White screwdriver on a light background at an angle
Visit Us

873 U.S. Route One
Woolwich, ME 04579
(207) 442-7938

Store Hours

Monday-Friday: 8am-5pm
Saturday: 9am-4pm
Sunday: Closed

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An illustration made of white lines of a house sitting on a hill

Design Build

Built with Precision and Care

Built with Precision and Care

Your vision deserves craftsmanship that honors both tradition and innovation. Our design-build team brings decades of experience to every project, creating structures that work with the land, respond to your lifestyle, and stand the test of time.

START YOUR DREAM BUILD

Building History

Project Showcase

Watch Build Series
Wooden frame building under construction with workers and delivery truck
Watch Video

Monoslope Home

Wooden timber frame barn structure under construction in forest clearing with vehicles.
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Modern Ranch

Wooden frame construction in progress with workers and crane in wooded area
Watch Video

Country Home & Garage

Wooden frame of a building under construction in a wooded area
Watch Video

Three Story Home

Wooden timber frame interior with large windows overlooking forest
Watch Video

Hammerbeam Home

Watch Build Series
Wooden timber frame interior with lavender walls and forest view windowsIcon of Maine with the text "EST 1974" inside, representing the year Shelter Institute was established

Hennin Timber Frame Kits

Most of our Design Build clients choose a custom design for their home or structure, but there are many who want to purchase one of our pre-designed timber frame kits. We can ship these kits to you, if you'd like to raise it yourself, or we can deliver and raise it for you. We can also add individual design elements to these frames to suit your needs.

Custom Timber Frames

As a design build company, we take a truly integrated approach to the design, engineering, fabrication and raising of your structure. In our nearly 50-year history as teachers and builders of fine post and beam homes and barns, we have continued to refine all aspects of our process to provide you with the most efficient structures, most beautifully.

Custom Timber Frames

As a design build company, we take a truly integrated approach to the design, engineering, fabrication and raising of your structure. In our nearly 50-year history as teachers and builders of fine post and beam homes and barns, we have continued to refine all aspects of our process to provide you with the most efficient structures, most beautifully.

Hennin Timber Frame Kits

Most of our Design Build clients choose a custom design for their home or structure, but there are many who want to purchase one of our pre-designed timber frame kits. We can ship these kits to you, if you'd like to raise it yourself, or we can deliver and raise it for you. We can also add individual design elements to these frames to suit your needs.

Red flatbed truck carrying lumber, parked in forested gravel area
Carpenter measuring wooden plank with yellow tape measure and marking document

What You Can Expect

An icon that represents a house blueprint, colored in Shelter Institute Green

01. Custom timber frames built with precision and care

02. Sustainable design principles for energy efficiency

03. Collaborative approach that keeps you involved in every decision

04. Engineering expertise that ensures structural integrity

05. Relationships that continue long after your project is complete

Results that speak for themselves

“We are so incredibly grateful to Gaius and his awesome Shelter Team for crafting and raising our absolutely beautiful barn. The meticulous craftsmanship and teamwork of the barn raisers was a sight to behold and so much fun to experience. Friendly, loquacious, relentless, caring and hungry(as they should be) are but a fraction of positive adjectives that Jan and I could use to describe how wonderful they all were. We'd do it again in an instant if we ever need another barn, but this one is just PERFECT! Thank you!”

Rick J.

We've been very impressed with how quickly this has gone up - they make it look easy. We've been speechless the whole time. I'm struggling to describe how we actually feel, it's just incredible. It's been such a pleasure to watch the progress. You guys are the real deal."  

Collin M.

“It's been a dream come true. It really is more than we have dreamed of or that we could picture in our minds. The Shelter team is working hard with a smile, and they're constantly saying 'Dude, this is really nice.' It feels genuine and real, and it just makes us proud and grateful to have this opportunity. It's nice to share the experience with people where it's more than a job - this is their craft and what they want to do. You can see that both in the end result and the product, but also just the way they go about it. It's been wonderful. Everything that we've wanted is what we're getting right now."

Russ & Morgan M.

"Walking into the building for the first time was life-changing. There is nothing like seeing this place go up - it was so exciting. Every step of the way, Gaius and Ethan walked me through every single thing. They were so patient with me. We didn't know so many things, and Shelter was so flexible with us. The house is beautiful - it's exactly what we wanted. This has been coming for such a long time and they did it so quickly. We couldn't be happier. We're just so thrilled."

Kimberly B

"It went up so quick - it was like magic. I've been watching the Shelter videos for a long time, so I kind of knew what to expect, but once you see it unfold before your eyes... Every single fellow worked really their hearts out. It seemed to be personal. They really took their time. If things didn't fit, they made it fit, calmly and lovingly. They made my dream come true. This is everything. The view out of every window is just spectacular. I was very blessed. Anybody who has any doubts about doing a timber frame, I want them to get them out of their mind and just do it, because they make it happen for you. This was really a dream come true."

Mary O

"Everything that they’ve accomplished just surpassed what I ever thought could be done. We took a lot of time in figuring it out, and it’s exactly how I had it in my head. You guys just rock. You guys are just unbelievable. I couldn’t have asked for a better company to build the house for me."

Francis P.
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