Dear Jim,

I want to take this opportunity to thank you for ALL the help you and the people at Vermont Frames gave Linnet and myself during the design, planning, and execution phases of my house in Guilford, CT. When one of your potential customer embarks on a project that leads from the design for a house to the far more personal journey of designing a house that is to become ones home, the process takes on many more complex undertones and demands. And when that customer also has a year to think up special features and mull over changes to that home, you as a builder have a potential nightmare on your hands. Yet the people at Vermont Frames again and again came through with excellent suggestions, good humor, an understanding of our economic constraints, and ultimately and most importantly an excellently crafted and erected building for our site on six acres overlooking Long Island Sound.

As a person with some small experience in building post and beam structures and who built and lived in one some twenty years ago, I had high standards for choosing a company to build a home in which my wife and I would be happy to spend the rest of our years. Recommendations from friends for whom you had built a frame originally led us to your door but it was your unflagging helpfulness and comprehension of our wishes that led to the final successful completion of the beautiful frame.

Yet no letter to you or Vermont Frames would be complete without saying something about the actual craftsmen who did the actual chiseling, sawing, mortising, planeing, sanding (and lifting of green timbers, I am sure they would add) on the frame. I had the privilege of meeting several of them when they erected the frame on my site. the skill level, conscientiousness, and overall intelligence of the post and beam framers has always impressed me, but this crew stood out even among this group. Because the time constraints imposed by early New England April weather they worked from 6:30 am until after 9 pm (with lights) which could easily have led to much grousing and flagging of work intensity. Yet I never heard a complaint and many times saw them stop to take care of what might have been an overlooked detail of workmanship to a lesser crew. And it was not only myself but the neighbors who marveled at their work and have often commented on it long after the crew departed. I will always be grateful to John and Andy and Matt and Brian and Mark both collectively for the care, skill and integrity with which they worked, and individually for the fine young men they are. How a company finds a crew like this is beyond me. Part of the reason for this is undoubtedly due to Mark Knowles whose skill at managing humans is as great as his skill as a timber framer. he is one of those rare individuals who knows how and when to manage (effortlessly), when to show by example, and when to pitch in on the actual work. And the whole crew appeared to be well on their way to learning these skills. A leader can be paid no higher compliment.

Since the frame has gone up it has become something of a curiosity in the area. People who first saw the crane, or wives bringing back husbands to see the building, or interested construction workers have all complemented my wife and myself on the building we know to be yours. We have given several your name and hope it brings you future business. You all deserve it.

Again, thanks from both Linnet and myself for all your help.

Sincerely,
Richard and Linnet