My chosen trade is stone masonry, but timber framing has been a serious hobby of mine for about ten years now.

Recently, my wife and I decided to design and build a traditional cape cod timber frame house with a central chimney. At first, we thought of doing the frame in wood, but we figure we can bring down costs if we construct only the exterior walls in stone, which we have plenty of on the property, and the roof and floors in timber, which we also have plenty of on the property.

We plan on doing an English style of double-wythe masonry wall, or "cavity" wall. It's a masonry style that is more commonly seen in commercial building construction using brick or block. The difference is that we'll be using natural stone.

Does anyone have suggestions on how to seat the rafters or how to attach girts and girders to the walls? Or, is anyone torn between stone and wood as much as I am!?