Oak Frame Homes: 20 Amazing Oak Houses to Inspire Your Project

The oak frame construction method provides self builders with an opportunity to create an efficient and sustainable home brimming with charm and character.

Oak frame is often used alongside other construction methods such as structural insulated panels (SIPs) or brick and block, and is frequently combined with a masonry facade for effect. The frame is manufactured off-site, meaning its construction time tends to be shorter than other building methods – normally two to three weeks with good weather and site conditions. This process means that budgets in other areas can be cut down significantly, especially on project management and contractors, for instance.

Trusses not only play an important role in the overall composition of the home – supporting the roof and distributing the weight of the building – but they are also one of the most attractive features of building with oak frame. Keeping the structure exposed and incorporating it into the overall design scheme can yield really impressive results.

These modern oak homes have used the build system in fantastic ways, incorporating the exposed trusses and open-plan areas to make light-filled and spacious homes.

Essential Advice: Building an Oak Frame Home: a Self Builder’s Complete Guide

1. Oak Frame and SIPs Barn-Style Home

When their rear garden was deemed suitable for development via the council’s local housing need assessment, Tony and Jo Hogg had a choice to make: sell up, or build on it themselves. The couple chose the latter – attracted by the opportunity to design and construct a barn-style home that would meet their tastes and requirements.

Photo: Colin Poole

The brand new, efficient home has been constructed with a mix of oak frame and SIPs, featuring a design that blends the traditional style of oak with a bright, contemporary and open-feeling scheme.

2. Striking Oak Passivhaus

Andrew and Linda Bennett moved to Worcestershire (where Linda is originally from) to fulfil their dream of running a B&B. They decided to self-build after they couldn’t find quite what they wanted on the market, using Oakwrights to design and build the property.

Photo: Mark Bolton

Externally, there are two south-facing gable ends, with oak balconies adding to the character but also visually making up for any design restrictions on having too many projecting elements. Heat loss is still minimised, but there’s also a sense of three-dimensionality to the design, with visual interest also provided by the contrasting materials palette of cedar weatherboarding, rustic roof tiles and brick, alongside the oak.

3. Bespoke and Efficient Oak Frame Self Build

What could have been a barn conversion project evolved into a knock down and self build, offering Deirdre and David Rook the beautiful oak frame home they’d long dreamt of. The one-and-a-half storey dwelling is complete with charming dormers and a traditional, light-filled interior scheme.

Photo: Guilford Photographer

4. Modern Oak Home Designed to Withstand Flooding

In 1999, Rachel and Darren Luke bought a plot of land in Worcestershire with a 1980s house on it. This would become their temporary abode while they saved up the funds to develop their dream property.

The site benefited from seven acres of land, plus fantastic views of the sprawling countryside. However, they faced complications due to the historical ponds located on their land and the potential of flooding and subsidence.

The couple’s forever home was completed in 2017 to the highest of standards. The property features an open-plan living space, large kitchen and separate living room. A contemporary oak and glass staircase leads to the spacious landing and onwards to three large ensuite bedrooms, all of which enjoy stunning outdoor vistas.

5. Oak Frame Countryside Self Build

Based on a plot in rural Anglesey with countryside and sea views, this new build had to blend with the landscape. Welsh Oak Frame built the frame over three weeks, whilst a skilled stonemason worked for around a year installing local limestone cladding – an important material choice to fit in with the rough cast and stone houses in the area.

Photo: Nikhilesh Haval

Since the plot slopes steeply, the house was built over three levels with a small lean-to on the side to accommodate the ensuite to the downstairs bedroom, essential for futureproofing.

6. Oak Farmhouse with Upturned Boat Roof

A striking upturned, copper-clad boat is the centrepiece of this oak home in Devon. The home is arranged in an L-shape, with a thick stone-faced exterior that’s been intentionally designed to ensure the home fits beautifully into its surroundings.

Wow-factor glazed gables allow light to flood the interior, and double-height bedrooms create a luxurious space to relax. Oak trusses add character to the home’s inside – these span the upper hall and add plenty of design interest to the rooms.

7. Wow-Factor Exposed Oak Trusses

Winner of the Best Oak Home the 2021 Build It Awards, Andy and Sue Perrin had their hearts set on an oak frame to give their new conversion project a boost of architectural wow-factor.

“Right from our first sight of the barn, standing in the mud looking up at the leaky tin roof and moss-covered walls, a feature oak frame was always at the centre of our vision for what the building would become,” says Andy.

The couple chose Carpenter Oak for the building’s structure, and the meticulously planned project includes impressive features such as a criss-cross, diagonal roof beam in the central bay, complex dragon-tie corners and a beautiful lighting scheme to set the frame off.

8. Oak Home With Wow Factor Glazing

Glass reaches right up into the ceiling of the second storey in this striking oak home by Oakwrights. The design creates a modern look, paired with the stone exterior. Inside, all that glass works to frame the beautiful surrounding countryside vistas. Oak beams on the ceilings bring a heritage edge and character to the interiors.

More Inspiration: Oak Frame Truss Types & Design Ideas

9. Contemporary Cottage-Style Home

Welsh Oak Frame’s WF57 design inspired this cottage-style home, with its oak porch and dormer windows. But the homeowners were keen on a modern feel inside.

So they chose to have the skeleton of the oak on display without all the ribs, for a more Scandinavian edge. The oak frame was infilled with structural insulated panels (SIPs) and the house is heated by a ground source heat pump.

10. Traditional Style Home with Masonry Facade

After struggling to find land to self build on, Janet and Richard Deacon stumbled across a tired 1950s house in surrey. The couple knocked the home down, making room for their own own light-filled and open-plan oak frame self build home.

Photo: Simon Kennedy

After visiting an Oakwrights show home, the couple fell in love with the charm they could create with the combination of exposed oak slings and and an open-plan layout. They consulted Darren Blackwell from Oakland Vale – an independent architectural designer – to help turn their ambitious plans into a practical reality. “Darren was very good,” says Richard.

The finished home boasts a glorious central glazed atrium, with wow factor oak trusses exposed around the interior. To stay in-keeping with the rest of the street, the Deacons chose handcrafted bricks from York Handmade, which add a beautifully familiar touch to the striking home.

Read More: Open Plan Living Ideas – Kitchen, Living & Dining Rooms

11. Traditional Oak Build With a Modern Edge

The classical farmhouse design has been reimagined in this 329m2 self build project in Herefordshire by Border Oak. Externally, exposed oak framing with rendered infill features above areas of brickwork. The weatherboarded annex to the side that houses an office.