TOAD HALL
1. PEDIGREE: Toad hall is a frame originally built in Suffolk England during the 1480’s; 10 years later Columbus sailed to America. Dismantled in 1978, the frame was left in a heap for 15 years. My clients; working overseas, fell in love with English architecture and purchased the frame without knowing what it would look like. Faith and positive expectations was a driving force behind this project from the first days the owners began planning. Named after a home in the book “Wind in the willows” Toad Hall has all the history and character of a classic. In 1994 the frame was export to California and found its new life in the heart of wine country.
2. RECONSTRUCTION: As you may imagine, a building with this history and character was not going to be a typical project to under take. The Owners played a major role during construction. Always making the decisions that would keep the frame honest and the integrity of the “black and white” in tack. Blue prints where tossed in the trash and each day new details were developed, faxed to our engineer for approval, and saved for our local building officials records. Today as you approach the house you must first cross one of 3 bridges over the moat that surrounds the home to reach an entry door.
3. POINTS OF INTEREST: Originally built with “wattle and daub” – a mix of clay, straw, mud, cow dung, horse hair and any other material available to add, the new home had to retain the half timbered look with beams exposed on the interior as well as the exterior yet meet California seismic code. To this end each panel was scribe fit with plywood and gypsum board.
Once inside you will notice the chandeliers are not electric fixtures but attached to ropes so that they may be lowered to light the candles. Modern appliances are only found hidden behind cabinets. Even the floor was painstakingly hand made from old kiln shelves. The Owners took the time to make period artwork stamps to imprint the tiles and re-fire them. In the back room you can find tiles dedicated to love ones and to the principle builders who helped shape the project.
The material is a mix of many varieties of Ash and Oak. The timber surfaces, show the 500 years of age, however the cross section reveals wood as stable and solid as the day it was built. Some members did not make our standards of structural integrity; these timbers were replaced with local Douglas fir, making clear witch members were replaced during our reconstruction.
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