Hand planed the wood really shines.

I’ll just nest the rafters into these little pockets.

With the help of two friends we got the frame up and in place in short order.

That took most of the day.

Looks really nice hanging off the board and batten siding I put on the new addition.

Sitting on the ground level deck the ceiling is quite pleasing.

Months of preparation here in Montana came together in a very positive way. The project, build the fence that Dale designed. The year earlier he built new, the gate that he originally built back in 1985 after returning from Japan. The new gates main change was from red cedar to yellow. I can work yellow cedar, so after much back and forth I placed the order and waited.

The first post landed, by design, directly on the trunk of the Atlas Cedar tree that was planted when the home was originally built. The solution came by collaborating with my friend and blacksmith Jeffrey Funk. Dale living in Seattle was able to design a bridge, built of wrought iron by Jeffrey, that would be cast into two granite rocks and carry the post above the trunk.

The second post would then be scribed to the back rock that the bridge was cast into. Problem solved, and beautifully.

39 posts total, project length approximately 160 feet.

There were some straight sections, but to follow the garden and terrain the elevation dropped as we moved away from the gate and the line of direction hinged.

In Japan if it is meant to last it has a roof.

With some work everything fit around the cedar tree.

Posts #1 and #2 in their respective positions.

Looking west

Looking East