was initially drwan to timberwork because of its simple and direct honesty, so attempts to fake it with laminated 2x sticks doesn't give me a warm and fuzzy feeling, any more than, say, phony English Tudor architecture.
You can read the discussion here (I show up on page 5):

http://forums.jlconline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=25393

Some interesting info on that discussion from Chippy about the origins of the 'Gambrel' roof...

Chris