Alright, thanks for the great responses, just what I was hoping for as guidance. One aspect I was thinking might be a drawback is how fibrous it is but that is maybe only apparent when working with split and riven wood.
It is the waney character that is also interesting to me Jay but I had the old timber frames of Normandy or even the Saxon barns out in Drenthe in mind rather than the far afield Japanese farmhouses,and going with a scribe lay out but I will most likely be squaring the timbers.
Alright, I'm pretty convinced. Now I will go select out the stems, any advice for the selection process? It's for converting my falling-down chicken coop to a bake house or forge, (I haven't decided which yet).