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Timbercraft Homes
In 1978, Charles and Judith Landau, owners of a traditional
construction-contracting company based in Port Townsend, west
of Seattle, decided to go in a new direction. They founded Timbercraft
Homes on the vision of using a historic style of home building
to showcase the Northwest's straight-grained woods, such as
Douglas fir and Port Orford cedar from Western Oregon.
Timber-framing, based on joining finely crafted mortise and
tenons, held together by wooden pegs, dates back at least as
far as sixth-century Japan, according to Charles Landau. He
and his wife chose timber framing not only for the beauty of
the exposed beams but because of its durability, he says. Timber
frame houses, which can last hundreds of years, are a respectful
use, they felt, of precious woods.
The Landaus went through many growing pains to transform their
mom-and-pop contracting business into today's $2 million-a-year
building-and-manufacturing operation. As one of the first timber-framing
companies on the West Coast, Timbercraft faced the challenge
of educating the public. When the Landaus said "timber frame"
people pictured log cabins, not the vaulted-roof structures
the company was building.
The couple gave classes and seminars, talked to people and wrote
articles, just to let prospective customers know what Timbercraft
was doing. Gradually, the orders came in, not only from the
northwest, but also from all over the United States, Canada,
and Japan. By 1984, the Landaus had left conventional construction
behind and were building only timber-frame homes.
Timber-frame structures are built in two stages, Charles says.
In the shop, the timbers are shaped to fit together perfectly.
Then the timbers are transported to the building site and erected.
This two-stage method allows Timbercraft to manufacture the
product, and then send a small crew to building sites near and
far to supervise the timber raising. Port Townsend turned out to be
an unlikely but surprisingly workable place to start and run
the business, Charles says. The Olympic Peninsula on which Port Townsend
sits was a good source
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of high-quality wood. In addition, the Northwest
School of Wooden Boat Building located
there turned out a constant supply of skilled craftsmen to do
the work. As the market for timber frame homes grew, the company
added an architect and skilled drafters to its staff. With Judith
supervising design and coordinating sales and Charles managing
fabrication and construction, the company grew to 20 employees
by 1992. The coupled mortgaged their home several times to provide
funds for company growth, and they often found themselves working
12 hours a day. That created problems beyond a lack of R&R.
"We'd get so busy with day-to-day work, the area of sales and
marketing would get neglected", Charles says. "Suddenly we'd
find we had no work." Five years ago, they solved the problem
by hiring a full-time sales and marketing manager.
Two years ago they went through another major transition when
they took out a $700,000 business loan to buy a timber-shaping
machine, as well as commercial property and a shop to house
their new equipment. The machine hones timbers to exacting tolerances,
doing the work of five people. With this new computer-controlled
technology in place, Timbercraft was able to increase production.
"The first year we purchased the machine, we did three times
the amount of work we had done the year before," Charles says.
Timbercraft is also moving toward large commercial projects.
The company crafted the timbers for a ski lodge in New Hampshire
this year and for a resort complex in California last year.
In addition, Timbercraft is preparing to launch a new line of
building kits for pergolas and other small garden structures
in 2000.
Charles projects that Timbercraft's sales will rise to $4 million
a year in the next two years. Charles says he attributes the
company's success to the talented and energetic people who work
for it. Everyone at Timbercraft shares the commitment to craftsmanship
and outstanding personal service. He says he and his wife are
proud of their growing company - "We've tried to keep learning
new things, adding new equipment and shifting directions as
needed," says Charles. "We're a flexible company".
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