I recently had someone ask me about a Beam and Post home and how it differed from a Post and Beam home. I had to think a minute, as post and beam is always the order I have used the term. But with a bit of research, my original thought was confirmed– they are both the same kind of home. I find Post and Beam homes to be hidden treasures. Often, from the outside they may look very similar to a conventional home. But a timber covered entry may be a fore barer of of the lofty beauty within. Once inside a Beam and Post its unique style of construction comes to life.

Post and Beam Construction

Post and Beam construction incorporate the elements of solid interior walls being replaced by support posts and header beams to carry the load of the ceiling structure. Also flat bottom conventional trusses are replaced with wide open cathedral ceilings.  Items usually associated with log homes, such as open lofts, can be utilized to accent the vaulted ceilings. The exposed timbers lend structural and visual strength to the wooden ceiling above.  Post and Beam home kits usually include the superstructure and construction drawings. Some kits are more complete than others, depending on what you order.

Small Post and Beam Home Plans

Let’s explore the aspect of Post and Beam home plans more thoroughly. An ‘open floor plan’ is a very popular term today. It is a step away from the traditional compartmentalized floor plan. Central to the open floor plan is the removal of the partition walls in the main living area of the home. The traditional living room, dining room, and kitchen are replaced with one central Great Room. Groupings of furniture define the spaces. A kitchen may be located along a side wall or back wall of the room. The dining area is often located to the other side, with the overstuffed chairs being shifted towards the front of the room towards a stone fireplace.

To help utilize the open space soaring above, a half loft is often included. The kitchen and dining areas are the most common spaces for the loft to cover, leaving the front portion of the great room open to above.  Smaller  Post and Beam home plans usually range between about 1,000 to 2,500 square feet. We have done a few very small Post and Beam homes which still had an open floor plan but usually only possessed one bedroom and an open loft, or two small bedrooms.

Luxury Post and Beam Home Plans

In larger Post and Beam home plans the great room may encompass the seating area and a grand entry while the kitchen and dining areas are shifted to a side wing of the home. In this configuration the great room is shifted back in the floor plan and a grand entryway is added. A sweeping curved timber staircase or a log spiral staircase can be added to the grand entryway with either a narrow catwalk loft above or a half loft. Luxury Post and Beam designs usually are more towards the 3,000 square foot range. In order to allow for a separate kitchen wing, grand entryway, loft, and of course all the bedrooms, the space becomes more spread out. Some Beam and Post homes can range up into the thousands of square feet. One home was 22,000 square feet.

So if a Post and Beam or Beam and Post (which ever suits you better) is something you are considering, then you have stepped past the mundane floor plans people usually desire. The uniqueness, beauty, and spacious areas created by this style of construction allows flexibility in design while still creating that WOW factor that is central to log and timber home plans.

Cowboy Log Homes