Featured in The Mountain Times October 17, 1996
Mark Kirkpatrick: Timber Framer, Designer, Contractor & Artist by Peter Morris*

“One of my primary goals in the construction business has been to support a high level of craftsmanship in the trade…to allow those who actually produce the work to produce a finished product in which they can take a great deal of pride.”…Mark Kirkpatrick

Mark Kirkpatrick is a builder. An artist, really whose medium is wood and, more specifically, timber frame homes. He not only constructs them but also designs [many of] the homes from the ground up, seeing them through the various stages of construction from the pipe-dream of those who contract with him to livable reality.

Timber frame homes have really come into their own in the past decade or so as those Kirkpatrick calls “the Woodstock generation” have come to realize that such construction blends the best of both worlds—the beauty of natural wood and contemporary home design—into what might be referred to as “nature-inspired woodsy elegance.”

TIMBER FRAME HOMES FROM BLOWING ROCK TO LINVILLE

High praise for both a contractor and the constructural design and materials he incorporates into uniquely-styled homes? Well, as the saying goes, “seeing is believing.” And, Kirkpatrick’s artistic creations in home building—some 50 of them to date—can be seen in some of the area’s finest, most prestigious communities, from the Grandfather Golf & Country Club to Tynecastle to the Blowing Rock Country Club Golf Course.

Speaking of the natural elegance of timber frame materials, legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright noted, “Wood is universally beautiful to man. It is the most humanly intimate of all building materials. Man loves his association with it, likes to feel it under his hand.”

A native of Nashville, Tennessee, Kirkpatrick came to Boone back in 1979 with a dream of owning his own timber frame construction business. “Upon arriving in Boone, I ordered a supply of business cards, purchased a nail, an apron and a measuring tape…and starved for the next seven years,” joked Kirkpatrick. “It took all of those seven years before I’d get to build my first home…Building homes was what I was meant to do in this life.”

“MY EMPLOYEES & SUB-CONTRACTORS ARE THE BEST”

Today Mark Kirkpatrick owns Mountain Construction Enterprises, offering “aesthetic design and quality craftsmanship.” While Kirkpatrick’s dream of establishing a successful construction business is now a reality, he’s quick to point out that he didn’t do it alone. “What I do here could not have been done without the help of the fantastic people that work for and with me,” he said. “My employees and sub-contractors are the best of the best!”

Although his construction methods excel in both [log and timber frame] forms, he nonetheless has a special love for timber frame construction, his own home being an obvious example of this affection given its own 14-tons of mortised, joined and pegged oak timbers in the “great room.” (Other Kirkpatrick-designed homes in the area can boast of up to 36 tons of the same timbers.)

“The manifestation of timber craftsmanship, super insulation, special glass, and vaulted heavy timber ceilings exudes a special warmth, a spiritual connection to the Earth, if you will,” [says Kirkpatrick].

“LIKE WALKING THROUGH A MASSIVE PIECE OF FINELY CRAFTED FURNITURE”

Perhaps the greatest praise a contractor can receive comes in the form of a customer’s saying “a job well done.” In Kirkpatrick’s case, music to the builder’s ears came from a satisfied Watauga County homeowner who noted, “I’ve had four homes built…all homes the builders themselves wanted me to have, but you designed and constructed the home I wanted built.”

“When I engage in a designer-builder relationship, I strive to construct the home the client wants, not the home I may personally want the client to have,” emphasized Kirkpatrick. “One former client indicated that walking through his great room was like walking through a massive piece of finely crafted furniture.”

EDITOR’S NOTE:
Mark Kirkpatrick, who resides in his own timber frame home in the southern part of Watauga County with wife, Debbie Arnold, an artist, and daughter Laurie, age five, is a Hearthstone Homes dealer. For more information, contact Mountain Construction Enterprises at [(828) 963-8090].

*Edited for brevity


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