Community Timber Frame Project

Providing Nature Retreat, Holistic Medicine, & Education in Mid-Missouri

*Adopt-A-Beam* Fundraiser:

  • $500 - Your name or personalized message will be woodburned into a timber beam as a lasting part of the structure’s history and story.

I am building a timber frame structure on the farm to be a retreat in nature - where I and others in the community can offer holistic medicine treatment, education, and meditation with views of field, trees, and sunset (not a house or road in sight!)

I expressed my hope to build a structure for a hyperbaric chamber to Alan Judy (owner of Heirloom Fungi with wife Mandy), and he said, “We need to talk.” A master timber frame craftsman, having built more than a hundred across the country, Allen offered to chisel the beams so that they fit together on crane day like a gigantic beautiful jigsaw puzzle (I’ve seen it!) He said his room for error in measurement is the tip of a pencil :)

Allen and Mandy have been selflessly providing direction and oversight on this project. Sent me these pics for inspiration:

Our design is 24’ by 26’, enough space up front to provide a treatment area for my acupuncture/craniosacral work, hold small groups for meditation or tai chi, or to set up tables for seminars in Food as Medicine and other holistic topics. With the 5’ x 5’ windows stretched all that way around, the hydronic floor heating will be important for Missouri winters and the crossfooting trenches need to be 3’ deep x 2’ wide.

In addition to our Adopt-A-Beam fundraising, I will be holding a fundraising sale on August 17 in front of my Columbia office with more than a hundred items (you may request the sale list beforehand with photos and descriptions). Open to barter for services/materials. AND volunteers welcome! :)

I will be blogging the journey as we go. I have a detailed spreadsheet with services and materials needed if you want to take a glance.

THANK YOU!!

  • to Tracy and Brian Wear, of Brian Wear Plumbing, for coming out for a site visit and offering to help prep the land for the concrete slab. I have been a satisfied customer of Brian Wear Plumbing services and Tracy continually inspires me with her knowledge of health-conscious home construction and her encouragement of mind-body health to all of those around her. www.brianwearplumbing.com

  • to Coyote Hill Foster Care Ministries, for repairing a quarter mile gravel road with their skid steer. They’ve extended the facility’s horse trails to a loop around my back acres. Their equine program is open to all children in foster and adoptive homes, 5-years-old and up. “Research suggests that children having relationships with animals have greater empathy, a greater sense of self-esteem and self-reliance, decreased feelings of loneliness, and greater social competence.” (Purewal et al., 2017). www.coyotehill.org

  • to Midwest Engineering and Design, for assistance in hyperbaric chamber installation/safety planning, and for use of truck to transport culvert and gravel. (I needed a sturdier path across a ditch to the back field because it can flow like a creek after rain or snow - the overflow from a lake above).

Blog entries and fun pics coming soon!