TIMBER HOME LIVING
JANUARY 2006
Stop and Stair
With some planning, your staircase can be both functional and fabulous.
BY JUDITH LANDAU
For many timber home owners,
elegant staircases are an essential
to their homes' success as the
timbers themselves.
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Located in the entry of a large tim-
ber home, this freestanding staircase
breaks all the rules. It occupies most
of the foyer and obstructs the view
from the entry into the living room;
still, it works. With a natural cedar
trunk at its core and trads made of
thick wedges of salvaged heart pine,
it's a bold concept that bridges the
gap between function and fine art.
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T
hink of a staircase as a
stage. Lasting images from
Hollywood’s Golden Age, such
as platoons of showgirls two-
stepping their way down a
glittering staircase or the vision
of Scarlett O’Hara sweeping
down the antebellum staircase
of Tara, come to mind. Maybe
you’ve made your own
staircase memories, like watching your
toddler navigate them for the
first time, or your daughter
descend the stairs while her
first prom date eagerly awaits,
corsage in hand, at the bottom.
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Done right, a staircase offers an opportunity to set the stage for drama and
elegance in any home. Fortunately, it doesn’t have to be elaborate to be
interesting. A staircase designed for a modest cottage can be just as
handsome and graceful as a grand, prominent structure in a luxury home. Big
or small, the basic principles for stair design are the same.
Here are a few
simple guidelines, along with some examples of staircase design, to consider
when you begin to plan the stairs for your timber home.
The Staircase
as a Room
While planning your home, think of the space occupied by
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the stairs as a
vaulted “room” that will provide both visual and functional links between
levels. The space will need to have length, width and height. The vertical
distance between the floor levels will determine the length of the staircase;
a decision you and your designer will make. The width of the staircase and
the distance between treads are determined by the building-code requirements
in your community. Building guidelines are now often posted on the web sites
of many city and county building departments.
The staircase has a major influence on the circulation pattern in the house, so as
your floorplans develop, you
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may decide to move
it from its originally intended location, so you’ll want to know its final
placement before you solidify the locations of individual rooms. Why? Because
if you wait until the rooms are all located exactly where you want them and
then try to find a place for the stairs, you’ll be disappointed to find that
your plan no longer works.
Keep in mind that since the staircase is the key to movement within the building,
you’ll want to be able to see it from the main entrance. On the other hand, if
the staircase is too close to the front door, it may feel disconnected from the
activities of the household. Getting it right is a delicate balance.
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SUPPORTING ROLE
If the staircase is the superstar of your
timber home drama, then the railings are
without a doubt its supporting cast. Not
only do they stabilize the stairs and
banister, with a little forethought, they
can add tremendous flair. Here are a few
railing options.
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Railings don't have to be stodgy.
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Add a touch of whimsy to your
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staircase by replacing railings with
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wagon wheels or animal silhou-
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ettes carved into wood panels.
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Glass can replace the traditional
railing and supply a place to add a
little personality.
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Iron is a timeless classic and gives
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a home an extra shot of sophisti-
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cation. Combined with geometric
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shapes, it can be a nice break
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from wood.
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Twig rails with character newel
posts give a staircase an uninhib-
ited, natural look.
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The Ups and Downs
of Stair Design
Most stairs have one entry point and one exit point, so the shape of the staircase
likely will be determined by the circulation pattern that works best
for the house. The most common stair designs are straight-run, L-shaped, or U-shaped
or spiral. If the right amount of space has been
allotted, any one of these patterns
should work in any style home.
Choose a staircase design that’s compatible with the style of your home, and
use materials that are consistent with materials used in the other common
rooms of the house. For example, if your home is designed in a traditional style,
opt for a staircase that complements its classic lines.
Consider choosing a design that wraps around the walls of the space occupied by
the stairs. Let the stairs begin and terminate in a common
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area so they’ll
coexist with other areas of the plan naturally. A staircase that follows the contour
of the walls and opens into one of the commonly used areas of the house will seem
more interesting than stairs enclosed by walls or freestanding stairs that hog
space in the middle of a room.
If you’re looking for ideas, your local library may have books with
illustrations of stair details typically found in traditional European timber
and early American homes. Even a quick review of magazines that feature homes
boasting heavy timber elements will prove that there’s not a typical timber-home
staircase style. They can vary from subtle and sophisticated to bold and rustic.
No matter the style or where it’s located in your floorplan, the staircase,
like every area of the house, benefits from an ample supply of natural light. But
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finding room for windows in a staircase wall can be challenging, because the
climbing stair occupies so much wall space. One solution is a skylight located in
the roof above the stairway. The ambient light from a skylight also will help to
connect the stairs with the rooms above and below it. In every kind of staircase,
except for straight-run or spiral, you also can bring natural light into the
staircase by including a landing with windows midway between floors.
When transition areas such as stairways are useful and interesting places,
the experience of moving through the house will become as satisfying as arriving
at the intended destination.
Judith Landau is a founder and co-owner
of Timbercraft Homes in Port Townsend,
Washington.
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