Timber Frame in Mill Creek
The work that makes the whole brand make sense.
Mill Creek is a planned community and it shows in what people expect from a build. Tight lot lines, design covenants, and neighbors who notice. We work to that standard here, from custom homes to backyard ADUs, and we read the covenants before the drawings rather than after.
Timber frame is where Svensen is unmatched. We do not specify a timber package and wait on a vendor — we run the log through our own mill and engineer the frame through our own product line.
That control shows up in the structure: oversized members cut true to grade, joinery detailed for the design, and a frame that reads as the centerpiece of the building rather than something hidden in the walls.
What we build
- Full timber-frame and post-and-beam structures
- Hybrid timber and conventional framing
- Exposed structural timber for homes, restaurants, and commercial space
- EV TimberShield engineered glass-and-timber canopies
- Custom-milled oversized Douglas Fir members
- FSC Chain-of-Custody timber on request
Where the timber goes when the exterior is governed
Mill Creek covenants often limit what can change on the outside of a house, which shapes where timber makes sense. The answer is usually inside, and it is a better answer than people expect.
A great room structure, an exposed roof, a stair with real timber in it. None of those touch the covenants, and all of them change how a house feels far more than another twenty square feet would. On a compact planned-community lot, that is where the money does the most work.
Where the exterior is in play, porticos and covered entries are frequently approvable and make an immediate difference to how a house reads from the street. We check the covenants before designing either way, and we mill the Coast Douglas Fir ourselves so the member is sized to the opening.
- Usually interior
- Great room structure, exposed roofs and stairs, none of which trigger exterior review.
- Sometimes exterior
- Porticos and covered entries, where covenants allow.
- Check first
- Covenants and association design review before anything is drawn.
- Source
- Coast Douglas Fir milled to size at our own Arlington yard.
Raw Douglas Fir log → milled oversized timber at Washington Timber Company → engineered structure through EV TimberShield → raised and finished by Svensen. No middlemen, no markups stacked on markups, no waiting on a supplier to tell us what is in stock. This is the supply chain, and we own all of it.
How the supply chain worksThe supply-chain moat
We own the sawmill (Washington Timber Company), the engineered product line (EV TimberShield), and the build crew (Svensen). One company controls cost and quality from the forest to your finished frame. No competitor in the region can say that.
From log to raised frame
Engineer the frame
Members are sized and detailed for your design and load case — not pulled from a catalog.
Mill to spec
Oversized Douglas Fir is milled at our own sawmill to the exact dimensions the drawings call for.
Fabricate joinery
Connections and joinery are cut and dry-fit before anything reaches the site.
Raise & integrate
The frame is raised by our crew and integrated into the full build.
Timber Frame: recent work
Lakefront Dock & Boat Canopy
Lake Washington, WA
An engineered timber dock and covered boat moorage — heavy-timber canopy right over the water.
Hillside Timber Frame Home
Puget Sound, WA
A heavy-timber home built into the slope — exposed posts and beams, a stone base, and a timber pergola.
Timber Lake House
Lake Washington, WA
A board-and-batten timber home with arched gable trusses and twin river-rock chimneys.
Timber Frame in Mill Creek: FAQ
Where does your timber come from?
From our own sawmill, Washington Timber Company in Arlington. We mill local Douglas Fir to spec for Mill Creek projects — we don’t order imported timber-frame kits or wait on a supplier’s catalog.
Do you build timber frame homes in Mill Creek?
Yes. We design, mill, engineer, and raise full timber-frame and post-and-beam structures throughout Mill Creek and the surrounding Puget Sound — homes, restaurants, and commercial spaces.
How is a Svensen timber frame different from a kit?
A kit ships you pre-cut parts to assemble. We mill the members to your design, engineer the joinery, and raise the frame ourselves — so the timber is sized for your Mill Creek build, not the other way around.
Our covenants restrict the exterior. Can we still use timber?
Yes, and inside is usually the better place for it anyway. A great room structure, an exposed roof or a stair with real timber changes how the house feels far more than an exterior detail would, and none of it triggers association review.
Could we add a timber entry or portico?
Often approvable, and it makes an immediate difference to how the house reads from the street. It does need checking against the covenants before design rather than after, since association review runs separately from the city and the two can take different views.
Timber Frame nearby
Let’s build something that outlasts the mortgage.
Tell us about your project. We’ll tell you what’s buildable, what it costs, and how the supply chain works in your favor.