Timber-Framing Opportunities

2024 marked the first of several timber-framing projects we plan for the place. Trees were harvested to make room for a 16’ x 24’ shed that will shelter a small wood-fired kiln and a pizza oven. Both will be built with used bricks from the first donation Recovering Joy received. That donation included enough pottery equipment and clay to set up a pottery studio we plan to construct in the future.

Building shelter follows a tradition on this place that began more than a century ago. A dry-laid chimney that once centered a two-room American Chestnut log cabin still stands in the front yard of the Center. Our hope is to surround it with a patio that will serve as a gathering place for roasting marshmallows on star-watching nights.

A fundamental tenet of our mission is to provide the atmosphere of a homeplace for making art and being in nature. And for many who come here, peacefulness seems to emanate from the land itself. In his book Beauty: The Invisible Embrace, the poet John O’Donohue says, “Where love has lived, a house still holds the warmth.” Building shelters on the land complements our aim of being shelter for those whose lives we may touch.

Check back for fall dates, soon to be announced!

We are grateful to the Berea College Appalachian for funding the kiln-shed project, and to Brooke Lovings for that first donation of pottery equipment and kiln bricks.