Express News Staff
Builder William Rockhill of Woodgate has recently completed some “tiny” projects that are being seen by big audiences on TVs across the country. He and his crew built four “tiny houses” to be featured on HGTV’s Design Star, The Nate Berkus Show, and Travel Channel’s Extreme RVs.
Rockhill founded Bear Creek Carpentry in 1993, and has been working in the construction industry since long before that. Among the many types of projects he takes on, building small structures is something he gets a lot of satisfaction from. His affinity for cabins, cottages, sheds, and the like led him to take an interest in the Tumbleweed Tiny House Company based in Northern California.
Tumbleweed’s founder, Jay Shafer, is a leader in the tiny house movement. He has created design plans for a number of small structures, including moveable “houses to go” ranging from 50 to 120 square feet; “box bungalows” with 100 to 120 square feet; and cottages offering 120 to nearly 800 square feet of living space. Do-it-yourselfers can buy the plans and build the houses themselves, or the structures can be purchased partially or fully assembled.
The efficiency, simplicity, affordability, and environmental friendliness of these structures appeals to Rockhill and to people across the country looking to downsize and simplify their lives. Seen by many as a solution to housing problems across the country, tiny houses are rapidly gaining national attention.
Following the company’s website blog got Rockhill’s foot in the door and resulted in a collaboration between Tumbleweed and Bear Creek Carpentry.
When Shafer and his business partner Steve Weissman needed three houses built for an episode of HGTV’s Design Star series, he asked Rockhill if he was up for the job. The houses needed to be built quickly and then transported to Battery Park in Manhattan, two of the major challenges of the project. Rockhill got a crew of 10 together and built all three houses in his workshop in Woodgate. Three of Tumbleweed’s box bungalows, the “Gifford,” “Beavan,” and “Anderjack” models were constructed in just three weeks.
The houses were fully finished on the outside, including brightly painted wood siding. The 100 square foot interiors were left as a single open space with walls, floor, and ceiling a blank slate of natural wood.
Once they were shipped to Battery Park, three finalists on Design Star had the task of designing and completing the interiors of the houses. The designers had to not only create the layout of the kitchen, bath, lounge, sleeping and storage areas, but had to complete their design right down to the finishing touches. The purpose of this and the other challenges presented to the designers during the show’s season is to narrow a field designers who are hoping to land their own design show on HGTV. Designers are eliminated throughout the season based on how they perform on these challenges. The full episode, which is the ninth episode in the show’s sixth season can be viewed on HGTV’s website.
This relationship between Tumbleweed and Bear Creek Carpentry has led to more opportunities for both parties. One of the box bungalows that was used on Design Star was also used for an episode for The Nate Berkus Show, a national design and lifestyle talk show aired weekday afternoons on Utica’s Fox Channel, WFXV. During the episode, which will air in May, Berkus uses the house to showcase a design for small spaces using a wealth of antique furnishings.
Although Rockhill said he could not discuss details with the press, his Facebook page reveals that he recently completed Tumbleweed’s mobile “Fencl” model for an episode of Travel Channel’s “Extreme RVs” show, to be aired at 9 p.m. on Sunday, Jan 29.
Rockhill has always liked working with his hands, particularly building rustic, Adirondack style structures, interiors, and furnishings. His family also plays a big part in his business. His brother Jeff works with him and sons Mike, Billy, and Connor, and daughter Melissa help with projects when they’re not too busy with school.
He has been specializing in small buildings for 20 years, and has built over 200 of them around the area. He likes the idea of buildings with a smaller footprint and less environmental impact, built with materials found close to home. For a number of years, Bear Creek Carpentry even produced the majority of their lumber with their own sawmill. Another way they conserve resources is using nearly every inch and scrap of their lumber. Roofing, insulation, appliances, windows, and fixtures all come from the closest sources possible, since this cuts down on cost and pollution associated with shipping.
He hopes that the future holds more opportunities to build Tumbleweed’s houses, recognizing the big impact these small structures can have on the country’s housing crisis as well as the state of the environment. With his 30 plus years in the construction industry, Rockhill has the experience to build just about anything, but still prefers the small buildings. Not only does he get satisfaction from the efficiency and simplicity of their designs, he also likes that he can do most of the building indoors in his workshop. “This has been kind of a pet project for me, and now it’s turning into what I always wanted to do as I got older,” says Rockhill.
More information on Bear Creek Carpentry can be seen on their website and Facebook page. Visit www.Tumbleweedhouses.com for more information on their designs and the tiny house movement.