Since 1974, thousands of people have traveled to Maine to realize a dream—the possibility of building their own home.
Many people we talk to say that they could never imagine actually...

But it's a very attainable dream.

Intensive courses that provide you with extensive home building knowledge from site planning to foundations, insulation, engineering, design, wiring, plumbing, tool knowledge and the ability to Design and Build. Whether you have been dreaming of building a home or are already heavily involved in the building industry; the Design Build course or the Contract-It-Yourself course will provide a new understanding of construction and confidence in your ability to complete a project.

Mortise and tenon, dovetail, lap joint, through-tenon, birdsmouth notch—posts, beams, braces, roof rafters . . . spend five days with the Shelter Institute staff and learn how to design, layout, cut, and assemble a timber frame structure.

At the end of the week you'll leave with detailed cut sheets for a 24x24 timber frame structure and the knowledge of how to masterfully craft a timber frame structure yourself.

The next Purely Post and Beam Class begins on Sunday, January 6th and runs through Friday, January 11th, 2013.
Don’t worry about crisp fall weather in Maine because the class is held in a 10,000-square foot heated workshop. You will need a few tools for the class. You probably have at least some of them, but you may need to pick up a few items from our tool list. The good news is that we have a great selection of timber framing tools in our specialty tools store, and the really good news is that we offer a LIFETIME 10% discount to our students on top of our already very competitive prices.

If you're looking for a good fall vacation, DownEast Magazine named Shelter an Editor's Choice for Best Working Vacation.

Below is a slideshow of photos from a recent timber framing class. Take a look and see the class cut and raise a timber frame.

If you're a graduate of the course, please post a comment on your experience in our class!