Bensonwood: A History of Innovation

1972

B&B: Before Benson Woodworking Company (BWC) and Bensonwood, was B&B, for Benson & Benson, (Tedd Benson and brother, Steve). Together, the Benson brothers start out doing renovation, remodeling, and cabinet making—jobs other builders choose not to do. Later, they start disassembling falling down timberframe structures for clients in exchange for the materials. Steve Benson dies tragically in 1974, and B&B later becomes the Benson Woodworking Company.

1973

Tedd Builds woodworking shop in Alstead. Lacking money for materials or labor, Tedd builds a 5,000 SF woodworking shop out of recycled timberframe barns and silos. The woodworking shop, with its simple but strong timberframe joinery, gives Tedd the confidence to move forward with more sophisticated forms of timberframing.

1974

The Smith House/ First use of prefabrication. Tedd works with friend, Mike Burke to build a new stud-built house with a timbered French country kitchen and dining area. He elects to prefabricate the construction elements in his newly finished woodworking shop for the added control and precision it allows. This seminal project cements Tedd’s early belief in the advantages of off-site fabrication.

1975

The Taft House/ First full timberframe building/ First BWC house built from "foundation to furniture." Tedd and Dave Bryant build what the Concord Monitor refers to at the time as "…the first full timberframe house built in NH in over 60 years." From there, Tedd and his dedicated craftsmen go on to create the home’s exterior & interior doors, stairway, cabinets, built-ins, paneling, moldings and furniture—all in the new Alstead Woodworking Shop. From this influential project, the importance of control and influence on finishes is realized. This “Green & Green” holistic ethic, arising out of the Arts and Crafts movement, continues to be part of the DNA of the company and informs the way the all projects are approached.

1978

Tedd realizes the potential applications for residential structural insulated panels (SIPs) after seeing aluminum-skinned insulating panels at a walk-in freezer manufacturer.

1979

Tedd Benson (with Jim Gruber) publishes first book, Building the Timber Frame House: The Revival of a Forgotten Craft (Scribner's Sons, 1980, Simon & Schuster,1995). Instrumental in the revival of this centuries-old form of building with heavy timber, the book serves as a manual for builders and designers of timberframe homes. Today, it’s still considered the bible by timberframe enthusiasts around the world.

1980

The Simsbury House/ First stress skin panels. Tedd and Amos Winter develop some of the first stress-skin panels for residential use. With the timberframe providing for the structural loads, the two develop a way to incorporate Bun stock, a rigid foam insulating material, to create a structurally uncompromised, built-up enclosure system. The company continues to produce its own closed panel walls, though with greener materials and greater sophistication than in this early prototype.

1984

Masahiko Ishikawa brings Japanese temple building skills, infusing Bensonwood employees with knowledge about fashioning ultra-precise timberframe connections and ancient techniques of making compound joinery.

Tedd and a small group of timberframers form the Timber Framers Guild of North America knowing that the timberframe revival needed a vital, well-connected industry to establish a forum for learning and standards.

1985

Rees Acheson joins company/ Has huge impact on company capabilities. Tedd hires Rees to fabricate a portable mortising machine, making it possible to rapidly create timberframe joints with great precision. It is still use today on the largest timbers.

1986

Company purchases early computer for $6,000 and asks Rees Acheson for a whole new strategy for mastering complex compound joinery. Rees develops a trigonometry program with AutoCad ouput of Hawkindale angles, thus creating specialized software where none existed before. This allows timberframers to layout and cut the many compound angles in hip and valley roof structures.

Tedd Hires Ben Brungraber, Ph.D./ Fine Engineered Timberframe Structures. Bensonwood becomes the first company to have a professional engineer dedicated to timberframe design and engineering. Ben elevates the company’s engineered timberframes to new levels, proving to building inspectors the efficacy of his sophisticated compression & tension joinery. From Ben’s extraordinary talent and experience, begins the company’s legacy of timberframes as fine engineered structures. Today, Bensonwood has a growing team of dedicated engineers (and architects) involved in all aspects of wood and metal joinery.

1987

Bensonwood first featured on PBS Television's This Old House.

Brian Smeltz hired/ Active in all company operations. Lucky for Bensonwood, Ben Brungraber brings Brian Smeltz into the company. A Renaissance man and Jack-of-all-trades, Brian proves to be an excellent timberframer, artist, designer, teacher, salesman, and project manager. His enthusiasm and creativity leave an indelible mark on the company.

1988

Bensonwood develops spline joinery to strengthen timberframe connections and allow for more varied timber design, while increasing the load capacities of the structure.

Tedd publishes second book, The Timber-Frame Home: Design, Construction, Finishing (Taunton Press), providing a comprehensive guide to building a timberframed home.

1989

Tedd Benson and Bensonwood lead a Blitz Build of two Habitat for Humanity homes in Pennsylvania.

Bensonwood featured for the 2nd time on PBS's This Old House on the Wickwire Barn series

1991

Bensonwood begins modeling timberframes using 3-D CAD software.

1993

Boris Noel Interns/ Begins long line of talented interns. Unlike tradespeople in the United States, those in the European and Asian building trades are highly educated and revered for their mastery. Hungry for outside knowledge, Benson Woodworking Company invites these interns from abroad to simultaneously learn and share the skills of master craftsmen. Collectively, these interns from countries such as France, Germany, Switzerland, and Japan bring a wealth of information to the company’s growing bank of knowledge.

1994

Tedd creates Open-Built®, By merging the best thinking of open building proponents like John Habraken and Steward Brand with his own concepts, Tedd develops a practical, digitally-based design, fabrication and construction system that revolutionizes how homes are designed and built. Open-Built allows for the disentanglement of mechanical systems from the structure of the house and organizes them for more efficient installation and long-term access. With Open-Built, Bensonwood designers electronically catalogue every design element they create. The 3D Open-Built grid system allows existing design elements to be quickly and easily adapted to any new home design.

1995

Bensonwood works with the Alexandria Seaport Foundation to build a boat-building shop/classroom for at-risk youth. Through the building and use of wooden boats, full time apprentices earn their GED and prepare for a career in the building trades.

1997

Bensonwood adds a computer driven, numerically controlled (CNC) high-speed timber cutting machine that crafts timbers and joinery with accuracy to 1/32 of an inch. Driven by Bensonwood's Open Built, rule-driven software the automated machine, improves efficiency, reduces cost and improves accuracy.

Tedd Benson publishes 3rd book, theRevised and Updated Timberframe Home(Taunton Press). This extensively updated and reworked book takes an in-depth look into the process of building a timberframe and making it into a comfortable home. In the book, Tedd showcases his latest advances; from new design, engineering and joinery, to wiring, plumbing and glazing.

1998

Bensonwood engineers and timber framers develop keyed beams, a new laminating method that allows greater spans with relatively small timbers and makes the connections visible and aesthetically pleasing.

1999

Bensonwood begins building its own wall panels for improved energy efficiency, electrical routing and design flexibility. The new panels greatly reduce waste, compared to SIP panels, because window and door openings are built in place rather than cut out and discarded.

Bensonwood demonstrates a timberframe barn raising on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. as part of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. The festival educates the public about cultural traditions that contribute to the American and human experience.

Tedd Benson publishes 4th book, Timberframe: The Art and Craft of the Post and Beam Home (Taunton Press). The book presents 25 years of Tedd's craft and practice, with examples ranging from the Rocky Mountains to New England and from traditional to contemporary, taking its readers on a tour of the most beautiful post and beam homes in North America.

2000

Bensonwood builds state-of-the art design, fabrication and assembly facility in Walpole, New Hampshire.

2002

Bensonwood is featured in Smithsonian magazine ("Building to a Different Drummer") for its Walden Cabin, a timberframed replica of Henry David Thoreau's simple 10'X15' cabin on the shores of Walden Pond. Timberframing parallels are drawn from this Spartan, diminutive cabin to the exquisite high-end homes that Bensonwood became known for.

2005

Bensonwood enters into a joint development agreement with Huber Engineered Woods LLC to develop new wood-based products and applications for home design and construction, and to develop new technologies in home design, subassembly design, modular design and related processes.

2006

Bensonwood wins 2006 Small Builder of the Year award from the Partnership for Advanced Technology in Housing (PATH) for its ground breaking work in Open-Built design and building systems.

Bensonwood begins long-term partnership with MIT on the Open Prototype Initiative, with the goal of developing affordable, flexible, high-performance houses. Utilizing Open-Built technologies and prefabricated building systems, the initiative results in Open_1, a multi-use rehab center/home, and OPEN_2, an environmentally-friendly, multipurpose present's home for Unity College.

Using waste-saving 3D BIM modeling and visualization software, Bensonwood engineers, fabricates, and constructs the award-winning Loblolly House, one of the most talked about houses of 2006, designed by Kieran Timberlake Architects. Featured in Wired Magazine and Treehugger.com, the shore home's Bosch aluminum frame is held together with Bensonwood designed and engineered connectors.

2007

Bensonwood, along with over 500 regional volunteers, completes the local Blitz-Build of a Monadnock Habitat for Humanity home for a New Hampshire family of 10 in need. The 2100 SF home is built in just 8 days.

2008

Bensonwood featured in (17) episodes of PBS's This Old House fall season.

Bensonwood wins "Small Builder of the Year" from Residential Contractor magazine.

2009

Unity House earns LEED Platinum Rating. A year later the college presidents' residence and welcome center is Net-Zero certified.

Bensonwood enters into a joint development agreement with Dow Chemical Company to develop new and improved home building products through the development of new technologies related to products, structural systems and insulating systems.

2010

Bensonwood launches 3B Matrix design/build system, offering a myriad of living possibilities while greatly reducing design and engineering costs.

Bensonwood builds a Passive House in Vermont that requires no heating system. Home is featured on page 1 of the New York Times Business section.

Bensonwood's OB PlusWall is designated as one of BuildingGreen's Top-10 Products of the Year by the editors of Environmental Building News and GreenSpec®.

2011

Bensonwood builds its first fully-panelized 3B Matrix home featuring its award-winning, R-35 OB PlusWall™, the highest rated standard wall system available in North America. Near to Bensonwood headquarters in Walpole NH, this home will be open for viewing by appointment.